The Taga: a new concept in baby travel

This is the Taga. I saw one on my way home from work the other day, and tried to catch sight of its make so that I could look it up and report back. Having failed to, what do you know but a few days later I'm on the Mothercare site, and there they are as a big promotion - online only.

So it's a new concept in pushchairs and/or bike baby-carriers, the defining characteristic being that you can cycle someplace before reconfiguring it into a stroller.

My take? It's a nifty idea, but perhaps best suited to some Dutch-style idyll where cycle paths are the norm and you're not nosing into the traffic baby-first.

Looking at bike trailers and even babyseats, my thought was always that I wouldn't want my child behind me where I couldn't see them. Now I realise I wouldn't want them in front, either - not in my busy city, anyway.

It's a shame, because I'm 100% behind anything that gets folks out of cars, but just now I can only see it as something for the type of world I aspire to live in, rather than the one I do live in.

Less vitally, the colour scheme perturbs me slightly. A colleague rather crassly said that it looked like 'specialised medical equipment' (well, truth be told, she put it even more crassly than that) and that did make me wonder why anyone would launch a product like this in grey rather than a wealth of colours that would either appeal to kids or to their design-conscious parents (just like you and me, oh Babygadget readers).

The other consideration is the cost. A pushchair's going to cost you anywhere between £100 and £600 (that being the going price for an unreduced Bugaboo with all the accessories). This little baby will set you back £1,695.00. Admittedly, it converts into a bike that will last kids into adulthood; with added accessories, it can also be used for two children or for carrying shopping, apparently. But boy, that's quite a price commitment.

I've rather focussed on the negatives, though I recognise they may not apply to everyone. As I say, I'm really glad to see people giving thought to new, less car-dependent ways to travel - and I'm glad to see a mainstream retailer like Mothercare give them space. But I guess it's not for me (although, you know, if anyone would like to donate me one, I'm open to having my mind changed...).