was at Opticians earlier for a new main pair of varifocals. I started with vari’s last summer and am now pretty relaint on them, although still hanging onto the distance specs while riding….for now.

Blind as a bat at -6.5 ish and astigmatism, so dont like being relaint on a single pair without spares.

Anyway, I have picked some Oakley Wingbacks, same as these here. Now i’ve never used specs with these straight ‘unobtanium’ ? WTF ❓ ear bits. The guy in the shop, who knows his stuff, says they are really secure and good for sport. Are they ?

yep, they stick to your head like a limpet!

I originally bought mine because I was always knocking my old glasses off while bouldering.

Oakley’s are soo much better.

IMHO yes, the frame is designed to ‘grip’ to your head rather than have the arm bent behind the ear, we sell loads of frames with this kind of arm and rarely have any fitting issues (probably alot less than with standard arms)

excellent, many thanks

I’ve had Oakley Transistors for the past 4 years or so, similar design to the Wingbacks. I have no qualms wearing them for cycling however I don’t like them for squash, mind you I have never liked any of my previous glasses for squash.

They will move about but less so than normal glasses IME.

The only issue i have with mine at the moment is that my 1 year old daughter finds it fantastically funny and easy to grab them off my face and throw them on the floor.

i’ve work oakley sunglasses since the early 80’s when you could’nt get them in the uk, they just work, love them. but the first rx ones i had were great looking but useless, melted grease would grip my face better, so after losing them chasing a mouse the cat bought in one night gave up on them for prescription.

saw last summer though they had a new sports model, crosslink, so bought a pair and love them. great specs and a great price. got mine from…
http://www.rxsport.co.uk/categories/Prescription-Glasses/Oakley-Prescription-Glasses/Oakley-Crosslink-Prescription-Glasses/

I’ve had a pair of Oakley DoubleTaps for the past few months and they are very comfortable.

I use them when running and I’ve not had any problems with them slipping or moving about.

My Oakley’s stay on pretty well, although they do stick out a little at the back (I have a short head) so a) can get in the way of my helmet b) can catch on clothes if I’m pulling them over my head.

For the last six years I have had nothing but.

The thick armed/framed pair I have now (currency) are excellent. I wear glasses 16+ hours a day 7 days a week and find Oakley ophthalmic glasses comfy.

My only note of caution is I had one pair of my wirey frames with thin grips that did not sticck so well to a sweaty head when provoked. Although I think that might have been exaggerated by being yanked about by my kids when smaller.

great feedback, thanks, sounds like I should be sorted, cheers

Just avoid the Oakley Servo’s. I’ve a pair and they are the worst glasses for staying on I’ve ever had, terrible.

I’ve got some and they are awful. I forget the model, but they are regular frames with no grippy stuff. Problem is that the frame is curved, but the lenses are quite flat, so the frame had to be bent under heat to fit, then the bend put back in at the bridge and arm junctions. All fine, but they tend to open out and revert to the original shape and not fit properly. I’m nowhere near the original optician now, but other opticians have tried to fix it again under heat, which works for a while, but then it still reverts to the original shape.

I’ve bodged a fix with some spacers at the hinge so it fits fine, but I’m not going to bother again with Oakley prescription glasses.

edit – mine are shifter 4.0s.

Shoddy.

I have some Oakley Currency, thick arms and chunky acrylic frame. Prescription -5.75, high index. Very comfy for everyday, and good on the bike too, but if working head down, painting skirtings, press-ups at gym etc, they don’t stay put. I can’t imagine the wireframe styles would be a problem.

