I recently bought the Oakley EV radar path prism trail lenses and I honestly got faster on my mtn bike. Not only was the image much sharper and clearer but the contrast with the browns and greens was so good that it made it seem like everything was clearer than with no glasses at all. It seemed like magic to me. My optometrist actually recommended I buy Oakleys when I told him the issues I was having with a couple of my other pairs I sunglasses. I had no idea it'd make this much difference. Thanks for the review Shane.
Oakley Sales rep here.....you're seeing why oakley lenses are more expensive, they spend a lot of time, research, and man hours to keep distortion to a minimum on all of their lenses. They actually own the patent to the XYZ measurement that keeps light from bending around the curvature of their lens as it comes back to your eye. No other company can cut their lens in 3 directions.....they can only do 2. Precise optics is what Oakley focuses on, the frame for said lens is simply a container for it!
All good until you don't make the lenses any more, which is a shame when you spend nearly 200 quid on a pair of sunglasses, happened to me twice with Oakley now, pretty disappointing, you should keep lenses in stock for a good 10 years.
@@Flip5ide depends on the frame. An entire company isn't going to keep making lenses for a frame if it doesn't sell well. They've been making frogskins since 1985. And gascans for well over 10 years.
@@Flip5ide it's just like everything else. Drive your car off the lot and try to sell it a week later. Much less trying to buy parts for a car that's from the 80s, ya know?
@@nickprater2785 I understand that, still infuriating when it's only been like 4 years, I'm on my last pair of Oakley's anyway, not been happy with the last couple of pairs unfortunately.
Hey! When you get your lenses from Oakley, get the Prizm Road lenses for your frame - I have them and they are great, worth the money. And yes, if you have difficulty in focusing, you should stop using the lenses immediately - that what my Doc told me.
my foakley's always had issues, none lasted more than a few months. got the real Radar EV's early this year and have had zero issues. price isn't bad considering they're getting over 500 hours use a year
I got a jawbreaker knock off from AliExpress and it came with 5 very decent lenses, absolutely no problems. 'Obaolay' $15 for rhe whole set. Those are really well built, do not appear cheap in any way.
Thanks, Shane, for showing us these non-Oakley replacement options and yeah, for ear and nose pieces, sure, but I can't see going with anything other than true Oakley lenses, no bootlegs or knock-offs. But that said, I can't afford anything Oakley right now and that's okay, lots of other sport sunglasses our there and I have a couple of those for now. Still, one of these days, I'll get back to Oakley, just wish they weren't so expensive. Maybe they could make Oakley Lights for those of us who need 'em to be lighter on the wallet.
You don't want to be riding a bicycle with distorted lenses! One of the US national brand eyeglass vendors messed up my prescription glasses once. It was almost unsafe to walk around wearing them much less ride a bicycle. That company should give you a full credit. If they want the glasses back they should pay that too. None of it was your fault.
Excellent review Shane. Open minded but backed up with good ol' science where it counts. A shame it didn't work out. I like some name brand glasses but can't stand the quasi-science some manufacturers in the industry appear to use to make what I believe is often a commodity sound impressive. That's just my personal opinion of course, Luxottica please don't sue me! It's reasonably important for me to see where I'm going when I'm at work, however polarising lenses aren't compatible with the windscreen and non-polarising glasses can be remarkably difficult to find these days. I use Julbo sunglasses, which I find have excellent optical properties, without the stratospheric price tag of some name brands. Julbo have a long history in mountaineering. No association with the company, blah blah blah.
I prefer foakleys and noname sunglasses, because I don't treat my cycling glasses with the utmost care. Every other race I drop my glasses post race somehow, or I throw them around. If it's $15 so be it, but if it were real one's, i'd be heart broken every race. I only buy the real deal for in car use actually
Years ago at Whistler Crankworks Oakley had a big promo truck onsite. They had a laser that would shine through a pair of Oakleys and similarly any other brand of sunglasses people wanted to try out. The beam was projected about 20 feet away and it was quite surprising. The Oakley we always consistently sharp and clear. Competitors varied considerably in what was projected on the opposing wall
I've just done the same today.... it was an eye opener (heh)... shooting a laser though the Oakleys is fine. Though the other lenses are wonk-city. It would have been a great demonstration for this video.... maybe I'll do it round 2! :)
Same deal with Revant lenses (a popular replacement on Amazon), they're just not as clear as the originals, no matter how much you clean the glass they always seems a touch foggy, and both of the replacement lenses for my half jackets have popped out on my last two crashes (four cases of lens detachment between two crashes), I'm not wearing them while cycling any more, don't want to risk an eye injury.
