OAKLEY polished white/PRIZM ROAD JAWBREAKER OO9290-05 sunglasses NEW IN BOX
Sep 15, 2016
Well engineered
These sunglasses solve the problem they were engineered to address. I had been wearing a pair of Maui Jims for bicycling. I needed to solve a problem I encountered in fast downhill runs. Where I live these often dive into tree shrouded hollows - which means they are dark. With what I had been wearing, I lost good eye contact with the road, which made me either slow down or go without anything in front of my eyes.
I thought these would not be dark enough in sunlight. But they actually do the job in sun and shade and I feel a lot more secure going fast in descent.
I also took these into the northern Rockies on a 50 mile hike last week. I like their light weight. I used a lightweight case I attached to my pack to hold them when I didn't need them, which unfortunately was much of the hike since I got to walk several days through winter-like weather: rain, sleet, hail, and high winds. (Believe it or not it was a fun experience.)
I am impressed with the research that Oakley did to get the coatings on the lens right to knock down the light intensity while maintaining high contrast. You will never feel like these are too dark and you will be able to wear them in sunlight.
What I don't like:
I put stick-on reading segments on all my Maui Jims and my Oakley Crosshairs (the best beach glasses I own-black iridium lens?). These have a coating that prevents the stick-ons from adhering, so I have to switch to reading glasses to look at something close-up.
The frame is a bit gaudy - particularly the molded-in Oakley logo on each side. I could do without that. And as a minor irritation, they are visible in the periphery.
The retail price is too high to deliver value. But you can find them for $70 to $80 off if you look. I still consider them expensive, but I'm willing to pay that.
Summary, if you can find them discounted, they do what they are engineered to do - and they do it well.