Problem is that the frame is curved, but the lenses are quite flat

Yak how long have you had them as this sounds like non oakley lenses been done on the cheap(not your fault the optician/glazers should know better) the base curve of a lense can be altered to account for ‘high wrap'(those that curve around your face) if its less than a year i would be taking them back and asking for the job to be done properly

I have Transistors & Rhinochasers with Varifocals. They are supremely comfortable and grip very well although they can swing out of position when head down if not adjusted correctly. My only criticism is that if you wear any kind of headwear be it a hat or hood the straight sides above the ears tend to snag-may not be a problem depending on your hat/ear interface distance-hats tend to sit very low on my small head. Also as above, clothing tends to snag if you attempt to take anything off without removing specs first. I have decked these specs more times than any others.

the hustler – you are right.

The original optician and then subsequent opticians when I moved, kept fixing it and I was happy while the fixes lasted. It’s a few years now and I should have really jumped on it earlier and asked for replacement lenses. I didn’t for a number of reasons so I’m stuck with them and my bodge fix.

Lesson learnt. I’m mainly a contact lense wearer, but do wear them a bit too.

this sounds like non oakley lenses been done on the cheap

probably a daft question, but if a High St independant optician is selling Oakley and various other makes, does he not get all the lenses from the same place ? Or are the ones for these Oakleys specified more curved ?

I have Transistors & Rhinochasers with Varifocals. They are supremely comfortable and grip very well

– excellent, as they look quite similar to the ones I have gone for, thanks

Oakley will do their own lenses that an opticians can order, or will have access to a massive range of other lenses, some of which will not be as good as oakley , some will be similar, and IMHO some will be better, on top of this the design of lenses can be different ie the prescription is made by the differenc eof curve between the front and rear faces of the lense, now the starting curve can be made steeper or flatter to suit a particular type of frame, the above sounds like someone has used a standard lens rather than one with a higher base curve

IIRC – I’d asked for a ‘mid-thin’ lense and there was no mention of whether this could achieve the curve needed. Can all lenses, regardless whether they are ‘thin’ for the prescription, be made with more curve?

I’ll know for next time – thanks.

I’ve got some and they are awful. I forget the model, but they are regular frames with no grippy stuff. …
I’ve bodged a fix with some spacers at the hinge so it fits fine, but I’m not going to bother again with Oakley prescription glasses.

edit – mine are shifter 4.0s.

Shoddy.

+1 for that – tumbler frames here.

@hustler I’m in the market for a new pair of specs… pm me if you’re interested 🙂

hustler, many thanks for the info, useful indeed. I have gone for essilor varilux s series lenses, which are I understand the new version of their top ones last year (which are in my current specs), supposedly more comfortable vision and less swimmy…

Should say, I have friends with the metal frames who are quite happy – seems to be the plastic frames with no rubber.

thanks Jeff – that’s reassuring. I went for the light metal ones because they are made of titanium lightweight and hopefully will stay put 😆

I have a set of the Metal Plates. Great glasses! Stay on and seem to be durable!

Much better than a) normal designer rubbish and b) 2 for £99 jobs.

I have two pairs of WHY3’s, which are specifically for Rx lenses, and I’ve been wearing them for years. One pair have just clear reading lenses in now, but I wear them a lot, the others have Fire Iridium Rx lenses which are an old prescription, but I never had a problem keeping them on, and they’re really light and comfy.

Loving my Tumbleweeds.

I’ve got a pair of similar wire/rubber armed Oakleys from a few years ago. They stay on OK but too small for riding in as the wind comes around them worse than wearing no glasses.

Bought a pair of Crosslink XLs a few weeks back and they’re great. I think when it comes down to it, if you want sports glasses you need something that looks more like sports glasses.

@jeff thanks for the thought but if you are looking at high wrap or complex lenses its better to let someone competent physically see the frames you chose on you to ensure best results

@yac any thinness of lens can have the base curve changed, but for future ref if you bike in you glasses and want mid thinness consider a polycarb lens as its refractive index is 1.59 against mid thinned 1.6 so come out with a very similar result but will offer better impact protection for your eyes

One word of caution about high wrap with higher prescriptions the wrap can cause distortion in the lens which some people are unable to tolerate

I had a face smashing off, oakleys went ping! After picking myself up and then my glasses I was pleased to see they just clipped back together again. Luckily no scratches on the lense too.

