pros & Cons of marathon, Boulevard, & Decathlon carseats

If you have one of these three, can you please offer me pros, cons to each of them. We will be purchasing one of the following very soon.

Marathon convertable
Boulevard Convertable
Decathlon Convertable

 

If you have one of these three, can you please offer me pros, cons to each of them. We will be purchasing one of the following very soon.

Marathon convertable
Boulevard Convertable
Decathlon Convertable

 

We have the marathons and I love them. They seem to be very comfortable - they're heavily padded. It's easy to adjust the height of the straps and how tight they are too. And with the LATCH system it takes about two minutes to install them. I don't know anything about the other two carseats.

 

We have the Roundabout because the 3 larger Britax seats you listed did not fit in our car rear-facing with my DH driving. Hopefully you are not too tall or you have a big car!!! Just wanted to throw that in there, just in case!

 

thanks- good point..i was going to add to my first post that we have a mini van if that makes a difference.

 

I read that all 3 you posted were good! I just can't decide which one but leaning towards the Decathalon or Boulevard. I did read that the Roundabout was good but has a lower weight limit and they might outgrow it sooner.

 

We are very happy with our Marathons.

The main difference between the MA and the Boulevard is the winged head protection and the harness adjuster (dont' have to unthread the straps on the BV to raise them higher). The main difference between the MA and the Decathalon is the adjustable crotch strap and I think the way you release the harness (push button on the DC vs. a lever on the MA).

I could be wrong but I think those are the main differences. The height/weight limits are th same on all 3 seats. Ultimately we went with the Marathons because of price and we liked one of the fabrics on the MA (Ashley).

HTH!

 

We chose the marathons and have been very pleased with them. No cons that I can think of (unless you have a smaller car, then I'd go w/ roundabouts).

Check around online, you can get free shipping and low prices on last year's fabrics.

 

the marathon, decathalon, and boulevard are all basically the same seat, same shell, harness heights, and weight limits.

the marathon is very simple, and a great seat.

the decathalon is a marathon with removable infant padding and an adjustable crotch strap, making it better for using from birth. it also has a toddler head pillow and a push button harness adjuster like the roundabout.

the boulevard has removable infant padding for use with a small baby and side impact protection. it also has a knob to adjust harness height. it has the same lever as the marathon.

if you can get the decathalon for less, or you like a decathalon pattern better, get it. its the same seat, just with some added features.
We bought the Decathalons. easy installations. I too had a hard time choosing, but we found the DC online at a discounted price. They were in fabrics that were being discontinued so I got them both for 202.00/piece plus S&H. So right around 227.00 I think each. Not a bad deal considering they'll be in them for a while.

 

Just figured I'd mention that the Latch system is getting some bad press out there right now iwth police departments, etc. Your best bet is to use the latches and the seatbelt if you're able, from what I'm reading.

Good Luck

Teri D

 

We have the Boulevards and Marathons both. I have the babies most of the time, so the Boulevards are in my car. They do have more padding/protection than the Marathons. They also go up to 65 pounds. I'm not sure about the Marathon. We just installed them last weekend and we used the latches and the seatbelts. What are police departments having issue with? That wasn't mentioned to us.

 

quote:
Originally posted by EMc2:
the marathon, decathalon, and boulevard are all basically the same seat, same shell, harness heights, and weight limits.

the marathon is very simple, and a great seat.

the decathalon is a marathon with removable infant padding and an adjustable crotch strap, making it better for using from birth. it also has a toddler head pillow and a push button harness adjuster like the roundabout.

the boulevard has removable infant padding for use with a small baby and side impact protection. it also has a knob to adjust harness height. it has the same lever as the marathon.

if you can get the decathalon for less, or you like a decathalon pattern better, get it. its the same seat, just with some added features.
We bought the Decathalons. easy installations. I too had a hard time choosing, but we found the DC online at a discounted price. They were in fabrics that were being discontinued so I got them both for 202.00/piece plus S&H. So right around 227.00 I think each. Not a bad deal considering they'll be in them for a while.


I think you are right.

We have the decathalons and love them. Is it true that the Decathalon is the only one that comes with the top tether? We have ours latched AND top tethered.