How do you spot fake Oakleys?!

ynyswen24

As you say, the only real guarantee is to buy from an authorised dealer. If you buy a pair of knockoff 'team issue' shorts from Hong Kong through e-bay it might turn out to be a pain in the 'arris. Buy a pair of knockoff sunglasses and you could end up with cataracts and damaged vision.
Not worth it. I'm skint (mostly) and a skinflint (a potent combination) but I'd not take a risk with my eyesight.
In addition to which if you took a pair to an Oakley dealer and they turn out to be counterfeit then they might be obliged to take them off you and contact Trading Standards (might be wrong on this though)

fleshtuxedo

ynyswen24 wrote:

Buy a pair of knockoff sunglasses and you could end up with cataracts and damaged vision.

Really? Has this ever happened to anyone? Please let's have the proof.

fleshtuxedo

And to the OP, IME they're very easy to tell when they're in your hands, but very difficult to spot from photos. I bought some fake ones off ebay and they had no detachable rubber nose piece, and the fit of the earsocks onto the frame was rubbish. They also had a graduated lens which Radars don't have. With hindsight, I was dumb to have fallen for them. Got my money back eventually but not a good experience...

fleshtuxedo

Stanley222 wrote:

The glasses I am interested in are used. The seller is a UK seller & has a very high 100% feedback but just cant provide any paperwork to prove they are genuine.

Post the link and let's have a look...

fleshtuxedo

Not me - I got some free Radars in the Great Oakley Pricing Cockup Giveaway. You could pm me if you want?

cougie

Would the fake Oakley makers put the UV filters into their lenses ? I don't know. The ads say they do, but the ads also say oakley...

Cataracts would take years to grow so hard to prove anyway.

No idea how they cope with impact either and even if someone tests their fake oakleys - who knows how many people are turning out fakes ?

rjsmith

One way is to take the nose piece off. Genuine radars have a double hook type attachment. Fakes often have just spikes to attach the rubber nose pieces. Ask for a picture of the nose area with the nose grip removed.

I bought some fakes off a reputable seller on here once and promptly returned them for a full refund, but he had obviously been duped.

neeb

If the seller has hundreds or thousands of sales with a respectable positive feedback percentage AND clearly states that they are genuine Oakley products, they almost certainly are.

wicked

[quote="ynyswen24" Buy a pair of knockoff sunglasses and you could end up with cataracts and damaged vision.
Not worth it. I'm skint (mostly) and a skinflint (a potent combination) but I'd not take a risk with my eyesight.
[/quote]

Jesus. :roll:
Cycling did exist before oakley you know. Did every rider BITD develop cataracts or damaged vision?
Did anyone risk an outdoor pursuit before the very nice but way overpriced oakleys came along to save their eyesight!
Dare I step out of the door to fetch the milk in without first putting on my PPE oakley radars?
It's not even we get any bloody sun in this country anyway is it?
Health and safety gone mad again.

Or is it you have some authentic glasses and are now trying to justify spending £130 on something that cost pence to make? And before you say it I own several pairs (authentic/overpriced) and have ordered some choakleys as well, if they are shit in the bin, if not happy days!

neeb

wicked wrote:

ynyswen24 wrote:

Buy a pair of knockoff sunglasses and you could end up with cataracts and damaged vision.
Not worth it. I'm skint (mostly) and a skinflint (a potent combination) but I'd not take a risk with my eyesight.

Jesus. :roll:
Cycling did exist before oakley you know. Did every rider BITD develop cataracts or damaged vision?
Did anyone risk an outdoor pursuit before the very nice but way overpriced oakleys came along to save their eyesight!
Dare I step out of the door to fetch the milk in without first putting on my PPE oakley radars?
It's not even we get any bloody sun in this country anyway is it?
Health and safety gone mad again.

Or is it you have some authentic glasses and are now trying to justify spending £130 on something that cost pence to make? And before you say it I own several pairs (authentic/overpriced) and have ordered some choakleys as well, if they are shoot in the bin, if not happy days!

The problem is that if the lenses block some wavelengths of light but not the damaging UV ones, your pupils open more than they would without the glasses and let more UV in, so the damage can be considerably more than if you weren't wearing glasses at all.

The other thing is that good quality lenses such as the Oakley ones don't distort your vision - they are optically near perfect despite the curvature, whereas really cheap curved lenses will refract and/or defract slightly, which can make you feel weird or give you a headache.

Oakley aren't the only people making decent sunglass lenses these days, but you definitely want to use guaranteed good quality lenses, especially if they are tinted.

tim_wand

You cant tell whether Oakleys are genuine from a picture. The biggest give away is lense clarity (IME nothing comes close to oakley lenses and this is about the only justification for their price).

Go into a genuine outlet and try the real deal, then if you ever put on a pair that arent you will know instantly.

Frame finish and quality on genuine Oakleys rarely lives up to the expectations and hype it really is all about the lenses. I know a lot of people who will buy the Chinese Copy Jawbones and then get the genuine lenses to put in them.

Couple of guys I ride with have done this and to be honest for a saving of nearly £100 its a good compromise.

1_reaper

of the back of this post anybody know of any good dealers for prescription Oakley's?. Thanks

daniel_b

1_reaper wrote:

of the back of this post anybody know of any good dealers for prescription Oakley's?. Thanks

Online?

