Marathon vs. Triumph ?

[calv]

Morning, I haven't seen this anywhere. But I have the Evenflo triumph for my DD who is 6 months old. I'm now debating if I should return it and get a britax. The Marathon to be exact. Anyone have both or could please tell me the big difference between the 2 besides price? I'm so confused. TIA! :7

[LucyG]

We own both seats. The Marathon is our primary car seat, with the Triumph being used for the 2 mile ride when my DH takes our DD to the sitter. I think both are good seats. I find the Marathon to be much easier to use, personally. Maybe that's just because I am more accustomed to the MA. The straps on the Triumph slide off my DD shoulder's often, and it just isn't quite as user friendly, in my opinion. The Marathon seems a little more plush, to me, and DD looks more comfortable in it.

I am very happy that we spent the extra money to get the Marathon for our primary seat. We plan for our DD to use it for at least four years, and maybe longer. If price is an issue, though, the Triumph is a good seat with excellent ratings, and I know that many on these boards are very pleased with it. I am not unpleased with it, I just find the MA to be worth the extra money!

[carseatguys]

The marathon car seat is tested at a FIFTY mile per hour test. For not only front impacts aslo side, rear, ofset and roll over crashes. the US test for safty is at 30 miles per hour. The britax is 16 times safer than any us tested and rated seat. PLease MOMS and DADS think about this a carseat is like a parachute if it works you live if not you die its that simple. Yes the britax is more its also allot safer for the child.

Greg carseat teck for 11 years!!!

[Joolsplus2]

Unfortuntately, this is not true. Britaxes do not undergo all those extra tests, and they are not "16 times safer" than any other US seat. All seats sold here are certified to the same requirements, and all are equally safe when installed and used correctly. More expensive seats can be easier to use properly or installed properly, or have more padding, but that does not make them inherently safer than any other seat on the shelf.
NHTSA CPS Tech certification only began in 1997, and I'm quite sure that was not 11 years ago ;)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[carseatguys]

That would be great if it were true However if you bother to ask the folks at britax and or any store that sells this product if they know thier stuff it is tested at much higher speeds. " Fact " the laws in Germany are different. Thier test for carseats at much higher safty requirements. The cars as well are tested at the same standards much higher than the US. They don't care more it just that with social medicine the government requires higher safty standards to keep from going broke careing for all the dead or injured kids. Another " FACT " when Britax first tested the roundabout seat it passed the us test for safty with a " ( 90 Pound dummy in it ) " the seat is only tested and rated for 40 lb child. They are safer but are still tested by the us national highway dept at the 30mph test. Dont forget that the seat is still made the same as the seat in europe.

Have any of you out thier seen in an add Star rating system for cars crash tested TEN STAR SAFTY RATED vehicles are tested to the european safty standard. BMW VOLVO MCB and BRITAX are all tested much safer.

Marathon car seats have impact absorbent poly foam white in color inside the shell the same as a football helmet. This is to soak up any forces from getting hit. This foam protects the childs head. The seat not the child take all the forces of the collision. Now the ( gray pad most US seats have for comfort not safty ) In addition the Marathon seat has lock offs on the side of the seat left and right seen in black they keep the seat from tipping or falling over in a side impact!! Where are the lock offs in seats made for the us test for safty?????? They dont exist! The Marathon teathers both forward faceing and rear! The vast majority of seats sold for the US market do not teather while rear faceing.

""""" Why """"""""

""" answer """"" Thier is no rear impact test for us car seats. Its a ( 30 mph ) front impact test only! To break that down thats Two cars hitting each other in a SCHOOL zone doing exactly 15 MPH. At that speed you can count the leaves on trees. Try this install any us tested seat other than the Britax rear faceing now grab the top of the seat and pull backwords tward the rear of the car. It will move and come back very easy. Inside the seats in your car are metal support bars of reinforced steel if your child hits the seat with thier head what will happen??? I wold rather not find out.

CAR SEATS TECKS STARTED IN EUROPE!!! NOT THE US.

On your link where does it talk about crash testing standards? Europe or usa.

NOT EVERYONE IN THIS FORUM KNOWS AS MUCH AS THE NEXT!

p.s. TAKE THE TIME AND DO SOME RESEARCH please your childs life may hang in the ballance.

Greg car seat teck

[carseatguys]

Car seat safety resources

Congress directed the Department of Transportation to come up with tougher federal standards for safety seats. The new regulations could mandate rear and side impact crash testing before a seat is approved for sale. To learn more about car seat safety, follow the links below

http://www.msnbc.com/news/997378.asp?cp1=1

This comes from MSNBC news

Why the change? Last year 1,200,000 plus childern where involved in collisions 77,000 plus were seriously injured or killed.

If your a car seat teck you should not give out missinformation!

Sorry to be so blunt but thier is to much info passed out that is wrong or misleading. Not all car seats are made the same some are much safer. If the us seats were tested by euro standards none of them wold pass the test!!! When you fly to europe if you have a us seat and plan to use it you must post a bond I . E your credit card info to the tune of $5,000 if you child is injured your responsible for the first 5k of expense. They dont want you to use your US tested seat its not safe in thier eyes.

[murphydog77]

Fact is, we live in the U.S. and must live by U.S. crash testing standards. I do agree that they could be much more stringent and would support any recommendation to make them that way. The fact is, all car seats on the store shelves meet U.S. standards or they are recalled and pulled off the shelves.

The main purpose of a child restraint is to keep a child from being ejected from a vehicle. Any technician trained in the U.S. is told that in class. Every technician is also told that it is unethical to tell someone to buy one particular seat, since no one seat will work in every circumstance. This certainly is a forum where opinions can be expressed, but it should be stated as such, not as fact.