Trevor Nerbas I bought their top level lenses for some Racing Jackets that worked very well. The lower end lenses they are not adjusted to remove curvature distortion, just their top end lenses.
Interesting! Unfortunately they don't offer Elite lenses for Oakley Radar EV Path. I was considering stealth black polarized lens from them for about 40 EUR, but I am not sure anymore after reading your comment.
Excellent video Shane. When I buy third party stuff I accept the risk that they may not work out and I'm happy to absorb the cost. Sometime I win sometimes I lose.
cheap, decent quality and i assume safe check out modern site/safety glasses dewalt,bolle etc.btw this is meant as an alterative to buying cheap hit or miss options not oakleys necessarily
I got lenses for my Oakleys from that same company. I noticed the same thing right away. Now I need to wait again for the lenses from oakley that I should have just gotten in the first place.
A few years back I have bought Walleva lenses for my Radars. First - they were much thinner than the original lenses. They were flimsier, hard to instal and I felt play when they were installed in the frame. Second - something was not right with the vision. Asphalt patches seemed like glaring. That was the first and last time I had them installed. No more replacement lenses for me. Not worth it.
Yeah it’s a bit of a shame that Oakley cost so much but their optics are bang on, and I get the impression that’s not so easy with large curved lenses. Tried some Adidas a while ago which got great reviews but the distortion gave me a headache
I have ordered non-oakley branded lenses - Clear / Yellow tint off ebay for both my jawbones and radar paths and have had no issues in what you describe.. but if I were to order lenses that i'd wear the majority of the time i'd get the proper ones tbh
That is brilliant! I've just put these lenses through a laser pointer and can see them move around, whereas the movement is a LOT less with the Oakley lenses.
Thanks for sharing, Shane! I have Radar EV Path with the Prizm Trail Lens and I am thinking of buying a lens for brighter days from Revant Optics. Any references for them?
I got a brown lens from MYR? (jawbreaker) and i can say i never knew what Polarization was until them. I find them ok, tho now i understand ability of a lens to take dazzle away (polarization).
Maven got some fake Oakleys last year and got the lenses tested for being UV resistant and all that stuff and they passed with flying colours, if you can find quality aftermarket options there really isn't a reason not to go with it
Just buy safety glasses, 44.00 AUD probably get the whole dam glasses from a safety shop. Safety glasses need to comply to specific optics as in the specific Australian standard for optics and impact. Why these fashion glasses are so expensive is beyond me. In the old days they where glass, now they are all just plastic. I say rip off!
I wore $7 safety glasses for TTing for a few seasons... reason being is they had no frames (could see through/above them easily), and when it rained I tossed them off (and picked them up post event cool-down).
fiddler on the bike i wasn’t referring to the safety with glass for glasses, just the skill in manufacturing and precision, just that fashion glasses (for general use) were glass and made with perfect optics. Of course used for cycling this be a risk
but the plastic is not an issue at all! The problem is that people want high quality but don't want to pay appropriate prices. Buy quality glasses and you get excellent optics - made of plastic. Btw: compare income and prices and you will see, that "in the old days" you had to pay much more for glasses than today
What do you mean it's not fair? Comparing these WITH original Oakley is the whole point. It's not fair to sell something as a replacement and have it be nowhere near the standard people expect.... with broken optics. The price debate is obvious. Aftermarket is cheaper. What's not obvious is how bad these aftermarket lenses are.
