greece coming up and pondering on whether to get a new pair. got some rayban wayfarers at present but quite like the skinny steel look too.

seem to vary wildly in prices from a few quid to hundreds, and each maker has a thousand different models.

interested in opinions on whether price really makes much of a difference or whether theres a point at which youre really only paying for the name.

whats good and whats bad these days?

cheers

I’ve had Rayban Aviators for years and love them.

Optically excellent, as you would expect from Bausch and Lomb, light and comfortable.

Some of the higher priced makes are def charging you for the name and marketing – especially fashion clothes branded ones.
The flip side of it is that cheap sunglasses can do more damage than good because they open the eye up and allow more damaging UV light in.

Bloc.

Maui jim if u want the best polarised lenses and are happy to spend a little.

The flip side of it is that cheap sunglasses can do more damage than good because they open the eye up and allow more damaging UV light in.

See, I thought that was discredited on the basis that lenses used are invariably polycarbonate which is naturally UV blocking. Ready to be proved wrong though.

A £15 quid pair from M&S have seen me right for the past 5 or so years

Melon optics are actually good but only do one wayfarer style. Ashbury, glassy sun haters, and of course frogskins from Oakley.

A naughty pair from eBay that are rather good and for £3.50, I can’t complain. Like wayfarers but from a brand starting with the letter O.

Rayban, Persol or Maui Jim generally have the best quality lenses, especially the polarised ones. Personally I prefer Rayban Green lenses, you can get most models with polarised lenses, especially aviators and wayfarers.

You get what you pay for.

http://www.ray-ban.com/international/products/sun/RB8314?var=125/9A

I have a pair of these. Good for my big head and polarised.
I forgot my sunglasses while going on holiday so ended up paying over the odds at Munich Airport but am very happy with them.

JulianA – Member

I’ve had Rayban Aviators for years and love them.

Optically excellent, as you would expect from Bausch and Lomb, light and comfortable.

Bausch and Lomb sold Ray Ban 15 years ago, not that it makes any difference in quality. Anything under the Luxottica umbrella is decent eyewear (Arnette, Oakley, etc)

Cheap ones do me, but I’m not an “only the best will do” type.

What bike do you have al?

My current pair of Blocs cost about £30 4 or 5 years ago. I’d struggle to justify paying more than that, and even then I couldn’t really make a convincing argument that they’re really any better than some Boots ones for a tenner.

I must admit I’m a sunglasses tart. I have tinted and clear protection ones taken from work for riding off road as mud just destroys lenses.
I’ve got Oakley Juliet, 2 pairs Oakley 5, 1 pair Oakley Diesel, 1 Pair Oakley Frogskins from the early 90s, 1 pair Wayfarer and my carbon Raybans I use now.

The best sunglass bar non atm is Maui Jim, there patented lens tech is miles ahead of the competition atm………problem is they know this so you pay for the privelidge

with regard to others it can be a case of you get what you pay for not in the colour per se but in the quality of optics of the lens, just always make sure they give full UVA/UVB and if possible UVC resistance to give your eyes best protection

ok, thanks chaps. think im in the camp that wouldnt want to spend big wedge, maybe £50 tops, so ill have a look at what aviator type shades are available for that sort of money, if any.

thanks a lot

http://www.eyewearoutlet.co.uk/sunglasses-c76/oakley-m1?gclid=CjgKEAjwwuqcBRCSuoivmIPnkwQSJACpqj3kVsedYgse9x9tVpcE5LQm6pqJNUtJlTp6D6qBrI9EWPD_BwE

This is where I got my Oakleys. Might be some there for you

I got some polarised Serengeti’s from Costco a couple of years ago for about £75-80 I think… Absolutely fantastic quality lens for the price and great for driving as cuts a lot of glare

Fake aviators from primarni, buy in bulk. Have a pair dotted around many places. 2 quid a pair if I remember rightly.

I made a mistake, I have no Oakley Diesel (not sure if this exists apart from in my head) but I do have Gascan.

@iolo, agreed on Eyewear Outlet as a top place for Oakleys.
I only have at the moment Juliet, square wire 2.0, felon, flak jacket xlj, all polarised and two pairs of radars, but not polarised.
Theme emerging….

These are my current favourites have them as prescription, been 50mph+ on the road bike in them with no issues of watery eyes from the wind,ski’d in them and been to very hot countries cant fault them really

It might be worth checking out eBay for Oakley or RayBan frames with damaged lenses, because you can get replacement lenses pretty cheap these days. I got some really lovely +Red Iridium-type lenses for a pair of original Frogskins that I’d had prescription lenses put in years ago and misplaced the original Fire Iridium, the replacements cost around $18-20, IIRC, and I’ve just done the same with a pair of Oakley WHY8’s that I got free with prescription lenses and those were £26 from Sunglass Fix in Australia.
I havent got the URL’s available at the mo’, I’ll find them when I get home.

You get what you pay for

You don’t really.

Another one for Bloc, big range of styles, nicely made and not the end of the world if you lose them.

