[InnocentCriminal]

A friend just gave me a pair of Pro M Frames because he doesn't wear them anymore. Luckily, it's exactly the glasses I wanted for riding.

Now however, I want to get some replacement lenses. Prescription clear, and prescription yellow if available. Anyone ever use prescription Oakleys? Any problems with them or are they pretty good? About how much will prescription lenses cost? Right now, I don't wear my prescription glasses while riding because my vision isn't absolutely terrible, but glasses certainly would help with getting crisper vision on the trails.

Thanks

...iC...

 

[Toxic Avenger]

A friend just gave me a pair of Pro M Frames because he doesn't wear them anymore. Luckily, it's exactly the glasses I wanted for riding.

Now however, I want to get some replacement lenses. Prescription clear, and prescription yellow if available. Anyone ever use prescription Oakleys? Any problems with them or are they pretty good? About how much will prescription lenses cost? Right now, I don't wear my prescription glasses while riding because my vision isn't absolutely terrible, but glasses certainly would help with getting crisper vision on the trails.

Thanks

I've got a pair of prescription Oakley XX sunglasses and they've been great. Mine have the Fire iridium coating and you can't tell that they're prescription without putting them on. They look just like every other Oakley. Oakley seems to have a great lab and they do Rx's that many other labs won't attempt. As far as the cost, check out their website at www.oakley.com. If you have health or vision insurance you may be able to use that towards the purchase of the lenses, just like any other pair of prescription glasses. With my insurance I was able to get a sweet set of Rx Oakleys for ~$95. The same pair w/o insurance would have cost ~$250 I think.

 

[Old and Slow]

Have a pair of "20s". Not cheap, but excellent optics. Though more companies are making prescription wrap lenses these days, Oakley probably has the most experience doing so. Lenses were about $200 - $250. The frame was a little small so I got a fair amount of wind into my eyes, but you shouldn't have that problem. Stayed on my head perfectly. Never fell off.

My prescription got worse so moved to Zeals (wanted a pair with removable lenses and Oakley didn't have prescription Half Jackets yet). You do have to go through an authorized Oakley optician to get the lenses though.

Good luck. I believe it's worth the cost to be able to finally see the trail.

 

[billybobzia]

i have a pair as well, but the lenses were done by a local store and not oakley. it saved me a ton of money. i paid $140 including frames and lenses. a lot of places wont do it but an independant store might, not a lens crafters etc (if they break in the process, they can send them back to oakley for replacement). like you i didn't really need them as i have a mild prescription, but now that i have them i don't know how i rode without them, especially at dusk. good luck.
if you live in denver by chance i can tell you where i got them, otherwise just make some calls

 

[triscuit]

If you have a mild prescription you can do it. But the stronger your prescription the more difficult it is because of the curve of the lens. And I don't know how they deal with astigmatism.

 

[Trevor!]

I actually just picked up a set of RX M Frames in clear just 2 days ago after 4.5 weeks of waiting. Thus far I am totally happy with them. I got them with a sweep lens (Which has a quite a curve). The glasses feel just as good as my other M frames and with the prescription I am happy not having to bother with contact lenses.

I am going to pick up some RX VR28 M frames too since you cant get G30 in RX. You can get 15 different shades BTW in prescription and get the RX service covers a great range from -2 or something to +4.

You can get clear, persimmon (yellow/orange for dull conditions) and then all the usual.

Cheers
Trevor!

 

[bulC]

rx oakleys suck

I had a pair. good vision.. lousy durability. the lenses started developing little hairline cracks around the edges until one day I put them on and one lens just snapped in half.
Exact same thing happened to the founder of Avid, he told me.
Unless you're sponsored, Oakleys are a major ripoff.

 

[Jm.]

i have perscription A-frames. Insurance covered most of the cost, the cost to me was pretty cheap.

perscription glasses (and high end sunglasses) are one of the biggest washes in the medical field, up there with jacking up perscrption drug prices to "insane"...

basically it costs them a couple dollars at most to produce the frames, and the lenses do not cost much more. There's no reason why eyeglass frames should cost 200, 100, or even $50 bucks. They basically just "get away" with it. Same thing for lenses, there's nothing super special about oakley or others "optics", it's just a wash. To make optics that are generally free of distortion is not that hard, and should not cost more than a couple dollars.

it is a little more difficult to make the perscription lenses for oakleys or similer glasses, but it's well within just about every "eye-glass shop's" capability, it's not hard, and should only increase the price by 1/4 to 1/3, which for lenses may bring the cost to about $40 bucks.

you should see how cheap they can crank out glasses for 3rd world countries, maybe not with the best frames, but better frames would only be a little more money, they could crank them out distortion free and just as "good" as anything you pay $200 for, for about $2-20 per pair.

the proffit margins on glasses and sunglasses is just insane

my dad did some work getting glasses made for those 3rd-world situations when he was in the navy.

 

[mtnrider]

I never had Oakley but I've had Spy glasses w/ prescriptions in them. You can generally take any quality frame and get Rx lenses put in them. Where you run into a problem is if your Rx has thick lenses and the frames have a lot of curve in them. Don't fret though you just have to pay more money to get thinner lenses I had laser surgery done, but before that I couldn't stand being w/o my Rx sunglasses!

 

[Rev Bubba]

Just got a pair last week.