I've done the same for casual sunnies.... with about a 50/50 success rate on the optics being any good. The ones I LOVED broke... but for $15 I didn't stress too hard. I got a year or so from them.
ua-cam.com/video/z9myV9PbVlg/v-deo.html Have a look at a few videos comparing cheap plastic lenses to the high end polycarbonate lenses, lots of other videos out there as well. When I am out riding around the gravel-covered bitumen around southwest victoria and a car flicks a little rock up into my glasses, I want the good stuff between it and my eyeball.
I recently bought the Oakley EV radar path prism trail lenses and I honestly got faster on my mtn bike. Not only was the image much sharper and clearer but the contrast with the browns and greens was so good that it made it seem like everything was clearer than with no glasses at all. It seemed like magic to me. My optometrist actually recommended I buy Oakleys when I told him the issues I was having with a couple of my other pairs I sunglasses. I had no idea it'd make this much difference. Thanks for the review Shane.
Oakley Sales rep here.....you're seeing why oakley lenses are more expensive, they spend a lot of time, research, and man hours to keep distortion to a minimum on all of their lenses. They actually own the patent to the XYZ measurement that keeps light from bending around the curvature of their lens as it comes back to your eye. No other company can cut their lens in 3 directions.....they can only do 2. Precise optics is what Oakley focuses on, the frame for said lens is simply a container for it!
All good until you don't make the lenses any more, which is a shame when you spend nearly 200 quid on a pair of sunglasses, happened to me twice with Oakley now, pretty disappointing, you should keep lenses in stock for a good 10 years.
@@Flip5ide depends on the frame. An entire company isn't going to keep making lenses for a frame if it doesn't sell well. They've been making frogskins since 1985. And gascans for well over 10 years.
@@Flip5ide it's just like everything else. Drive your car off the lot and try to sell it a week later. Much less trying to buy parts for a car that's from the 80s, ya know?
@@nickprater2785 I understand that, still infuriating when it's only been like 4 years, I'm on my last pair of Oakley's anyway, not been happy with the last couple of pairs unfortunately.
@@Flip5ide btw dude, try fuse or revant optics. They're by far the closest to oakleys lenses.....like 40.00 polarized.
Hey! When you get your lenses from Oakley, get the Prizm Road lenses for your frame - I have them and they are great, worth the money.
And yes, if you have difficulty in focusing, you should stop using the lenses immediately - that what my Doc told me.
my foakley's always had issues, none lasted more than a few months. got the real Radar EV's early this year and have had zero issues. price isn't bad considering they're getting over 500 hours use a year
I got a jawbreaker knock off from AliExpress and it came with 5 very decent lenses, absolutely no problems. 'Obaolay' $15 for rhe whole set. Those are really well built, do not appear cheap in any way.
Hi Shane, thanks for shedding light on your honest reviews on the 3rd party “oakley”lenses. You nailed it on the distortion issue. 👍
Thanks, Shane, for showing us these non-Oakley replacement options and yeah, for ear and nose pieces, sure, but I can't see going with anything other than true Oakley lenses, no bootlegs or knock-offs. But that said, I can't afford anything Oakley right now and that's okay, lots of other sport sunglasses our there and I have a couple of those for now. Still, one of these days, I'll get back to Oakley, just wish they weren't so expensive. Maybe they could make Oakley Lights for those of us who need 'em to be lighter on the wallet.
I've used Walleva replacement lenses for years. No issues other than not quite as durable as original Oakley lenses. Definitely no distortion though.
You don't want to be riding a bicycle with distorted lenses! One of the US national brand eyeglass vendors messed up my prescription glasses once. It was almost unsafe to walk around wearing them much less ride a bicycle. That company should give you a full credit. If they want the glasses back they should pay that too. None of it was your fault.
Excellent review Shane. Open minded but backed up with good ol' science where it counts. A shame it didn't work out.
I like some name brand glasses but can't stand the quasi-science some manufacturers in the industry appear to use to make what I believe is often a commodity sound impressive. That's just my personal opinion of course, Luxottica please don't sue me!
It's reasonably important for me to see where I'm going when I'm at work, however polarising lenses aren't compatible with the windscreen and non-polarising glasses can be remarkably difficult to find these days. I use Julbo sunglasses, which I find have excellent optical properties, without the stratospheric price tag of some name brands. Julbo have a long history in mountaineering. No association with the company, blah blah blah.