These are my current favourites have them as prescription, been 50mph+ on the road bike in them with no issues of watery eyes from the wind,ski’d in them and been to very hot countries cant fault them really

Did you get them from an opticians or order online for the prescription. I’m after some prescription ones but refuse to pay silly money in a high street retail store.

Every branded pair of sunnies I’ve bought have been nicked from a triathlon transition area or sat upon. I now have a collection of bad taste sunnies which seem immune to theft and stupidity, and won’t cost more than 10e to replace.

Here’s the links to the two places I’ve got replacement lenses from. Sunglass Fix do a huge range, the next pair of lenses I get will be for a pair of ’90’s Arnet Ravens I had Rx lenses fitted to, those will be grey with blue mirror.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/revantoptics
http://www.thesunglassfix.com/Sunglass-Replacement-Lenses/1671-Oakley-Why-82-Sunglass-Replacement-Lenses-58mm-Wide/

[/url] image by CountZero1, on Flickr[/img]

I have a 20 year old pair of Oakley Frogskins. They don;t suit me (not sure they ever did), so I have a pair of Lindberg aviator style with titanium frames and Zeiss lenses. Bought because (1) my milf optician said they looked great on me and (2) the lenses are superb.

My FIL has both Serengeti and Maui Jim. Neither suit his round face.

Buy what looks good on you..!

The flip side of it is that cheap sunglasses can do more damage than good because they open the eye up and allow more damaging UV light in.

[quote]See, I thought that was discredited on the basis that lenses used are invariably polycarbonate which is naturally UV blocking. Ready to be proved wrong though.[/quote]
Yes and no.
I was talking to my optician about this and her view was that if the sunnies are close fitting, then there’s no advantage to spendy ones. However if the glasses are large or sit some way from the face, light can come in at the side and reflect back into the eye. Posh glasses may well have a UV coating on the back of the lens. Shonky Chinese fakes won’t. Budget brands may or may not.

Posh glasses may well have a UV coating on the back of the lens. Shonky Chinese fakes won’t. Budget brands may or may not.

Coatings only act to reduce reflections, it’s the actual lens material that blocks UV, in exactly the same way that car windscreens block large amounts of UV, making photo-reactive lenses ineffective.
Previous threads have presented info that shows polycarbonate plastics used in sunglasses blocks UV; however, while they might block UV, they may well be pretty crap optically, and distort vision making them very uncomfortable to wear.
Those lenses above are superb optically, the ones in the Frogskins have no reverse coating, only the Iridium-like outer, while the lenses on the WHY8’s have a blue reverse coating, which is generally very good, but can pick up reflected light from my skin, and give back bright blue flashes, which can be a bit disconcerting, despite them being pretty close-fitting.
Other than that, I’m very, very impressed with both company’s lenses, and they’re a God-send for rescuing sunglasses which have been handled badly, (put lenses-down on rough or sandy surfaces), or just dropped onto the ground and the lenses dinged, but the frames otherwise perfect.
Especially when I’ve been quoted anywhere from £90-160 for replacement lenses for Oakleys.

I’d never heard of Maui Jim, and I’ve just been to look at their website.

Honestly, how is it possible to make something that by it’s very nature is cool looking (a pair of shades) look as shit as as those?!?

Surely only fat middle aged ‘merican realtors named Earl or Wendle think they are cool, or worth the money, no?

I know I’ve already said it above, but Bloc, won’t buy Oakleys et al ever again. Can be had for around £20. Quality is excellent too.

That’s a great link CZ, thanks for that. My original A wires are desperate for new pair of lenses. Any idea if the “SFx Ultimate Polarised Slvr Mirror Black” be the closest replacement for Oakley’s black iridium?

That’s a good question, I would hazard a guess and say yes, but I would imagine it’s only an approximation, it won’t have the colour-change character that Fire and +Red Iridium do, but then Black Iridium is more of a dark coloured mirror anyway.
TBH, they’re so cheap, you could afford to get a second set if the first ones aren’t quite what you were expecting and try something different.
The Revant lenses have a terrific Iridium analogue coating, but far fewer styles available.
I’m really glad they exist, it would be prohibitively expensive buying original lenses to restore old frames to use, and these really are bloody good, optically; I have another pair of black framed Frogskins, same age, around ’91-2, with the original Fire Iridium lenses still in place, and side by side, I can’t see any difference at all.
Which is why I suggest trying to track down some cheap frames with knackered lenses and get some of these replacements.

Maui Jim’s are simply stunning to look through. Not over polarised like Oakley as you can see your IPhone screen with Maui’s, splendid colours too from their standard grey lenses. Not sure about the bronze though.

My favourites are the Stingrays. Not a fan of the flexy frameless ones they do.

Personally I like Oakleys and have 4 or 5 pairs.

Obviously cheaper ones are available. But if you buy a pair for £3.50 of Ebay would they block UV etc. Not sure I’d want to take the risk.

Polycarbonate is a cap material for spectacle lenses. You can’t beat glass from the likes of Rayban and Maui Jim. Optically better. Main problem is its no good really for sports sunglasses with the risk of breaking.

Worth saying again for the above brands you get what you pay for