[Closed] Best MTB all-round Oakley lenses?

VR28 is the best all round lens, IMO. Positive contrast, but not too dark. Good for all sorts of riding. Followed by the simply awesome Black Iridium/Persimmon transitions lens.

i share flashys sentiments, VR28 polarised would be my suggestion.

For me, I find just the plain persimmon lenses by far the best

Polarised, Pinches? Time for a little critique, I feel....

The polarised is good at cutting out glare, so good for "life" but for riding, sometimes you [i]need[/i] to see the reflections/glare, so I'd go for the normal version.

You on good form, by the way? Need to work out where you are and drop by for more critiques...! 🙂

I personally struggle with glare like you wouldn't believe - find that the HDO polarised lens helps a lot with trail "definition".

It's also very useful in the race car for cutting the glare off tarmac in the wet, and help you find the the "dry line".

I'm fine thanks, i still reside at Holborn and occasionally Spitz1. Drop in for a critique, i'm in on saturdays outside of doing my real work 🙂

If you can get hold of one, VR50 Photochromic is great as an all-rounder.
I've got some VR28s but I don't find them to be as good for riding in as the VR50s. Much better for off-bike use, though.

Now that's some full on critique action right there! 🙂

Good point re glare, but I suspect that's more important on tarmac than off road. Unless the OP is a roady....

Will drop by some time! Great news re the "real work", by the way, really pleased for you! Glad you got where you wanted! 🙂 Not been in Holborn for an age, been too busy in aeroplanes/hotels/meetings/conferences with my own "real work"!

excellent critique going on here! i'll drop you an email CFH.

OP is also a roadie!

VR28's look good to me. Might just by a standard 'set-up' and order VR28's as a replacement (£40)

Captain : whats this black iridium/persimmon transitions lens? Sounds expensive! but interesting too.

I agree that polarised is not good for riding. Ace for driving and normal life but odd for riding- especially on Tarmac.
For all round MTB my current favourite is g30. Nice contrast but good in the bright light too. If I was stuck with only one lens- clear

Persimmon is a great all rounder but yellow can be night ridden ;O)

For me, a plain old clear lens gets used the most. In fact its all that really gets used this time of year - both on and off road.

I agree that polarised is not good for riding. Ace for driving and normal life but odd for riding- especially on Tarmac.

just interested to hear what properties of the polarisation don't you like about it for riding specifically?

i'm wondering if its just a case of my eyes being affected badly by glare to the point it makes it "normal" for me 😆

I find it messes around with 'texture a little too much for me.

Alek, the Transitions lens is expensive, but worth it. Changes from Persimmon to Black, dependent on the light conditions. Some sort of witchcraft, I think.

VR28 is a great lens. I also use clear and persimmon, but mainly vr28

High Definition Yellow makes it sunny every day!

I've had most of the Oakley lenses over the years.

the ones I use now

-clear for nightriding
-blue iridium for daylight when there's some sun
-grey were good as an all rounder. not too dark. I just slightly prefer the blue iridium

persimmon is very useful for all riding other than full on night riding. if I really had to have only 1 lens that's what I'd go for. (except the vr50)

I also have a vr50 photochromatic lens which is good and I use it for every type of riding including night rides.

ah bo***cks, this is just going to turn into me buying another paid of oakleys after having my last pair nicked 🙁

VR28's it is then. Thanks for all your advice. Persimmon on the list of replacements.

Any deals about?
Pinches where did you buy your last pair (sorry to hear they got nicked)

found this helpful...

http://www.oakley.com/innovation/optical-superiority/lens-tints

Pinches would have got his direct, I believe...

BTW, custom Holbrooks and a pair of Tens are the latest in my seemingly ever growing collection! 🙂

I use the amber gold iridium polarised lenses but I don't think
They do them anymore , they were around 80 just for the lense
But I wear them all year round , they look very dark until you put
Them on , Oakley custom @internetopticians.co.uk

i can only ride in clear on mountain bikes

Cheers for the link accu.

