Kolcraft Contours Optima Tandem Stroller Review and Auction

When the weather is nice outside (which hasn't been often around here lately) the boys love for me to take them on a walk around our neighborhood in a stroller. They love to point out to one another everything they see or as they would say "spy with their little eye." Of course their favorite thing to bring along include drinks and snacks. Our current double stroller, while still a great product, only allows for one seating position and does not include extras like cup holders and storage. Naturally I ended up having to push the stroller while managing to juggle two sippy cups for the boys. This always made for a challenging walk.

I was thrilled when Kolcraft approached me about hosting a review for their Contours Optima Tandem Stroller. I loved that I would have the option of several seating positions and best of all there were cup holders all over the place! Before I even took the boys for our first walk I had a feeling that I would fall in love with the stroller.

 Kolcraft Contour Optima Features:

• Lightweight aluminum frame - only 36.8 lbs
• Six different seating options: children can both face parent, face each other, face forward, back to back, front seat only (large storage in the back), or use with an infant car seat
• Height-adjustable canopies, with peek-in windows, can be raised or lowered: min. 23" to max. 27" so your baby is always covered
• Infant car seat attachment fits most car seat brands. Additional infant car seat attachment is sold separately
• Extra-large storage basket
• Accommodates one or two infants/children
• Independent reclining seats, child cup holders, sun-rider canopies
• Steering is a breeze with two 8" front single swivel wheels and 10" rear never-flat wheels
• Four cupholders, 2 for parents and 2 for children
• Infant head rest
• Easy-trigger fold
• Convenient Free-Stand™ allows the stroller to stand upright when folded
• Height-adjustable 5-point safety harness; padded infant head rest and sleeves for comfort
• One-year manufacturer warranty

All of the parts laying on the floor.

Chunky's idea of helping with assembly.

Product assembly is always my pet peeve. I am impatient and hate to sit around on the floor for a long time reading instructions trying to figure out how to assemble something with a million parts. Especially since the boys always love to "help" and end up spreading parts all over the house. When I finally took all of the parts out of the box and spread them on the floor I was surprised at how few parts there were. Everything seemed fairly simple to understand and just from looking at the parts I already had a pretty good idea of how to complete the assembly without even reading the instructions. Yes, that is how men like to assemble products. Using my better judgement I found the instructions and began to read. The instructions were very simple and easy to follow. The only tool required for assembly was a screw driver. Total time for me to read instructions and complete assembly was around 10 minutes. It could not have been any easier.
 

Telling each other their very best jokes.

When the weather finally cleared up I took the boys out for our inaugural walk. It was soon apparent that I was indeed in love with the new stroller. What is not to love about this stroller? I no longer have to hold the boys sippy cups. Each seat has its own cup holder that is easily accessible to my boys. I even have two cup holders of my own and a storage tray on the handlebar to hold my keys or phone. What I really love is all the different positions and inclines I can seat my boys. The boys love to face each other so they can tell jokes and make each other laugh. You might be thinking or wanting to ask right now how difficult it is to switch around the seats to all of the different positions. It is really as simple as pressing and holding in the two red buttons located on the sides of the seat and then lifting the seat right out. (If you look closely in the picture above you can see the red buttons right below Chunky and Monkey's elbows.) Then all you have to do is position the seat the way you want and slide the bars back into place until the red buttons lock. It really was a breeze. In fact for one of the position changes for the photos I left Chunky buckled in the seat while changing positions. I do not recommend doing this because you could drop your child and injury could result. No, Chunky was not harmed or in any danger when I changed the position. When you are done using the stroller the easy trigger folding system makes collapsing the stroller simple. The Convenient Free-Stand feature even allows for the stroller to stand upright when folded. This is great so you don't have to lean it against a wall or something when storing.

Monkey obviously just told Chunky a funny joke.

Safety is always a top priority of mine when choosing a stroller or any product for that matter. The Contours Optima stroller comes with a height adjustable 5 point safety harness. This is the same harness used in car seats. The stroller even includes a padded infant head rest and padded shoulder sleeves for added comfort. There is even a removable handlebar which I would think would be a safety bar should the stroller somehow ever flip on its side. Kolcraft did an amazing job incorporating every safety feature in this stroller.

Monkey loves the sunshade and safety handlebar.

With Monkey being very fair skinned a good canopy is a must for any stroller we would own. The Contours stroller comes with height adjustable canopies so they can be raised or lowered to ensure that your child is always well covered. There are even peek in windows on the top of the canopy so you can look in and check on your child. They also make for a fun game of peek-a-boo with infants. While speaking of infants, also included is an infant car seat adapter that will fit most car seat brands. To see a full list of car seats that will work with the attachment you can visit here.


This is their favorite position. They love that they are face to face and can see each other. They spend most of the time telling jokes and making silly faces trying their best to make the other one laugh. This is always entertaining and to be honest a few times they have even made me laugh out loud.

I would recommend having the larger child in the rear seat for this position. My boys were adamant about keeping their "own" seats and would not switch positions for me.

In this position Monkey liked that he could see where we were going and Chunky liked that he could interact with me. I like all the things I could store in the space between them when they are back to back. This will be my favorite position for the zoo or any other trips we make.

This is the "lets make silly faces at daddy" position. They spend all their time in this position trying to make me laugh. I have also been known to make a few silly faces of my own to make the boys laugh. I like that I can see what both of them are doing at all times in this position.


I have been really impressed with the Kolcraft Contours Optima Stroller so far. The only flaw that I have noticed so far is that in some of the seating positions it will have a little difficulty going over the curb (look in background of pictures and you can see the curb or lip that I am talking about) as I try to walk up my driveway. I notice this mostly when Monkey, my heavier child, is in the front seat. This is a very small matter and I would not let this turn you away from making a purchase. I really did try hard to come up with any flaws so I could present you with a honest review but this was the best I could do. It really is a great product for the cost and I would recommend it to anyone.

The Kolcraft Contours Optima Tandem Stroller costs $299.99 and you can buy it locally or online through several major retailers. To find a store near you or to find an authorized online site please visit here.

 Silent Auction!!!

Kolcraft strongly believes in giving back to the community and has found that silent auctions not only benefit moms and children in disadvantages situations, but they give the winner a great product at a fraction of the retail cost. All proceeds from the silent auction will go directly to KIDS - Kids In Distressed Situations. KIDS is a great organization that provides NEW clothing, toys, shoes, baby products, books and more to children and families challenged by poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, low literacy, military family service, major illness, incarcerated family members, and disaster survival.

How To Bid

To place a bid leave a message in the comment section located at the bottom of this review page. Please leave me your email address along with your bid in case you win. I would like the bidding to start at $125 and there is a minimum $5 bid increment for every bid after that. Remember that this is a $300+ tandem stroller and ALL of the proceeds benefit KIDS so please bid generously and lets raise some money for a good cause!

Winning Bidder

If you are the winning bidder once the silent auction ends, you will make your donation to KIDS. You can go straight to their donation form here.  After making your donation KIDS will send you a copy of the electronic receipt. You will need to forward me a copy of your receipt along with your address and I will get in touch with Kolcraft and get the stroller heading your way.

Opening bid starts at $125. Please bid in $5 increments and include an email in your comment. Bidding closes August 3rd, 2012 at 7:00pm (CST). 

Disclaimer: We were sent a Kolcraft Contours Optima Tandem Stroller for review purposes. No other monetary compensation was given. All opinions are our own and may differ from yours.