Jane Twone Review

Quick Summary: I didn't expect to like the Jané Twone, but I am converted! All in all, as far as the tricky world of tandems goes, Jané has created a cracker here, and one not to be left out from any potential purchase line up.

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Jané has been pushing out the boat with their pushchairs over the past couple of years, in an ever expanding search for creating the perfect pushchair for every family's situation. A difficult pushchair to design is one which can be converted from a single to a double, and still be narrow enough to fit through most doorways. This key driver is catered for in the ‘tandem' or ‘in-line' market, and here we take a look at how Jané have tackled it most recently with their new Jané Twone pushchair. Our review will give you the answers.

To get it straight we'll go back to the basics first – what is it? The Jané Twone is a single to double tandem travel system. Sounds simple enough but the Jané Twone has some great tricks up its sleeve that mean that it can be used in a huge variety of combinations. Jané state that by using all the possible options of car seats, carrycots and seats, you can create eighty (yes – EIGHTY) different seating arrangements! Plus you can do all these without the need for any additional adapters as both the rear and front seat connectors are designed to accept any car seat or carrycot from the Jané Pro-Fix range, as well as the seats that come with the Twone pushchair.

Essentially, Jané have tried to create a pushchair in which you can seat whatever combination of babies or siblings wherever you like. The front or main seat of the Jané Twone is multi-directional (can face parent or forwards) and has three recline positions in each way. The rear seat is forward facing only and has two tilt recline positions and an adjustable backrest. Both seats are the same size in terms of bottom depth and backrest height, the second, lower seat is actually a little wider in the seat base than the main seat. So you can begin to see that the Jané Twone is really a very versatile pushchair. Now we've got some of the basics sorted, let's have a look at the detail.

Chassis

The frame of the Jané Twone is very similar to the one found on their Jané Muum pushchair with just a slight rearrangement to the locations of the main seat adapter and the addition of rear seat adapters. In this way the pushchair doesn't feel too huge at all, it doesn't feel like you are pushing a tank or a bus around. The finish is exceptional, with a satin gunmetal grey finish to the frame on our test specimen, and a leather effect rotational height adjustable handle which feels lovely. There are no exposed joints, welds or bolts, just a beautiful smooth neat finish.

The frame design means there is plenty of clearance for you to walk behind when the second seat is on this pushchair, the risk of catching your toes (or even your knees) on the back of the second seat is low – something not always found in a tandem pushchair. The wheels are great quality – and Jané are keen to promote the benefits of their large diameter, free-running racer ball bearing solid rear wheels. They should keep your pushchair running smoothly and easily for many many years to come. Jané have located the second seat right above the rear axle so as to make good use of these high quality wheels, so even with a heavy child in the back the pushchair still feels light to push. The front swivel wheels are lockable and also seem of really good quality, with a reassuring weight to them. The rear wheels have mudguards to keep little fingers out of harm's way.

There is front suspension which works very well, but a little disappointingly, no rear suspension, although omitting this has undoubtedly reduced the weight somewhat. The shopping basket is a funny one – a really great size with just the main seat on, but with the second seat on the position of the seat takes up half the basket, and your child's legs (once they reach toddlerhood) would easily take up the other half of the basket. The only saving grace for the basket in this position is that it's very wide. If you had a helpful little one they could easily keep a few items in there with them, but co-operation would be key unless you wanted your bananas to receive a good kicking on the way home from the shops!  The basket is well attached to the frame though which is something I am pleased to see, giving a low risk of kicking heels breaking through onto the ground below.

The brake is something I really like on the Twone. Operated solely on the handle bar it is an easy to use thumb flick to operate it on and off, and the effect is immediate and very reassuring. You don't have to worry about waggling your foot around under the second seat trying to locate a pedal, nor try and poke the toe of your boot into the wheels, you can use it with one hand so the other hand can be kept free for holding toddlers' hands or shopping bags. It also leaves the back axle completely clear for longer striding, taller people – always a bonus when pushing a tandem.

The pushchair feels surprisingly light and I like that its quite chunky, it gives a good confidence in its strength. It's very easy to push, and because of the way the weight is distributed on the chassis it pops up and down kerbs much easier than some other tandems of a similar style. Having the front seat high up over the rear seat, which is directly upon the rear axle also means it's exceptionally easy to steer with two children in, and not too long front to back. It's no small pushchair but it feels nippy and manoeuvrable, and I think you wouldn't be disappointed by it round the supermarket (although the corner shop might be another matter – the pushchair is still fairly wide, at 62cm so you'll need to keep a close eye on the rear wheels near any stacked shelves especially as they protrude from the chassis rather than tuck underneath.