Thank you! I almost buy cheap one too. But then I remembered about the distortion I had before. It makes my head spinning
As I know, Mrylens are the best aftermarket lenses.
I owned several cheap sunglasses and sport glasses as well - not one of them had a decent optical quality.
I prefer foakleys and noname sunglasses, because I don't treat my cycling glasses with the utmost care. Every other race I drop my glasses post race somehow, or I throw them around. If it's $15 so be it, but if it were real one's, i'd be heart broken every race. I only buy the real deal for in car use actually
Great insight onto this topic, Shane! Thanks for the info!
Years ago at Whistler Crankworks Oakley had a big promo truck onsite. They had a laser that would shine through a pair of Oakleys and similarly any other brand of sunglasses people wanted to try out. The beam was projected about 20 feet away and it was quite surprising. The Oakley we always consistently sharp and clear. Competitors varied considerably in what was projected on the opposing wall
I've just done the same today.... it was an eye opener (heh)... shooting a laser though the Oakleys is fine. Though the other lenses are wonk-city. It would have been a great demonstration for this video.... maybe I'll do it round 2! :)
I'd love to see the results if you do a short follow-up video
If new lenses don't break the bank from Oakley, I'll do a follow up.
Shane Miller love to see, cheers
I personally wouldn’t. I got some prizm road lenses for xmas last year. Long time Oakley fan for cycling and skiing and they are great!
Same deal with Revant lenses (a popular replacement on Amazon), they're just not as clear as the originals, no matter how much you clean the glass they always seems a touch foggy, and both of the replacement lenses for my half jackets have popped out on my last two crashes (four cases of lens detachment between two crashes), I'm not wearing them while cycling any more, don't want to risk an eye injury.
Trevor Nerbas I bought their top level lenses for some Racing Jackets that worked very well. The lower end lenses they are not adjusted to remove curvature distortion, just their top end lenses.
Interesting! Unfortunately they don't offer Elite lenses for Oakley Radar EV Path. I was considering stealth black polarized lens from them for about 40 EUR, but I am not sure anymore after reading your comment.
Excellent video Shane. When I buy third party stuff I accept the risk that they may not work out and I'm happy to absorb the cost. Sometime I win sometimes I lose.
Using aftermarket lenses is like having a CZ diamond on an expensive ring setting! Oakley lenses are what Oakley's are! 😎
cheap, decent quality and i assume safe check out modern site/safety glasses dewalt,bolle etc.btw this is meant as an alterative to buying cheap hit or miss options not oakleys necessarily
I got lenses for my Oakleys from that same company. I noticed the same thing right away. Now I need to wait again for the lenses from oakley that I should have just gotten in the first place.
Awesome way of showing the distortion
A few years back I have bought Walleva lenses for my Radars. First - they were much thinner than the original lenses. They were flimsier, hard to instal and I felt play when they were installed in the frame. Second - something was not right with the vision. Asphalt patches seemed like glaring. That was the first and last time I had them installed. No more replacement lenses for me. Not worth it.
Yeah it’s a bit of a shame that Oakley cost so much but their optics are bang on, and I get the impression that’s not so easy with large curved lenses. Tried some Adidas a while ago which got great reviews but the distortion gave me a headache
Try PapaViva Optics, they are the best.
I have ordered non-oakley branded lenses - Clear / Yellow tint off ebay for both my jawbones and radar paths and have had no issues in what you describe.. but if I were to order lenses that i'd wear the majority of the time i'd get the proper ones tbh
Check out the video “Why Oakley’s are awesome- Part 1.” It gives a great explanation of their optics.
That is brilliant! I've just put these lenses through a laser pointer and can see them move around, whereas the movement is a LOT less with the Oakley lenses.
You still spent close to $50. Not sure about lenses separately but can get good new Oakleys from DFO for $150.
Thanks for sharing, Shane! I have Radar EV Path with the Prizm Trail Lens and I am thinking of buying a lens for brighter days from Revant Optics. Any references for them?
