i bought one of these gates in 2007 and it has the kneepad on it- it was great; easy to use, easy to install, has held up well. with a new baby, i need another one so i purchased this one since it is a newer model. this was still easy to install but the foot pedal keeps getting stuck and it makes it very difficult to open the gate in one step. i find myself having to stomp on the pedal 3 or 4 times to get it to open. i'm not happy with the new design of the gate versus the 2007 version.