Hamax HAM553081 Caress Rear Child Car Seat Grey/White (Open Box)

This seat is a bit overhyped based on its appearance and euro design. It, however, falls short in the practicality department. After extensive research, I compared this to the Thule Ride Along and the Topeak Babyseat II, along with a number of other on-paper comparisons. Ultimately, I settled on the Topeak for its practicality, ease of use, affordability, and that great front bar. I should preface that if you want the utility of a rear rack, it rules out the Ride Along, which while a decent seat, is strictly frame mounted. The Hamax is available in either mount type, but for the compatibility with a rack, I opted for the rack-mounted one. The rack mount is my first big gripe with this seat. It’s heavy and quite cumbersome to install, and is far too time-consuming to install and uninstall. This thing is just too over engineered for what it is. Weight: The Hamax is the heaviest of the three. Unfortunately, it seems many reviewers (and manufacturer specs) don’t take into account the mounting hardware into total weight. Comfortability: This comes down mostly between the Topeak and Thule. The Hamax seems the least comfortable, and is the only one with a non-removable/washable seat cushion. The oft-touted suspension is just springs, which the others also have (Thule uses the frame rods as suspension, much like all frame-mounted seats do—I do find this type of suspension a bit too bouncy), and the Topeak (being rack-mounted) has a similar style spring suspension. The Topeak seems better suited to accommodate a helmet, due to the large handle cutout at the top. It’s odd that the others somehow overlook the fact that children will likely wear a helmet. Adjustability: The Topeak is the only one of these three without a recline option, but I found that a useless feature, personally. The Thule does have the easiest recline mechanism, as well as a handy ability to adjust the seat distance position. In other words, the Thule is hands-down the most flexible seat. Harness/Safety: The Hamax has a decent harness, placing it in the middle of the pack (the worst category for the Topeak), but the rubber “cushions” at the top restrict it for larger kids. The Topeak is the only one with a front horizontal bar, which is a fantastic feature, and it’s also more of a wraparound design, giving your child a more secure feel. Build Quality: The Thule is probably tops in this category, followed by the Hamax. Well, they’re all just a hunk of mostly plastics of some sort, though the Hamax uses more shiny plastics to give it a more “polished” look/feel. The Thule is made in Poland (EU), while the Topeak is made in Taiwan, and the Hamax in China. Practicality: As already mentioned, the Hamax falls short in this category due to its semi-permanent rack base. The Thule is quite simple to install and then attach and remove from the bike. The Topeak comes with a purpose-built rack that can both accommodate other (fantastic) Topeak accessories using their rail system, but also makes it a cinch to attach/detach the Babyseat due to its simple mechanism. This mount hardly adds any extra weight, which makes it the lightest option. It has the added benefit of freeing up the rack for other purposes when not using the seat. In short, while the Topeak is the most crude seat, with a terrible harness and crummy leg straps, it’s actually the most practical, comfortable, and safe seat in my humble opinion. Not to mention it’s the least expensive of the three, with an included quality rack to boot. A note about weight capacity: It appears there’s a disparity between US and EU standards related to these seats. Whereas the max weight capacity in Europe is 48lbs. The same seat will max out at 40lbs in the US. This seems to be because US regulators are reactionary and reluctant to conform to a more scientific standard (as is the case with a great many product lines). It’s not my place to tell any user what to do, but suffice it to say the EU has very strict standards for child safety. A word of caution: I would recommend you look up the manufacturer specs for your bike to get an accurate gross weight capacity to ensure you can spare the added weight of a child. Also, periodically inspect the mounting hardware for any loose bolts (a little Loctite goes a long way). Happy Cycling!