Checked out those persimmon/black iridium transition lenses Captain. Very impressive. Another time maybe 😀

just interested to hear what properties of the polarisation don't you like about it for riding specifically?

Its really on tarmac - i found that the road looked odd and it was a bit distracting - surfaces look strange. I do generally prefer lighter lenses for riding though.

For driving and normal day to day use though, i wont go back to non polarised. THe grey polarised seems to be a good all round tint for uk sunshine.

yeh i normally pick mine up direct.

I was in the oakley store earlier, and tried a few pairs on, it's got to the point where i need a pair for casual/driving use and a separate pair for riding.

I was considering a pair of polarised frogskins/plantiff/jupiter squares and a pair of the new fast jacket XL for riding in, although i'll have to wait until you can do custom Fast jackets...

Currently using polarised black iridium vr28 or tungsten iridium for driving and vr50 for mtb (they are better under the trees than vr28 or persimmon as they let more light through)

+1 for vr50's they change fast enough in the shade and are pretty good out in the sun.

these are my vr50 transitions out in very bright sunshine in Greece. they also go light enough to use at night

[img] ?nocache=3586[/img]

bump.

So I can find VR50 photochromic but what are the "persimmon/black iridium transition"s? Online stockists?

How do the VR50 photo's work in snow? Do they lighten on overcast days or does the snow mean they're always dark?

I find it messes around with 'texture a little too much for me.

Alek, the Transitions lens is expensive, but worth it. Changes from Persimmon to Black, dependent on the light conditions. Some sort of witchcraft, I think.

Another one for the where do you find the magic lenses? I want some for my radar's.....

The clear/black iridium photochromic are now on Oakley's website, £140.

How do the VR50 photo's work in snow? Do
they lighten on overcast days or does the snow
mean they're always dark?

As I recall, they react to UV so if it's sunny they should darken and not if not.

edit. yes I'm right. it's also why they don't really work for driving...

http://www.oakley.com/community/posts/83

clear / black are available from the us on eBay for around £100

are available from the us on eBay

so after some hours and some searching I've realised that is "from the U.S." rather than "from us"
🙂

So 3 options (no all available on all lens shapes)-
- Black/Clear
- Black/Persimmon
- VR50 (is this black/pink?)

Thinking VR50 sounds the best for everything except night riding.

I've gone for black/clear for my Jawbones, see no reason not to, it's a wider range of transmission than the others.

+1 for persimmon

Just been told by no VR28 black iridium lens!!

Gold iridium the nearest match? any other suggestions?

More questions:

- is there a difference between 'transitions' and 'photochromatic'. Some places describe different Oakley lenses as being one or the other.

Just been told by no VR28 black iridium lens!!

Gold iridium the nearest match? any other suggestions

Gold is a darker lens, without the "warmth" of VR28. Can you not just get a standard VR28 lens? (Still the most used of my M-Lenses)

- is there a difference between 'transitions' and 'photochromatic'. Some places describe different Oakley lenses as being one or the other.

Decided to go for Black Iridium (vented) and spare pair Persimmons (vented).

Thanks for all the advice...........

Need further advice from the STW massive before placing order. Just been on the Oakley Custom site for Radar Path and the 'custom' lens choices are now extremely limited.

Which of the following:
Black, Fire, Ice, Positive red, Slate (all iridium)
or
grey, persimmon, yellow
or
Gold vented (no other vented lens available!!) gutted.

Had wanted the 'plasma' (dark grey) frame but only alternative now is the polished white. Anyone know how 'dark' or 'grey' these are in the flesh as I don't really want a cheap bright white!

So far my decision is: Polished white with positive red iridium lens, matte black icons and socks. Any advance on that (for both Road + MTB)

Polished white is very white.

Why get the custom ones if you're after a very 'normal' combo? Just buy some Plasma Radars, flog the lenses on here if you don't like what they come with and buy the ones you do want?

Could be a very good option njee20 😯

I'll start scouring the web for plasma frames...............