I have heard the name, no experience with them myself.
I got a brown lens from MYR? (jawbreaker) and i can say i never knew what Polarization was until them. I find them ok, tho now i understand ability of a lens to take dazzle away (polarization).
I couldn't get what you meant. Did you like or not the MRY lenses?
@@robertochaves9305 Yes there fine..
@@leedorney tanx
Could you please make a video comparing different sunglasses and what color of lens do you need. thanks
Great video. I always wondered how "good" the fake Oakley lens were. Thanks for making the video and sharing your experience.
This was just one brand/experience. Others may differ... but yeah... argh. It didn't pay off for me.
Thanks for your video. Was looking to save a few bucks but after your video I’ll stick with genuine Oakley. 👌
Try revant optics! They are great, use them daily on water and road!
Did you pay via paypal? 8 free worldwide returns per year. Has come in handy more than once.
you shouldhave got revant optics elite line
I have the same Oakley's, and never compromise on lenses, always buy genuine replacementsIt's worth the cost?
Maven got some fake Oakleys last year and got the lenses tested for being UV resistant and all that stuff and they passed with flying colours, if you can find quality aftermarket options there really isn't a reason not to go with it
Just buy safety glasses, 44.00 AUD probably get the whole dam glasses from a safety shop. Safety glasses need to comply to specific optics as in the specific Australian standard for optics and impact.
Why these fashion glasses are so expensive is beyond me. In the old days they where glass, now they are all just plastic. I say rip off!
I wore $7 safety glasses for TTing for a few seasons... reason being is they had no frames (could see through/above them easily), and when it rained I tossed them off (and picked them up post event cool-down).
when you fall off and the lens break you really don't want glass in your eye.
"in the old days they where glass" - and you think that was good????? May be you want inform yourself a tiny bit...
fiddler on the bike i wasn’t referring to the safety with glass for glasses, just the skill in manufacturing and precision, just that fashion glasses (for general use) were glass and made with perfect optics. Of course used for cycling this be a risk
but the plastic is not an issue at all! The problem is that people want high quality but don't want to pay appropriate prices. Buy quality glasses and you get excellent optics - made of plastic.
Btw: compare income and prices and you will see, that "in the old days" you had to pay much more for glasses than today
It's not fair to compare Original Oakley lens with Aftermarket lens, Why you don't compare their price?
What do you mean it's not fair? Comparing these WITH original Oakley is the whole point. It's not fair to sell something as a replacement and have it be nowhere near the standard people expect.... with broken optics. The price debate is obvious. Aftermarket is cheaper. What's not obvious is how bad these aftermarket lenses are.
Luckily oakley glasses and lenses are in abundance on facebook sales groups!
I kid you not, I just opened one of said facebook groups and found radarlock lenses for $30...
+Eli Douek But.... legit or....
Legit. was posted 42 minutes ago. I'll send you the link
Don't bother returning unless u know how to write the address in chinese
Lol sunglasses are a place I cheap our on x.x I buy the decent Chinese fake oaklys for 15-20$
I've done the same for casual sunnies.... with about a 50/50 success rate on the optics being any good. The ones I LOVED broke... but for $15 I didn't stress too hard. I got a year or so from them.
ua-cam.com/video/z9myV9PbVlg/v-deo.html
Have a look at a few videos comparing cheap plastic lenses to the high end polycarbonate lenses, lots of other videos out there as well.
When I am out riding around the gravel-covered bitumen around southwest victoria and a car flicks a little rock up into my glasses, I want the good stuff between it and my eyeball.
Looks like surface roughness. I guess QA is lacking at these companies :(
They're crystal clear... just optically too wonky.
Fake Oakleys. Nice and fine when you ride them, not so fine when you crash on them and are never able to see again.
Shattering lenses theory? Hasn't that been debunked already? If not, I'll stomp on these. ;)
I crashed on a pair of foakleys recently and the lenses didn't shatter. The glasses did take a knock though. Nothing a bit of super glue can't fix ;)
First
You're on a hat trick now mate! 🏏
Shane Miller I also love cricket