This seat was a hit from the moment I took it out of the box. My 20 m.o. loved playing on it. Then, when I put it on the bicycle, she was really thrilled. It has been great fun for us both. I love having her ride up on the bike with me instead of in a trailer on the ground. No trouble with dust or mud flying at her. And she's up high and safer with me in case we come across aggressive-looking dogs, bears, etc. I was worried that the bicycle would ride awkwardly with the additional weight of the seat and child, but it rides great. I can maneuver well on narrow trails. Also, the suspension system works great when we hit the bumps. The assembly instructions were straight forward and fit my no-suspension mtn bike fine. With her bike helmet on I feel she is pretty well protected. Of course, I ride rather conservatively--all in all I think the seat is pretty safe. One safety aspect that I am very concious of is that I keep a good hold on the bike any time the child is in the seat and I'm off the bike. If I'm off the bike, then she comes out of the seat--but that gives her more opportunities to stretch her legs than if she was in a trailer. One other thing--don't wear pants with an elastic waistband or your kid may entertain herself during the ride by depantsing you! Kettler Flipper Child Bike Carrier
After coming to the realization that I would need to fabricate some parts in order to get a child seat on my 29er mountain bike (REI Novara Matador {L}) I found this and it seemed two good to be true. It had everything I was looking for; quick on and off, no rack required, safe and comfortable for the little passenger, and would not interfere with operation of the bike. I found it to be exactly as advertised, the installation was straight forward and my daughter LOVES her new seat. The construction of the seat is not as heavy duty as the Britax car seats we have but it seams well made and I don't have any reservations about putting her in it. She is almost 2 1/2 years old ~26 lbs and it seems like she has quite a bit of growing to do before she outgrows it. Removing the seat from the frame clamp is super quick and easy, under 5 seconds quick! Because the seat doesn't attach to the frame near the rear wheel like the rack based seats there is no interference with my disk brakes or rear derailleur. The only thing I don't like about it is the shoulder straps. They could use some padding and a second buckle over her breast plate, I fear the straps will to easily slip off her shoulders. I will probably rob the buckle and pads from an old car seat to solve the problem. Overall I am very happy with it and highly recommend it.
This is probably the best seat around. Well made, well designed and very easy to use.
Even though they say it is not for fully sprung (soft tail) bikes, it can be fitted on at least one. I fit it on a Cannondale Rush and it works very well. Even went on some smooth forest trails with my 11 month old daughter who loved it!!
It depends on the design of the downtube.seatpost and rear suspension. In general, if the travel is horizontal and there is room with clearance above the top travel point andconnection point of the crossmember of the frame, it will fit and work well.
Worth every penny!
As for now, my review is about my first impressions and installation. I have not used the seat yet.
I was looking for a seat for my 15 m.o. that would be safe and easy to attach and remove. I have decided on the Kettler Flipper, but from the perspective of time I think I should have considered the Topeak seat which would mount as quickly and easily to my Topeak rack. I would only have to make sure that the rack is parallel to the ground, which it is not at the moment. Well, I went with Kettler, and I am happy about my decision despite a few minor annoyances.
At first, I ordered the seat from Amazon Warehouse. I have received the "08947-580" model (the model number is printed on the cover of manual). The seat was great with a mix of black and red colors as can be seen on Kettler's web page at this time. Unfortunately, the seat was damaged when I received it, so it had to be returned. I got the model sold on Amazon, which is "08947-570". The main difference is in the color: 570 is exactly as on the picture in the product description, and it does not look as good as the 580 model. It also felt a bit lighter, but I have not confirmed my impression with actually weighing the two seats, so I could be wrong.
The seat comes with almost all tools necessary to assemble it, except for a wrench necessary to complete step 6a (you can get the manual from Kettler web page). The quality of the manual is only average, and I have hit a few snags. First, my frame tube is 35mm thick, but when I tried to use 35mm mounting brackets, the assembly was too loose. I had to use the 32mm brackets for a good fit. The manual consists mostly of images without much explanation. The images for step 6a, for example, are a bit confusing as they show two different orientations for the top M8 nut, which I installed with the elongated part up as shown in the main image. The complete assembly took about 45min to an hour (I don't know exactly since my son would not let me complete it in one go). I ended up installing the sit in the front-most position, but it was still further than 10cm behind the axle of my rear wheel, which is the maximum recommended by the manual. I guess that the geometry of my bike is a bit different than the usual assumed by Kettler. If it was not for my rack, I could have mounted the bracket lower down, which would move the whole seat to the front due to the angle of the tube, and that would possibly bring the seat into a correct position. Well, I will just use it as it is and hope for the best. :)
When I rode my bike without seat attached, the mounting bracket was rubbing on my knees from time to time. This is something to be aware of if you ride a somewhat sporty bike.
In conclusion, I would recommend this seat and it meets my expectations. It is on the heavy side, but no matter what seat you get, it will not weigh nothing. The Kettler seat adds the suspension frame, which is somewhat heavy. The Topeak seat, for example, weighs 6.9 lbs without a rack, and the Flipper seat weighs 14 lbs. One should be aware of the difference when choosing.
Update:
I have now used the seat on a few trips. It works as expected. The only thing I had to do is to move the seat backward by one notch on the rack (the seat has grooves that match the rack). I have tried to maintain the "no more than 10cm behind the rear axle" rule given by the manual, but my son was too close to me. I thought that the rule was important for some structural reasons, but I have realized that it is probably to prevent from the bike flipping back when the rider is off and the baby is on. Indeed, the front wheel goes up easily when my son is in the seat, but it is not to a point where it should be a problem. When I am on the bike, there is no problem at all. And, with the seat moved back, the attachment rack gives a bit more amortization. We have been biking on some bumpy gravel road, and my son seemed pretty comfortable in the back. Also, I really like the small bags attached to the seat. I cannot use my rack when the seat is on, but I can pack a few small things into the bags.
I also bumped my rating from 4 to 5 stars. After I forgot about the few installation pains I had, I really love that seat. :) - Bicycle Accessories - Child Bike Seat - Baby Bike Seat - Bike Seat'
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