oakley - overpriced or worth it

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Comments

  • Madonerider
    Madonerider Posts: 2
    Been through probably 8/10 pairs in 5/6 years. Found them all great. Nothing is cheap nowadays but buy what you like. Some stuff is overpriced yes but then what is the normal price of anything now? The world just gets dearer and dearer so £100 glasses seems about the normal now
  • Methodical
    Methodical Posts: 15
    For me, worth it.

    I balked for many years because of their pricing, however I just recently folded. I couldn't take anymore. I wore regular sunglasses while riding and found that I was always looking over them, instead of through them, and they were always sliding down my nose and I was constantly pushing them back into position. These glasses were also polarized and affected my view of the bike computer (had to look over the glasses to see it). So around the holidays, I started on a journey to find some cheap (cost wise) glasses - not happening.

    I found that the frame choices are very limited when you have a pretty strong prescription. If I found a $50 pair of glasses, it still cost an arm and leg for the prescription, but that didn't matter because the $50 pair would not accept my prescription. There were a few (very few) other choices, but I did not like the looks of them. The Oakley Flak were pretty much the only frames that would accepted my prescriptions (just barely) that look nice and I could wear on or off the bike (value added for me because they were not just bike specific). Oakley had a sale where I got 2 pairs for the price of one, so I had one bike specific lens made (Road) and one for everyday wear (Matrix), but I find myself wearing the Road version, too. There were many different brands I looked at, but could not take the prescription. I even contemplated going back to contacts, so I could increase my options, but had some concerns of them coming out while riding etc.

    You folks that don't need prescription glasses, you have thousands of choices, even the fake versions. I for one am digging my new Oakleys as they provide full coverage and protection above, below and to the side of my eyes (love how they wrap my face) and provide great peripheral vision. I've noticed they help in cold windy conditions to keep my eyes from watering.
  • stueys
    stueys Posts: 1,332
    Two reasons I always buy Oakley -
    1) the lens quality has always been stellar in my experience, I run both Photomatic and Prism road and both work really well
    2) google Oakley impact test, ultimately the main priority I have is that the glasses protect my eyes. I'm confident that Oakley are rigorous in ensuring that their stuff does that.

    That they tend to look nice as well doesn't hurt...
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Stueys wrote:
    2) google Oakley impact test, ultimately the main priority I have is that the glasses protect my eyes. I'm confident that Oakley are rigorous in ensuring that their stuff does that.

    The impact test thing is a bit silly, IMO. The fact that my chinese copies are probably not going to withstand a shotgun blast from close range is not usually at the forefront of my mind as I ride through a swarm of midges...
  • amrushton
    amrushton Posts: 1,313
    As above. I've used them for 20 yrs and arguably they are not a good as they used to be (sold to Luxottica). But I like the designs of some of them. Now I'd prob buy into Rudy. Pricewise Oakley have always charged a 'reassuringly expensive' amount because they can
  • edward.s
    edward.s Posts: 230
    I'm a Rudy fan, mainly 'cause they cater for people who are more myopic than a mole better than Oakley do. Either way, if this is an 'expensive vs. cheap' question, then you do get better quality at the premium end of things. I suspect probably not enough to justify 10x the price, but nice comfy glasses make a big difference to my enjoyment so I am prepared to pay up.
  • stueys
    stueys Posts: 1,332
    Imposter wrote:
    Stueys wrote:
    2) google Oakley impact test, ultimately the main priority I have is that the glasses protect my eyes. I'm confident that Oakley are rigorous in ensuring that their stuff does that.

    The impact test thing is a bit silly, IMO. The fact that my chinese copies are probably not going to withstand a shotgun blast from close range is not usually at the forefront of my mind as I ride through a swarm of midges...

    Guess it depends on your view on risk - shotgun blast from close range, I'd agree you're probably safe from, but equally I've had stones sent pinging at me at high speed from car tyres. One of which made an impact mark on the lens and made me very glad I had glasses on.

    I'm happy to have over engineered protection in front of my eyes.

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