The Evenflo Shyft Dualride travel system is a fairly versatile all-in-one car seat/stroller hybrid solution. I’ve never seen anything like this before, and certainly haven’t reviewed anything like this either. The unit is a full rear facing travel system combination to fit a child from 3-35lbs. The car seat also doubles a fold out stroller, and all of it clips into a traditional travel system base for simple transport. Let’s get started!
Unboxing the Evenflo Shyft Dualride
One thing that I should mention right away is that I was initially sent a display model for this review, so you may see “Display – Not for sale” stickers throughout the video review and in pictures. I was later sent a second model with a different trim colour, which you’ll see in some of the side by side photos in this written review.
There’s no installation required with the Shyft Dualride. It already comes completely assembled in the box, down to the wheels and axles. You basically just take it out of the box and go. The only other extras (aside from the bag which was not in the box) are a couple of armrests and a cup holder.
There are many things that serve a dual purpose throughout. The car seat carrying handle adjusts around different sides of the car seat and also extends via a push button to be the handle for the stroller. The bonnet can be zipped and unzipped to extend sun shading as well.
The Shyft Dualride also comes with 2 bases in a roundabout way. There is a more traditional car seat base with a liquid level, plastic pullout (to help with leveling to the contours of your car seat) and Evenflo’s Locksafe belt path system at the bottom. The second base is actually the stroller, which is a really cool added bonus. The stroller itself folds down into a stabilizing base which you can then either buckle into a vehicle as an all-in-one solution, or you can affix it to the actual base. The base comes with its own liquid level at the top, while the stroller base install uses a visual guide. If you wish to belt path the stroller/seat secondary base, there’s a feature for you to fold the big stroller wheels in as well for safer transport.
Lastly, for a stroller/car seat combo, I have to say that this is extremely light. The entire unit is much lighter than I thought it would be given the circumstances, so that’s great and extremely convenient.
Installing and using the Car Seat base
The Shyft Dualride’s car seat base installs like any other base. You can either use the Universal Anchor Tethers or the belt pathing instructions (there are stickers with QR codes all over the base to take you to installation instructions) to install depending on where you’re installing. In the video, I’ll be using the UATs since I’m installing in the middle of the vehicle. Either way, you’ll want to lift the belt path module to help tighten and stabilize whatever you are using to install the base and then click it shut. You’ll know things are firmly in place when the belt path clicks shut and the top signal turns green.
When the seat is fully folded (stroller wheels are up,) it will clip and click into the base perfectly. Once clicked into place, you can detach the seat one of two ways – You can use the black clasp behind the seat’s headrest to remove only the seat from the base, or you can use the push button on the stroller base to detach the whole thing. Do keep in mind that if you wish to travel without the base, you’ll have to take the stroller part around with you in order to have a safe and level car seat. You won’t really have much of a choice, however, since the stroller can seemingly only be detached from the seat while it is latched to the seat base. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a way to detach the seat from the stroller without it being mounted to the seat base. I’m assuming this is working as designed.
What is SensorSafe?
The way Evenflo uses SensorSafe technology has evolved a bit over the years. When I first reviewed a SensorSafe seat 6-7 years ago (when my daughter was still small enough to fit in one,) the output plugged into the OBD sensor port. Nowadays, Evenflo has taken that to mobile apps, which is a much cleaner and easier way to do it.
SensorSafe is designed to notify parents that the child isn’t safe in their car seat while the car is in motion, be it through discomfort or somehow having undone their chest harness. Since this seat is rear facing, it’s a great feature to have since you won’t be able to see what your child is up to with the seat back facing you.
The app also contains other helpful features, such as temperature monitoring inside the vehicle, and an emergency notification system for your child’s safety. The example used by the app’s preview screenshots for example, show a notification monitor that the child is still in the vehicle and it will notify emergency contacts at a certain time. This is a step up from the original SensorSafe which worked and chimed locally inside the vehicle.
Unfortunately, my child is too old to ride in this seat, so we can’t provide you with a live demo on the review video. She suggested putting a stuffed animal in the seat, but we couldn’t get it into a comfortable enough position for SensorSafe to activate.
Unlocking and locking the Shyft Dualride stroller
The stroller is probably the trickiest part of the Shyft Dualride but once you get used to the way things work, you’ll be set. To extend the wheels to the stroller, you’ll pull the black latch upward to loosen the wheel axles. If your baby isn’t in the seat, you can just give it a shake and the wheels will clip into place. You then extend the bonnet, extend the handle and unlock the wheel axles, and off you go. The stroller is intended to have the baby facing you while in movement, so the handle will stay locked and while not extend outward until you’ve shifted it around. If you want to see what I mean, please look at the picture below! The non-axle wheels are on a swivel, so they rotate in all directions.
Evenflo strollers are typically pretty urbanized and haven’t been the best on bumpy or rough surfaces. The wheels here are rubber and it does a fair bit better on rougher surfaces than some other Evenflo and Graco strollers I’ve used over time. Take a look (below) at the different wheel bases with their wheel locks
To lock the stroller back and ready it for the car seat base, you’ll press the white button on the stroller base and then slide the wheels directly underneath forward. You might need to finesse those wheels properly facing front so that everything latches together, but it’s not that tough. That’s the entire system in a nutshell.
Closing thoughts on the Evenflo Shyft Dualride
One of the absolute toughest things about putting out the cost of any travel system is understanding its overall longevity. Since the stroller for this unit is tied directly to the car seat, it means that the lifespan of this unit for you is as long as your child is in a rear facing car seat. For some parents, that’s probably in the neighbourhood of 18-24 months. That’s the point in which you’ll have to invest in your next seat and presumably your next stroller as well.
Given the compact nature of the unit, it also means that you’re forgoing a lot of traditional stroller storage options, like bottom baskets. I’ll mention one more time, however, that the product specs state that there is a storage bag for the stroller included in the final product, so that might resolve the concern around having to tote a diaper bag or backpack around.
Since there isn’t a lot of bulk to the presentation of the Shyft Dualride and the footprint of the seat/stroller combo is so small, it’s great for anybody that wants something that doesn’t create a large footprint in the house. SensorSafe is an added benefit and bonus too which adds to the return on this investment. I’d definitely recommend this to anybody interested in a travel system, though obviously not to anybody that wants more of an All-In-One seat option and is comfortable with a separate stroller.
That’s about it though. Overall, this is a great idea and a great little unit. I think that this should go onto every new parent’s wishlist.
The Evenflo Shyft Dualride travel system is coming soon to Best Buy and you can preorder it now!
