britax roundabout or marathon?

daniellepanda

I am having a hard time choosing which convertible car seat to get for our other car. I am torn between the britax roundabout 55 and the marathon 70. Both have the same safety results in crash test ratings, but the roundabout goes to 55lbs and the marathon is 70 lbs. They are both rear facing until 40lbs so that is great because it will last us to 2+ years rear facing. But also- a child at 70lbs, which is like an 8 year old, will not still be using a car seat if anything just a booster seat so is the extra cost of the marathon worth it? The roundabout 55 is $158 and marathon 70 is $218. Please tell me if you have either of these which you feel makes more sense to purchase to help me decide!

TBLilyRose

I think the Roundabout would do the job just fine, but we have the Marathon and really like it. One thing I'm not sure if the Roundabout has that the Marathon does is the easy adjustable harness (you don't have to re-thread the straps).

 Here's a good comparison between the two from Britax's website

https://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/fit-my-child/compare.aspx?ID=32,33&f=d

 

daniellepanda

Ohhhh that may be a deal breaker haha those things are a pain!

 

TBLilyRose

daniellepanda:

Ohhhh that may be a deal breaker haha those things are a pain!

 

Seriously, it's probably my favorite feature! Makes it so much easier. I think the Roundabout is a great seat but I do love the little bells and whistles on the other versions, lol. 

SuperCuteBenz

I would say the Roundabout, because I don't think the adjustable harness is worth an extra $60. It seriously takes 5 minutes to adjust the harness and you don't do it that often anyway.

I have 2 Marathons and a Roundabout 50. I love my RA 50 just as much as the Marathons. If not more, because it was about $100 cheaper.

gimmietimmies

Butting in - the top harness slot on the Marathon is an inch higher than the top slot on the Roundabout. Not sure if that's a big deal, but if you go the Roundabout route you can always get a harnessed booster after.

ETA - My 9 year old barely makes the weight limit on that seat, but she's miles passed fitting that seat, she's 4'11". My 3 year old no longer fits the Radian, which is the same height limit as the Marathon. She is 35 lbs soaking wet, we've had to move her to a Frontier harnessed (there are no boosters here rated below 30lbs). She also wears 5/6 size clothes, so the Marathon may last you until 5 if lo is average height.

Wufroggy79

We have a Marathon...not the newest 70 one but I think it goes to 65. Got a great deal on it at Amazon over the summer. We have two now, and we love them both.

SuperCuteBenz

gimmietimmies:

Butting in - the top harness slot on the Marathon is an inch higher than the top slot on the Roundabout. Not sure if that's a big deal, but if you go the Roundabout route you can always get a harnessed booster after.

ETA - My 9 year old barely makes the weight limit on that seat, but she's miles passed fitting that seat, she's 4'11". My 3 year old no longer fits the Radian, which is the same height limit as the Marathon. She is 35 lbs soaking wet, we've had to move her to a Frontier harnessed (there are no boosters here rated below 30lbs). She also wears 5/6 size clothes, so the Marathon may last you until 5 if lo is average height.

Is this on the newest ones? I all my seats are the Classic seats, and I could have sworn the RA 50/ Marathon had the same harness heights, no? I thought I remember reading that Britax upped the weight limits but decreased the overall height limit, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I much prefer the Classic seats, and wish that they were more widely available.