There is really only one thing not to like about the frame of the Twone, and that's the handle play or wobble. Part of Jané's design and certainly not a fault, despite feeling that way initially, the handle bar just has a little bit too much ‘play' in it for my liking. It takes the edge off the hard work they have put in to making a sturdy, great quality, exceptionally engineered and designed pushchair as you just don't get that feeling through the handlebar. If you were using this as your main pushchair from birth, I imagine you would get used to this feeling, and you most likely wouldn't even notice it after a few pushes but having tried out any number of pushchairs all without the same wobble it's immediately apparent to me and a little unnerving at first.

Fold

This is a good one; the Jané Twone is easy to fold and gives a surprisingly good result. Often the fold is a bit of an afterthought on a pushchair but not here. Firstly, the Twone folds smallest and easiest with both seats removed (although you can fold it with the main seat on). Drop the handle bar to its lowest position (not compulsory but you will need to do it if you want the smallest fold or you want it to free stand), then, smooth as you like pull up on a slider on each side of the handle (also depressing a small grey button with your finger at the same time) and drop the handle towards the floor. Reach forwards and grab the central cross piece and lift the pushchair upwards. The whole frame snaps together (like the pages of a book) and you are left holding the spine, either leave it to stand like that, or pop it in the boot of the car with one hand – being able to handle the pushchair easily when folded is a big bonus here.

The Twone will free stand when folded if you have the handle bar fully lowered, although the handle will touch the floor when you do so; a no-no for muddy or gravelly car parks. There is a locking strap you can use to keep it shut. If you lie the pushchair down in its folded position (in the back of the car for example) you can then tessellate both seats neatly within the frame, giving the Jané Twone a more compact folded size. To open the Twone back up – undo the locking strap and the lift the handle bar and give the frame a flick, it automatically locks into position fully upright with a reassuring click. To fold with main seat on – recline the seat fully, then repeat the steps above. This obviously results in a slightly larger fold but you can still drop the second seat inside the main one.

One thing to note – when you fold the Twone down, the front swivel wheels need to be unlocked and angled slightly for the pushchair to completely fold as small as possible, this means that the swivel wheels rest upon the handle bar – not ideal if you've been out for a muddy walk. Jané have been clever with the Twone and have worked in a few things that mean you won't find it as difficult to move about when folded. The central grab bar makes it easy to pick up, it can be folded with the main seat on or off, it has a locking strap, the seats fit neatly inside the frame, and it will stand up when folded (if you don't mind the lovely leather effect handlebar sitting on the floor though). 

Seats

The first thing to tell you about the Jané Twone's seats is that they are exceptionally well padded and comfortable. They feel really luxurious and come with lovely soft and squishy inserts.  Both seats are very similar in terms of quality, and we'll look at each one in turn. The front or main tilt style bucket seat is suitable from 6 months, it's a good size with a fair amount of head room and a nice tall back rest (51cm) that goes right up to the hood. It has a great width (30cm at front) for a multi-directional seat with good room for older toddlers' bottoms. If you remove the lovely soft and squishy seat liner you can make even more room.  Although the seats are soft to sit on and well padded, there are solid supports in the seat base and back – so no risk of the seats sagging over time with increasingly heavier loads in them.

The gate opening swing away padded bumper bar has a zip off cover to allow for easy cleaning, and it can be opened from either side. Although you can lengthen the shoulder and waist straps on this pushchair, you can't adjust the height of the shoulders straps, or the length or position of the padded crotch strap, chest pads are included. The harness is an easy to do pinch buckle type, and each side can be secured individually – a great help when trying to restrain a wriggly tot. The Jané Twone's seat has three recline positions, upright, semi reclined and fully reclined/horizontal. The recline works by lifting an easy to grab handle on the rear of the seat near where the hood joins. It's a smooth and easy one handed manoeuvre which can be carried out with the seat forward or rear facing. If you recline the main seat with a tall child in the rear seat though – be prepared for them to get a face full of seat... unless you also recline the second seat too – so some co-ordination may be required over who sits where depending upon who is due a nap.

The hood is made of the same super soft high quality material as the seat liner and gives a very streamlined stretchy look when fully extended. The hood also features a colour co-ordinating flip out visor and transparent tinted side panels to allow some light in. There is no peek-a-boo window, which I feel is a bit lacking on this pushchair as with the main seat forward facing your child will feel quite isolated from you. The calf rest is well padded and adjustable, although you do have to poke you thumbs into an odd position to squeeze the buttons on either side to adjust it. There is no dedicated area to rest feet as such so feet will swing free until they reach the front of the chassis.

