I am NOT a fan of ballistic parachutes for anything other than
ultralights, where engine/structure may be substandard.

Even for a 2-place homebuilt, a ballistic parachute has a limited value.

It will eat 50-75 lbs of your useful load;

I don't believe so. I recently had a BRS-5 750 UL on a Maxair Drifter
XP503 2 place experimental. The weight of the 'chute was right around
23 lbs

it is expensive to maintain, as the pyrotechnics have to be replaced
every 5 years or so;

Currently for BRS the rockets are good for 12 years and the 'chute
needs to be repacked every six years. Also, with the newer models you
remove the rocket from the 'chute to ease shipping when sending the
canister back for repack.

it is expensive to buy($5000-$10000);

Current pricing for my model is $2,195.00. The Cessna 172 model will
run you almost 16K.

The pyrotechnics may present a safety hazard (rember flares? they caused
more hangar fires than lives saved -- I even know of two lives LOST
because the flare hung up on a wing strut.)

I flew with one for over 4 years in my Drifter. Luckily I never needed
(or even came close) to use it. It was just another bit of insurance.

For more information on BRS 'chutes: http://brsparachutes.com/

FWIW

Mark