Pretty happy with mine after using them for the past year!

I’m on my 2nd pair of Transistors the first of which my son broke when he pulled them off my head at 18 months old. Frustratingly it was only the tiny section hinge bit that snapped but can’t blame the frames for that as they weren’t designed for that abuse. Would have been nice if Oakley UK had kept spares but they only had arms left and not in my colour.

I can’t see you having a similar problem as yours don’t have the hinge link “feature”.

I went for the light metal ones because they are made of titanium lightweight

+1 🙂

Speeder was it the metal set within the plastic that broke? if so this is called a ‘half joint’ and as long as the surrounding plastic is in tact most opticians can either repair it or send it to a company who can (if you want to that is)

husteler, as an expert in the area, are the

essilor varilux s series lenses, (which are I understand the new version of their top ones last year (which are in my current specs), supposedly more comfortable vision and less swimmy…)

as good as they say and a step up from the previous ones ?

jolly handy having a biking optician on here I must say 🙂

the hustler – Member
Speeder was it the metal set within the plastic that broke? if so this is called a ‘half joint’ and as long as the surrounding plastic is in tact most opticians can either repair it or send it to a company who can (if you want to that is)

No it was the really thin wiggly bit (see pic below) that joins the hinge to the arm. It’s a bolt off peice but Oakley don’t carry spares and they didn’t at the time have the correct colour arms in stock so I just bought a new pair (inc lenses) from Hong Kong for less than the arms would have cost.

iainc essilor have 2 parts to there upgrade tbh 1 the new lens and 2 a new style of coating, there crizal was always the best, but they now have a new one blue something? (not got paperwork at hand) specifically designed with new tft/pad screen glare in mind,

not had anyone in the new lens yet, but i do have 2 pairs on order for my wife (guinea pig) so will be able to give better feedback in a few weeks

just checked Prevencia is the coating name blue is a short acronim labs are using as is blue UV it works on

great info, much appreciated, thanks

@ the hustler

Thanks for the advice. I’m wearing contacts for cycling at the moment, but I imagine that as I get older I may revert back to glasses, so will heed your advice to avoid another cock-up.

Interesting thread. I wore lenses for 20+ years but had to switch to glasses for work (varifocals… sob…) and at the same time contracted a very nasty eye infection which caused a bit of scarring and multiple hospital visits. Now just use lenses occasionally but mostly ride with http://www.rxsport.co.uk/products/Oakley-Twenty-Prescription-Sunglasses-%252d-Crystal-Black.html

Transition lenses (-3.25 both sides) work great for night riding and english sun! Used the RXSPORT’s try before you buy service which was great. Really good company to buy from. Recommended by STW when I asked a similar question to the OP. I did have an issue with lens scratching and RX sport swapped out the lenses for free. Good service.

Never thought the rimless glasses in this thread would be okay for riding. Have some wiretaps I use with lenses… might consider a prescription pair now.

jolly handy having a biking optician on here I must say

I’d just clarify I’m not the qualified optom in our house, the wife is and I’d never take away from their specialist knowledge. But I’ve workrd in the shop full time for 7 years and a number of years part time/unofficially b4 that and spend most of my time either dispensing or glazing repairing glasses, my background b4 optics was in design so I kinda like to know how and why things work so my knowledge on lens types frames glazing and materials is pretty sound. I’m also pretty analitical so patients with problems occaisionally ask for me specifically as I will try hard to solve issues and think outside the box alot (classic example of this is a patient having a new pair of glasses fitted correctly by us where previously had a very poor fitting from another optician but had become tolerant of the issue) we solved this over time by adjusting to similar and mproving slowly over time, not many places would put that effort in but its how my wife and i like things done

Bought my prescription Oakleys from Select Specs before Xmas and they’ve been perfect in every way, inc fitting, comfort etc.