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Consumer Protection

Hamax Buddy Child Bike Seats Sold by Decathlon Since 2022 Are Recalled Over a Harness Label That Poses a Choking Risk

Portugal's consumer authority has issued a recall notice for the Hamax Buddy child bike seat sold by Decathlon from January 2022 to August 2026. A fabric label on the harness strap can come loose. Which seats are affected and what to do.

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Written in English, with the help of AI tools, from the Portuguese sources named in this story. How we work

Hamax Buddy Child Bike Seats Sold by Decathlon Since 2022 Are Recalled Over a Harness Label That Poses a Choking Risk
A rear child bike seat with a harness, for illustration; it is not necessarily the recalled model. Photo: Xanor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

A child bike seat sold by Decathlon for more than four years is being recalled because a fabric label sewn onto its harness strap may not be properly attached. A small child could pull the label off and choke on it. The product is the Hamax Buddy, a rear-mounted seat for carrying a young child on a bicycle.

The Direção-Geral do Consumidor (DGC, Portugal's consumer protection authority) published a product recall notice, Aviso DGC 37/2026, on Friday 23 October. The DGC's warning covers seats Decathlon sold between 1 January 2022 and 6 August 2026. France's official recall register, RappelConso, published the same recall on 19 October and sets out the details.

Which seats are affected

  • Product: Hamax Buddy child bike seat.
  • Codes: 4091054 and 8591602.
  • Dates: made or sold between 1 January 2022 and 6 August 2026.
  • Seller: Decathlon.

According to the RappelConso notice (fiche 2026-10-0171), the problem is the fabric label on the harness strap, not the seat's shell or its fixing to the bike. A seat with no label on the strap is not affected.

What to do

The recall notice does not ask owners to return the seat. It asks them to cut the fabric label completely off the harness strap. The notice says that once the label has been removed the choking risk is gone and the seat can be used as normal.

  • Check the harness strap for a sewn-on fabric label.
  • Remove it completely, so that no loose piece is left that a child could pull off.
  • Until you have done this, do not put a child in the seat.
  • If you are unsure whether your seat is one of the affected models, or need help, contact the Decathlon store where you bought it. The recall notice tells consumers to contact the point of sale.

The French notice lists the recall as voluntary, made by the company without an order from the authorities.

Checking other recalls

The DGC publishes recall and safety notices for consumer products sold in Portugal on its website, consumidor.gov.pt. Across the EU, dangerous non-food products are also reported on the European Commission's Safety Gate alert system. Online marketplaces have their own duties too: in July the Commission fined AliExpress 550 million euros under the Digital Services Act for failing to deal with unsafe goods.

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