Prescription Oakleys

[muz]

I was very happy with my Oakley Rx sunglasses until someone stole them from my bike bag. I wanted to try a cheaper option; I chose Vuarnet sunglasses and had my optician put in photo-chromatic lenses.

They felt fine at the store, but they definitely caused more eye strain during long rides. Peripheral vision was a lot more distorted. Long story short, I went back to Oakleys.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Duff's plan is interesting but depends a lot of the prescription and the frame he is talking about.

For those of you who love your Sports Optical, can you post photos of your glasses against your regular ones?

I don't have an excessive prescription (-5.5) but the Sports Opticals I had made (probably about 5-8 years ago now) were beautiful but too thick and heavy. As an asian with a flat nose, my frame selection was limited and picking a rimless frame was a mistake. I recently had some regular sunglasses made with high index lenses and wow, despite them being polarized (weirdly, the polarized lenses cost less; I hate that I can't read the clock in my car) they are much lighter and comfortable.

Anyway, I'm happy I tried Sports Optical but I'm more than happy with my regular optometrist and her regular selection. It sucks that Oakley has such a monopoly on sports glasses, but, despite my Crosslinks looking a bit cheap, they have been indestructible which I appreciate. My son has broken two of my wife's glasses but my Oakleys are still going (replaced the lenses though since he kept throwing them and they were scratched up.) . I spent the money on some Lindbergs once; they're nice glasses but honestly weren't really worth it. Ultimately, hard to know until you try for yourself. Kind of like saddles.

ps. Thanks for the mention of the Zenni stuff, I'm surprised the 1.74 index is so cheap. Maybe I'll get a pair to commute with.

[ctam]

There is currently a promo for 25% off Oakley prescription glasses from authorized rx dealers. It says select sunglasses and rx models - not sure which models are included. I received an email from Oakley a month ago for this. This deal expires Sept 30/18.

[benb]

I don't have my Sports Optical glasses with me today but I can try and put a picture up.

The lenses on mine are not noticeably thicker than any of my normal Rx glasses even though the Sports Optical lenses are ridiculously bigger.

The FoV on the Sports Optical glasses is just astounding.. pretty much as good as contacts. It's game changing for bike riding. Literally less neck fatigue on long bike rides cause you can use your eyes as they were intended to be used as opposed to craning your head up all the time.

Remember Oakley is not really a company anymore.. they're a brand name of Luxottica just like most eyeglass brands. My experience was after they were bought by Luxottica the Rx lenses stopped having the little "O" on them and that's when the quality tanked.

My prescription is not extreme on nearsightedness.. my eyes are not the same but they're maybe -1.5 or something, but I have astigmatism in the 2.5-3.0 range IIRC so I am usually rejected on anything with curved lenses at the eye doctor or with Oakley, etc..

Sports Optical is either using a different machine or they're doing it by hand by some proprietary method. They told me my prescription was "cake, absolutely no big deal" and they backed it up.

The most hilarious thing about Luxottica owning everything and jacking prices to the sky was I recently found out they also own EyeMed, one of the bigger vision insurance plans. I've had EyeMed offered through work before... it's such a joke, it's really a "eyewear payment plan" as opposed to insurance. My medical insurance has always covered the actual eye care appointments. So they get you to buy an "insurance plan" that just gets you a discount on the eyeglasses they've raised the prices on to a ridiculous level and then you go into the store/retailer/whatever that they've also captured.

[buddybikes]

>>>The most hilarious thing about Luxottica owning everything and jacking prices to the sky was I recently found out they also own EyeMed, one of the bigger vision insurance plans. I've had EyeMed offered through work before... it's such a joke, it's really a "eyewear payment plan" as opposed to insurance. My medical insurance has always covered the actual eye care appointments. So they get you to buy an "insurance plan" that just gets you a discount on the eyeglasses they've raised the prices on to a ridiculous level and then you go into the store/retailer/whatever that they've also captured.


// I believe they own right down to retail outlets now. Basically becoming a monopoly now. Why??? Can't others build quality and well designed pieces of plastic and lenses. It isn't rocket science...

[buddybikes]

good article: http://www.americanmanufacturing.org...n-made-eyewear

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by benb

...

Remember Oakley is not really a company anymore.. they're a brand name of Luxottica just like most eyeglass brands. My experience was after they were bought by Luxottica the Rx lenses stopped having the little "O" on them and that's when the quality tanked.
...

When was this? I recall that in 2012, Oakley was owned by Luxottica but the optical shop I got my glasses from was under the impression that Oakley still made their own lenses. That's 6 years ago, of course.

Also, is the quality down for just the Rx lenses or in general?

[ultraman6970]

I do not think oakley has a monopoly, they were the 1st ones that actually took cycling frames to a new level, the rest of the manufacturers just got to the game later.

The other thing is that the darn designs of oakley are just fantastic, nobody Ive see has stuff evne close to what oakley offers.

Luxotica bought everbody since years ago, but looks like every company moves their own direction tho. what luxotica did was to buy distributors, like for example lenscrafters. So they put their products there, and considering that each brand goes to a different market it doesnt affect them or the public IMO.

Oakley have their own lenses aswell, but is not a lense that has it all, depending a lot of what you want in the lense you have to move away of oakley lense and go with whaever the place you are buying the stuff at can offer which sometimes is better than oakley lenses.

[cmbicycles]

I just ordered a pair of prescription oakley glasses for riding, though I too opted for the non-oakley lenses. Other than a few $ for mirror coating, they are completely covered by my insurance, so not much to lose. If I hate them, I can always pop the lenses out and use with regular lenses and contacts like I've been doing for years.

I'll stop back in a couple weeks after they come in and report on how they are. I have ridden with the same pair of 1st gen 1/2 jacket xlj glasses for almost 20 years, so the fit and function is well established for my use, we'll see how the optics are once they come in. I've never used prescription sunglasses before so hopefully it is a nice change from putting in and taking out contacts.

[cmbicycles]

Ended up going with prescription Half Jacket 2.0xl glasses with a medium tint and mirror coating. Wow, big difference from contacts and glasses. I notice no distortion anywhere, my only regret is not doing this sooner. Minor gripe is that I don't care for the direction the 1/2 Jacket arms fold, makes it harder to put in a case, but they work great while riding/driving so not that a big deal... just might go with something else next time.

[ultraman6970]

I got my new sets today... Orange

Crosslink sweep asian fit, the regular ones are Crosslink mnp.