I've spent probably several hours a day over the past 4 years hanging around car seat forums, working with knowledgeable techs (including some of the country's best), and researching for my own web site and I haven't heard about the crash testing that you say Britax is doing in the U.S. Now, my memory isn't the best and I'm first to admit it, lol--can you supply me with supporting U.S. links? I just made a quick run-through of the Britax U.S. web site and didn't see anything regarding the lockoffs and side impacts. Lockoffs are designed to take the place of metal locking clips--but I would love to see anything you have regarding keeping the seats from tipping in a side impact.

As for the advice given by other techs on this message board, I've never seen bad advice given. If a mistake has been made, it's either been quickly addressed by the person who made it or by someone else. The techs who do post to this board have always been professional in the advice given and do their best given the amount of information provided. We are not infallible and know everything--I know that I learn something new every day.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.carseatsite.com

[murphydog77]

The main differences that I haven't seen addressed are that the Marathon is a much taller seat and the forward-facing weight limit is much higher. Having a taller seat means that you can keep your dd rear-facing for longer without having to worry that she'll be too tall and you'll have to turn her. That also works for forward-facing as well--it's a seat that will be used longer because it can accommodate taller and heavier children.

Only you can decide if it's worth it to you to return the Triumph and get a Marathon. I find the memory harness to be quite interesting and that may be a selling point for you. Have you tried your dd in the Marathon yet to see how she fits in it? The harness sits much lower across the legs and the buckle is lower too. Have you tried it in your car? I would use the seat that fits in your car most tightly and that fits your dd.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.carseatsite.com

[carseatguys]

Ok I was a carseat teck in england before I moved to the us and yes the testing is different. Also one point look at all the additional features the marathon has! Hugs restraints ,front and rear teather, visco impact foam like a bike helmet, side lock offsand a contoured base. If your telling all the people in this forum buy the seat that installs the tightest( we have a winner ) Britax will install better than any us car seat. As a car seat teck or any car seat teck you should all know this!

Now something you dont know ( the car seat classes and the check up events are funded in part by cosco and others who make car seats not by Britax. They would loose all the additional funding they get if they started telling moms and dads buy Britax its safer. When I went through US certification they told me flat out dont tell moms and dads to buy one seat over annother we will loose our funding from cosco.

Greg car seat teck

p.s. I dont care about the feelings of any carseat company its all about the safty of the Child period! For the car seat companies its about the all mighty DOLLAR. They could make safer seats they just choose not to spend the money to improve the product to safer standards.

[Joolsplus2]

Where did you take your training? There is no funding from Cosco or any other seat maker, it is done by AAA or now Safe Kids, NHTSA and state and local governments. We are told not to recommend one seat over another because not all seats will fit all vehicles and be used correctly by all parents all of the time. There are a wide variety of seats out there, and some are better for some parents, some children, and some cars. There are features I prefer to recommend that make a seat more easy to use correctly (Front harness adjuster, tall slots, non-twist harness, extended rear facing) and it's easier to mention seat names than features in some instances, but that does NOT mean the seats are multiple times safer. The testing standards refer to head and knee excursion limits, which you can look up at NHTSA.dot.gov (16 times safer means head excursion would be a mere 2 inches. The britax site in finland has actual crash videos that show a great deal more than 2 inches head excursion in an FF seat...there's a link to that in my sig, if you're interested in looking into that). Also, there is a great deal of lament on UK sites that seats are NOT tested in side impact crashes. Britax is a UK brand, though they do test and sell seats in other countries.
www.carseat.org under "technical" covers the built-in lockoffs and rearfacing tether questions, if you (or anyone reading this who wants to clarify things in their own mind) care to review them.

Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Leah mom of Evan]

I'm having the same dilemma... which one to buy? Is there a reason why you are dissatisfied with the Triumph? According to Consumer Reports, the Triumph actually rated higher for crash safety, but the Britax scored higher for ease of use. Overall, they chose Britax. If safety is comparable or better on the Triumph, then why pay over a $100 more?

[MartiesMom2B]

We have a Triumph, which I bought due to cost and Consumer Reports rating. DD is super comfortable in it and she looks like she's riding in a lazy boy. I wouldn't use it if I had to have more carseats in the back though because it's very wide. I also like the fact that I can make the straps snug on DD with ease. I tried the Alpha Omega and find it very difficult to adjust the straps.

However the safest carseat is the one installed properly and used properly. If you find the Triumph difficult you should probably spend the extra money on the Britax if it's easier to use.

Sonia http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/1/character03.gif
Proud Mommy to Martie
http://lilypie.com/baby2/030406/3/4/3/+10/.png

[OneOfEachHowSweet]

The MA ~ simply because you can use it for much longer as a 5 pt harenss ~ my DS was too tall for his 5 pt seat b4 he was even 4 years old ~ I hated seeing him in a booster, it just didn't seem safe. Now he's in a Marathon and I expect him to fit in it for a couple more years, I should've bought the MA when he was a baby and not even bothered with the oringinal (unsafe) toddler seat we 1st bought him.

Shannon
Mommy of 2

[Maelew]

We chose the Triumph because the height was higher on that model than the marathon (we put baby in both seats at the store to compare). They both seem like great seats though - it was a hard decision to make. Good luck on yours!!

[jennmcl39]

We just bought the Triumph tonight! We actually went to BRU to get the Marathon, but they were all being fixed per the recall. Looked at the RA, but liked the Triumph so much more. Very cushy! Plus, it has the bike helmet foam stuff (don't know what it's called!) just like the Britax models.

The Triumph rates high with the CPSC, so I feel totally safe! Was easy to install, and VERY snugly I might add!!