The seat is very easily reversible, just lift the levers on either side of the seat and lift the seat away from the frame, spin it round and pop it back on, smoothly pushing down on it until it ‘clicks'.  A very simple operation and as your hands are located directly above the sockets to re-attach you can usually get the seat lined up first time without looking or waggling it about too much.

The Twone's second seat is the same quality as the main seat and is very roomy for a tandem seat of this type. In fact it is one of the widest I've seen, with good headroom for little ones too. Suitable from six months the seat is no afterthought and features all the same functions as the main seat, meaning that no matter who sits where, exceptional comfort will be standard with this pushchair. The second seat also has a tilt recline, but this time it's a tricky two handed operation with a stiff button on either side of the seat frame – the one handed lever from the main seat would be of much more use here as it's quite difficult to move the seat into the most upright position whilst simultaneously depressing the buttons.

I am really impressed with the recline on the second seat. The upright position is perfect for nosey toddlers, who like to properly ‘sit up' – a rarity in tandems like this. The semi- reclined position is perfect for relaxing or for younger tots, and is more than adequate for a toddler taking a snooze and resting their head. As if this wasn't good enough you can unzip the entire back rest all the way around and drop the back down independently by another 10cm. Perfect if your little one fancies a full on nap down there. You can also use this zipped backrest recline feature when the tilt of the seat is in the upright position – which gives you four ‘recline' positions and a varying amount of room behind the main seat. The hood is a nice touch, but a little on the pointless side as it's small considering there's plenty more room behind the main seat for a bigger one.

When you want to get your little one in and out of the second seat of the Twone, Jané have handily made the central cross-beam of the pushchair chassis gate opening. Once your main seat is off you can open the cross-beam and gain direct and easy access to your child in the second seat, so no more trying to poke them in like a contortionist underneath the handle bar. If you ever do need to perform that move though (perhaps not wanting to disturb a child in the upper seat) be prepared for a very awkward manoeuvre. The angle of the handle, the sides of the chassis and the location of the seat mean it's hard to get a child in and out quickly or smoothly – and if your little one doesn't want to go in or come out then you're going to find this even harder. The Jané Twone works really exceptionally well as a tandem with the main seat facing forwards, it is not really designed to be used with the main seat parent facing and a child in the second seat too and has not been safety tested in this scenario. Jané have tried so hard to get every single thing right with this pushchair so this just sticks out as a little bit of a letdown, I would have loved to use it in that way. You can use the Twone with a car seat facing you and the second seat on.

The Jané Twone is much happier with both seats forward facing. One thing to be careful of though – always make sure your little one is firmly strapped in the second seat, as a sudden stop might cause them to get a bit of a bumped nose on the padded cross piece in front of them (it is always a good idea to tightly strap a child in the second seat as it keeps them from reaching down into the wheels, although heavy duty mudguards are provided here for your peace of mind). This may be a little easier said than done though as the straps are fiddly to adjust and I couldn't find a very short shoulder setting suitable for tightly restraining a baby. Lastly we are less than impressed with the raincover. Designed to be used for when in both single and double use, it does what it says it should do, but with no real elegance or style. 

Carrycots and car seats

The Jané Twone can be used with a range of Jané products such as car seats and carrycots. The clever Pro-Fix system means that pretty much all of these products can be used on the Jané Twone in either position and in any combination (we reviewed the excellent Matrix 2 carrycot / car seat when we reviewed the Jané Muum). So you can have a car seat on the top and a carrycot underneath for example, or two car seats, or two carrycots... or a seat and a carrycot... the list is almost endless with no less than eighty arrangements possible – all possible without the need for any separate adapters.

Our verdict

I didn't expect to like the Jané Twone, in all the pictures I've seen of it I have thought, "oooo that second seat looks very low and not very fun for whoever has to be crammed into  in it", but let me tell you this; I am converted. The pushchair is top quality, exceptionally versatile and well thought out, and is surprisingly easy to push and manoeuvre. No aspect has gone without thought and consideration. Okay, so I am really disappointed the main seat doesn't parent face in tandem mode, and it's really tricky to get a child in and out of that second seat with the main seat still on, but these could be worth the compromise. The Pro-Fix system is ingenious, with no additional adapters needed to attach any number of Jané products wherever you want to put them. All in all, as far as the tricky world of tandems goes, Jané has created a cracker here, and one not to be left out from any potential purchase line up.