If so, check out RX Sport.

ynyswen24

neeb wrote:

wicked wrote:

ynyswen24 wrote:

Buy a pair of knockoff sunglasses and you could end up with cataracts and damaged vision.
Not worth it. I'm skint (mostly) and a skinflint (a potent combination) but I'd not take a risk with my eyesight.

Jesus. :roll:
Cycling did exist before oakley you know. Did every rider BITD develop cataracts or damaged vision?
Did anyone risk an outdoor pursuit before the very nice but way overpriced oakleys came along to save their eyesight!
Dare I step out of the door to fetch the milk in without first putting on my PPE oakley radars?
It's not even we get any bloody sun in this country anyway is it?
Health and safety gone mad again.

Or is it you have some authentic glasses and are now trying to justify spending £130 on something that cost pence to make? And before you say it I own several pairs (authentic/overpriced) and have ordered some choakleys as well, if they are shoot in the bin, if not happy days!

The problem is that if the lenses block some wavelengths of light but not the damaging UV ones, your pupils open more than they would without the glasses and let more UV in, so the damage can be considerably more than if you weren't wearing glasses at all.

The other thing is that good quality lenses such as the Oakley ones don't distort your vision - they are optically near perfect despite the curvature, whereas really cheap curved lenses will refract and/or defract slightly, which can make you feel weird or give you a headache.

Oakley aren't the only people making decent sunglass lenses these days, but you definitely want to use guaranteed good quality lenses, especially if they are tinted.

What he said. Happy new year.

imposter2.0

cougie wrote:

Would the fake Oakley makers put the UV filters into their lenses ? I don't know. The ads say they do, but the ads also say oakley...

If the lenses are polycarbonate, then UV protection is a given, regardless of whether they are Oakley or not. Oakley lenses may well have better optical quality, but all polycarbonate protects against the typical levels of UV that a cyclist might experience. If you want 100% UV protection, buy welding glasses.

Anonymous

Optical correctness, impact protection, quality of lenses, durability, ease of use, good looks and pi55ing off Oakley haters make Oakleys a very easy choice for me.

They do not cost that much more than their optically incorrect competition and my eyes are worth it.
I thought they were very expensive when I first got a pair, but think they are worth every penny these days.

Just get some DHB's if you want cheap.

Bozman

I've got 4 pairs of Oakley shades and I also have a dodgy pair of radars, I can't fault the "radars", I bought them because I didn't fancy paying £X for a pair of bike shades that'll get a used and abused though the winter months. I've used them for a couple of years and they're as good as my other Oakleys it's just a pity that you can't seem to get them anymore.

neeb

I'll just reiterate the points I made above three years ago, with some qualifications..

You want to have half-decent quality lenses, both for safety and comfort. 10 or 20 years ago at least, there were some really nasty ones around, even from some "reputable" manufacturers. They would slightly warp your vision and make you feel ill. Nowadays I suspect that it is far easier and cheaper to make decent lenses and it doesn't matter so much - probably anything from a prominent manufacturer is going to be fine, even if it is dirt cheap. But you are taking a bit of a risk buying fakelys from ebay - they might be fine or they might not be, and in the worst case scenario they could damage your eyes.

Oakleys are great but there are other much cheaper shades of similar quality around these days. You're mostly paying for the design and marketing, but there's nothing wrong with that. Oakley spend a lot of money creating that image, and you buy into it when you buy the shades. I'm a willing victim myself, but I can also understand why a lot of people might want to find cheaper options.

imposter2.0

The issue with fakelys is that the frame materials are poor quality and do not last. The lenses themselves are certainly nowhere near Oakley quality, but they are no worse than the kind of stuff you can buy from Aldi, Lidl or even your local sports shop.

Anyway, I wear Uvex....

darkhairedlord

Rather than knock off Oaklies you'll find builders sunny's from screwfix or toolstation should do the trick.

zx6man

If the guy is riding a £250 bike..they are fake :-)

NeXXus

The price is usually the first indicator

cougie

Interesting thing about the polycarbonate blocking the UV rays - I'd not heard of that back in 2011 when this thread was started.

Oakley are hugely expensive - but they last brilliantly. My halfjackets must be 10 years old now and get used a heck of a lot.

imposter2.0

I think the thread was dug up by a spammer, whose post was subsequently deleted, but not before a few others (including me) had jumped in without checking the dates... :oops:

k-dog

cougie wrote:

Interesting thing about the polycarbonate blocking the UV rays - I'd not heard of that back in 2011 when this thread was started.

Oakley are hugely expensive - but they last brilliantly. My halfjackets must be 10 years old now and get used a heck of a lot.

Yeah, polycarbonate is good for that but interestingly to be allowed to claim 100% UV blocking a lens only has to block something like 97% UVA and 94% UVB. Pretty good for most uses but Oakley do 100% - if they say 100 they mean 100. I've found it makes a difference when you're out all day - I don't get that achy feeling (which is probably mild eye inflammation) when I wear my Oakleys but have with other sunspecs - even decent ones. Part of that is the optical quality too though.

sparklehedgehog

Monster dogs are my favourite model ever

Price is normally a give away as has been mentioned, you won't normally ever see them with more than a genuine 25% off RRP anywhere