Product Rating

Amost a five star rating

by Juan M. Gutierrez 2007-12-08

Excellent child bike seat!! I find it very safe and a confortable ride for both my 2 year old daughter and myself. The only reason I do not give it 5 stars is because of the cheap fabric that tears at the seams after the first couple of rides. Even with this issue I recommend this seat highly.

Product Rating

Pleased with seat

by Frank E. Cannizzaro 2007-06-27

As others mentioned, the seat installation instructions are a little challenging. I spent almost 2.5 hours getting it properly installed on my Mountain bike. Installing it takes a little patience, but once installed, it has performed great. I like that you can lean it back a little bit, and the seat sides help protect him, especially while cycling passed othes. Our chlid weights ~ 20 lbs. I would buy this seat again.

Product Rating

Finally a Child Seat that Fits

by Alison K. 2007-05-29

I had purchased two child bicycle seats before this one, just to find out they would not work due to an unusual mountain bike frame on my bike. After doing some reseach online it looked like the Kettler seats would be the only kind that might work. Thankfully it does, though it took a good hour or more for my husband to get it on for me. My only complaint is that I can not ride with my peddle cages, if I do my heels hit the foot rests on the seat. Other than that, I'm happy to have something to plop my 22 month old on and just go (we have a trailer, but I hate having to put it together everytime I want to take a quick ride). The seat is so easy to put on and remove when I hang my bike up while I'm not riding, or if I'm not taking him. I think he prefers to go in the trailer, but he's starting to get used to the seat.

Product Rating

Best Baby Seat

by Neil Harris 2007-05-26

The Kettler Flipper was highly recommended by a friend. I had looked at baby carriers that are towed behind the bicycle but I did not want all that weight. The Flipper was easy to install even though the directions are in pictograms rather than words. A bracket attaches to the bike frame below the seat post and it can be adjusted up and down and rotated to get the angle right -- I had to raise the bracket after initial installation to avoid hitting it with my knees when I pedal. The seat and attached frame slip and clamp into the bracket, which takes a bit of work -- removing it takes a second or two, so you can ride without the seat when you are solo. The baby is well protected, feet strapped in as well as torso. The seat reclines a bit for comfort. Light weight, easy on and off, baby safe and comfortable -- an excellent bike seat for baby.

Product Rating

Not up to Kettler's high standards

by Marcus Enstein 2007-05-08

I have always been impressed with Kettler's balance bike and tricycles. Because of my appreciation for these, I decided to order the Kettler bicycle seat rather than the "Copilot" bicycle seat that most people around here own. In hindsight, this was a bad decision.

1. the installation directions are a mess. In addition to the fact that the booklet consists only of pictures, which are in some cases not clear, the particular booklet that shipped with my seat was not even correct! Step 6 depicts the use of an 8mm bolt in a manner that violates the laws of physics. A copy of the same booklet downloaded from their website does not have the same error, and completely redoes several of the pictures.

2. Some installation hardware was missing, including one non-locking nut and a 22mm washer. Between the missing parts and the inaccurate instructions, installation took about three hours, plus a trip to the hardware store to buy replacements for the missing pieces.

3. I am not entirely comfortable with the mechanism that prevents the seat from sliding off the back of its supporting rack. I added a carabiner to the rear to reduce the risk.

4. The instructions require that the pivot at the back of the seat be at most 10cm behind the rear axle of the bike. On my bike at least, this left my heels slamming into the footrests of the seat on every pedal revolution. I moved the seat farther back after one ride.

5. The saddle bags are poorly designed and difficult to open one-handed. Given the need to hold the bike upright with one hand when a child is in the seat, this makes the bags much less useful. The bags should have double zippers with much bigger pulls, at the least.

6. The seat cushion is, in my opinion, ugly.

On the positive side, the seat is easy to remove, which simplifies my carrying of the bike down to storage in our basement after a ride. My daughter finds it comfortable and, even without my reclining the seat, she falls asleep in it without trouble. The seat belts and lap bar seem safe and give me peace of mind. I thought my daughter would object to the ankle strap (intended to prevent a child from kicking his or her parent in the rear while riding), but she did not mind. Of course, when she gets bored, she can still lean forward and hit me in the rear with her fists.