Comments on: Opinions on Britax Marathon vs Britax Roundabout?

By: ljb

ljb — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:09:08 +0000

The Marathon has a higher weight and height limit than the Roundabout, so your child should be able to use it longer rather than having to move to a booster when s/he outgrows the car seat. In that sense it will presumably be a money saver. The Roundabout can be used in the forward facing position until a child weighs 40 lbs; the Marathon can be used in the forward facing position until a child weighs 65 pounds. (Both can be used in the rear facing position until a child weighs 33 pounds.)

Also, the Marathon can be tethered even in the rear-facing position. Since studies indicate that kids should be rear-facing for pretty much as long as you can get away with it and not automatically turned around just because they’ve hit the 1-yr/22lb mark, that means a lot to me. (My understanding is that the Marathon is the only car seat on the market that can be tethered in the rear facing position.)

Other differences: the Marathon also has something called the "HUGS" system that the Roundabout doesn’t. That has to do with the harness system — according to the Britax site it’s designed to distribute weight more evenly to minimize the risk of neck injury, and also reduce the chance of improper positioning of the chest clip.

As far as aesthetics, there are more fabric/cover options with the Marathon. (Admittedly, one of the reasons I liked the Marathon was because of the cowmooflage cover — if I’m going to be looking at these things for a few years, I might as well enjoy the sight of them! With two of them in my car for twins, they account for a lot of the "aesthetics" of my car’s interior!)

There may be more differences I’m not thinking of: you can check out the Britax Web site at http://www.britaxusa.net/.

I have the Marathon but have never used a Roundabout; I chose the Marathon based on reviews and on that weight/height differential. While I obviously can’t compare the two models I can tell you my kids love the Marathon — they seem very comfortable.

By: iampatsajak

iampatsajak — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:09:08 +0000

There are much less expensive and much safer carseats. Check consumerreports.com

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:09:08 +0000

At first when I looked at your question I thought you meant for baby names….it was a sigh of relief when I reread it…

I actually have both of those and to be honest with you, I think Britax Marathon is wayyy better, and my son likes to be in it more….Although I dont think its the best car seat out there, its a good carseat.

By: glazeddonut27

glazeddonut27 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:09:08 +0000

We have a marathon and a roundabout. we got the marathon for the other car, and my son, who is three now, still fits in it – it is a bigger seat and can hold larger kids, or will last very long if you have smaller ones. Brittax even has a "husky"model…

I say get the marathon, so it will last your child a very long time, or in the case of my son, it will last long enough since he is about as tall as a five year old.

But be wary, its is much larger in dimensions than the roundabout – so if you have a small car, it may not fit when in the rear facing position.