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12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 Great Stroller Jun 30, 2011
By Anne
I recently purchased this stroller and have been using it with my 5 month old twins. So far I have found it to be a great buy. I love how lightweight it is. It makes walks on the steep hills in my neighborhood a breeze. I did not have any concerns over its stability like a previous poster had said. I have no need for the carseat adapter so I do not have any reviews on that feature. My only wish is the canopy extended further, but most strollers have a much shorter canopy than the one on the optima anyway.
28 of 40 found the following review helpful:
 Disappointed Jun 08, 2011
By Jae
I originally tried to post this on the Kolcraft website, but they denied my posting stating that I had not followed their guidelines. I felt strongly about posting my opinions, so I hope this is helpful to someone.
We are expecting twins in July and do not want a side-by-side. We have been looking at the Baby Jogger City Select but have been having a hard time wrapping our minds around buying a $660 stroller. When I found the Options I and II, I wasn't fond of the length or weight. But then when I saw the Optima, I was very optimistic and we were excited about testing it out. I waited for the Hudson color to come out (we don't want a red stroller), and took a LONG drive out to the only store in the Atlanta area. Here are our must haves with a stroller:
* Weight: I am 5'1" and 115 pounds (pre-prego weight) and need something easy to lift and easy to fold down
* Seating: since we are having two boys, I don't like the idea of one being directly behind the other, so I really wanted something with true stadium style seating
* Durability: With twin boys, as they get older, I can see us being very active (going to parks, outdoor festivals, play dates etc.) We need something that can handle BOYS!
* Storage: My husband has very little trunk space, so we need a stroller that is pretty compact.
BUT, when my husband and I got to the store, we were EXTREMELY disappointed!! We spent an hour really contemplating our decision. You really cannot compare it with the City Select at all. The City Select is like a BMW while the Optima is like a Chevy Aveo. The Optima is made of plastic, while the Select is made of some kind of light weight metal (aluminum???) The Select is very sturdy and doesn't wobble. Here are our complaints about the Optima (no specific order).
* Fabric: portions of the seat are that soft fabric (the kind you can't wipe down without causing the fabric to get yucky). Strollers can get pretty dirty from food & beverage spillage, sweat and just everyday use. That kind of fabric just gets gross after a while. At least with the canvassy type of fabric, you can wipe it down well (or even spray it down outside) and it should get clean. When they would use this fabric is beyond me.
* Poorly constructed: This is our major complaint about the stroller. At first I thought that maybe it wasn't assembled correctly (like it was missing a pin to make it stop moving side to side). But it didn't appear to be wrong, and plus it was assembled by the stroller staff at Buy Buy Baby - that's what they do all day, deal with strollers. The floor model had only been in the store for 3 days, but it felt like it had been there for 3 years after being used as a bumper car. It wobbled VERY noticeably from side to side (with AND without the seats). It felt worse than an umbrella stroller. Maybe this is considered an umbrella stroller and I just didn't realize it. I would take a guess that if you were to grab the handle bar and apply a minimal amount of pressure to move it to the side, it would move about 1-1½ inches to either side. That's A LOT of give!
* Connections: Since the seat connections to the frame are plastic on plastic, it didn't fit snug. It felt like you could slide a piece of paper (that had been folded 2 or 3 times) between the connections. This added to the wobbliness. When you put the car seat attachment on it and an empty car seat, you feel very insecure about whether or not it is sturdy enough to hold your infant babies.
* Not compact: It's only a couple of inches longer and maybe an inch or two wider than the City Select. But even when you remove both seats, it doesn't fold up as compact as the City Select. Sure, it's a pretty decent fold considering it's a tandem double. It's only 5 pounds heavier - so it didn't seem like that big of a difference. I would say that the Select folds down about 3 inches skinnier and about 4 inches shorter than the Optima.
Things we liked:
* Cup holders: it is nice that each kid has their own built in cup holder and there is a parent tray. But this doesn't seem like a necessity to me - durability is a necessity.
* Color: I like the grey and green. But again, NOT a necessity
* Storage: I like the large basket - but the City Select has a pretty good basket too, plus the Select has zippers so you have better access.
* Handle height. My husband is 6', and even though it handle bars are NOT adjustable, he had NO problems pushing it around.
* Price: Sure, the price is nice at only $300, but I just felt like if we had bought the Optima, we would have to replace it after a year because we honestly do not feel like it would last that long. And by the time you buy a replacement stroller (even if it is a cheaper umbrella stroller), you're back up to spending $500-600 for the two strollers (possibly more if you have to replace it a third time). At that point, you might as well go with the City Select!
Apparently there was another couple that had put the stroller on hold at Buy Buy Baby, but they ended up NOT purchasing it for the same/similar reasons. I really did have high hopes for the Optima (and was pretty much set on getting it before we arrived at the store). I would have been SO upset if we had bought it before checking out the floor model. We think that if the Optima felt stronger and not so wobbly/flimsy, we would've gone with the Optima. We are going to buy the Baby Jogger City Select. Sorry Kolcraft, you've got to make your strollers stronger and more durable. This stroller doesn't feel like it would last past a year with consistent use.
THE BEST STROLLER May 23, 2012
By The Mississauga Mangler
I have owned many strollers and this one is by far the best. It folds nicely and can easily fit in the trunk of a car (even one as small as a Mitsubishi Lancer). It is highly modifiable (ie: you can face either cradle front or back).
It is easily manueverable so you will have no issues taking this into tight spots inside stores at the mall (ie: clothing shops).
It also looks great and very well built. Definitely worth the money and would recommend this to anyone interested in a double stroller.
BONUS - Even if you only have one kid I would still recommend this stroller. If you only attach one cradle it looks like the SUV of strollers (looks very sporty and rugged). For all the men out there: its a stroller that will help you keep your dignity while you are strolling your kid around by yourself.
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