I forget the model frame but that cost me $89 while the prescription black polarized lens cost $145. I'm happy with them.

My riding glasses are a pair of Ray Ban wraps with a yellow prescription lens which cost less thn $100 because that lens is not polarized.

Hope that helps.

 

[mattv2099]

I have the Oakley Racing Jacket http://www.hdosport.com/hdosport/oakley/eyewear/rcingjacket/index.shtml

Mine are blue frame with an orange lense.

I bought them from a local eye place and they installed RX lenses for me. My RX is pretty bad, like 20/200 or something. Cost a bit more than $300. Worth every penny. I absolutely love these glasses. I've had them for 2.5 years and have had no problems. I race XC but spend all my time riding my road bike. These glasses are perfect.

good luck

matt

 

[Jm.]

Cost a bit more than $300. Worth every penny.

I got some used parts I could charge you 600% for.

 

[Nat]

A friend just gave me a pair of Pro M Frames because he doesn't wear them anymore. Luckily, it's exactly the glasses I wanted for riding.

Now however, I want to get some replacement lenses. Prescription clear, and prescription yellow if available. Anyone ever use prescription Oakleys? Any problems with them or are they pretty good? About how much will prescription lenses cost? Right now, I don't wear my prescription glasses while riding because my vision isn't absolutely terrible, but glasses certainly would help with getting crisper vision on the trails.

Thanks

...iC...

I've had two pair of Oakley Rx glasses, and am currently wearing the Straight Line 4.0 shown below. I'd go have lenses made at an optician rather than mail order via Oakley. They'll end up costing about the same, but you'll get the benefit of having an actual optometrist to consult. The last time I got Zeiss lenses, and this time Hoya, both lens specialists. How much your lenses will cost depends upon your prescription, choice of lens material, and additions such as tinting. With my horrible eyesight my lenses cost me about $350.

 

[Nat]

i have perscription A-frames. Insurance covered most of the cost, the cost to me was pretty cheap.

perscription glasses (and high end sunglasses) are one of the biggest washes in the medical field, up there with jacking up perscrption drug prices to "insane"...

basically it costs them a couple dollars at most to produce the frames, and the lenses do not cost much more. There's no reason why eyeglass frames should cost 200, 100, or even $50 bucks. They basically just "get away" with it. Same thing for lenses, there's nothing super special about oakley or others "optics", it's just a wash. To make optics that are generally free of distortion is not that hard, and should not cost more than a couple dollars.

it is a little more difficult to make the perscription lenses for oakleys or similer glasses, but it's well within just about every "eye-glass shop's" capability, it's not hard, and should only increase the price by 1/4 to 1/3, which for lenses may bring the cost to about $40 bucks.

you should see how cheap they can crank out glasses for 3rd world countries, maybe not with the best frames, but better frames would only be a little more money, they could crank them out distortion free and just as "good" as anything you pay $200 for, for about $2-20 per pair.

the proffit margins on glasses and sunglasses is just insane

my dad did some work getting glasses made for those 3rd-world situations when he was in the navy.

I've thought about that too. The materials couldn't cost more than a few dollars. I figure the cost goes towards the training of the optometrist to use his or her expensive eye exam equipment to use his or her knowledge to write a prescription then grind a lens that actually lets me see. I know I sure as hell couldn't do it myself without going to school for several years, doing a residency, buying optometry equipment, then setting up a lens grinding lab. I try not to think of things in terms of raw material cost too much, because everything's marked up. Even the cheapskate 99 cent, two egg/hash browns/toast breakfast special probably cost the cafe all of 20 cents. It's less painful to think of expenses in terms of buying someone else's expertise or labor, with a little bit of materiaI thrown in.

 

[Jm.]

I've thought about that too. The materials couldn't cost more than a few dollars. I figure the cost goes towards the training of the optometrist to use his or her expensive eye exam equipment to use his or her knowledge to write a prescription then grind a lens that actually lets me see. I know I sure as hell couldn't do it myself without going to school for several years, doing a residency, buying optometry equipment, then setting up a lens grinding lab. I try not to think of things in terms of raw material cost too much, because everything's marked up. Even the cheapskate 99 cent, two egg/hash browns/toast breakfast special probably cost the cafe all of 20 cents. It's less painful to think of expenses in terms of buying someone else's expertise or labor, with a little bit of materiaI thrown in.

yes, except those of us that know our perscription

 

[alleygrinder]

I've got the same deal - Oakley's with lenses done by a local shop - a lot cheaper, and as far as I am told, the lenses are much higher quality...

I can't live without them.

Custom Eyes - Frisco, Colorado - great shop.

i have a pair as well, but the lenses were done by a local store and not oakley. it saved me a ton of money. i paid $140 including frames and lenses. a lot of places wont do it but an independant store might, not a lens crafters etc (if they break in the process, they can send them back to oakley for replacement). like you i didn't really need them as i have a mild prescription, but now that i have them i don't know how i rode without them, especially at dusk. good luck.
if you live in denver by chance i can tell you where i got them, otherwise just make some calls

 

[Trevor!]

I got some used parts I could charge you 600% for.

In the long run everything has markup on it, and generally a good bit of profit is made. Like it or not. Look at a simple disk brake pad or brake cable.

I don't think it matters what the cost is (Within reason) if the item provides the functionality one requires. No need to make a fuss me thinks (Not that you are!)

 

[Nat]

I don't think it matters what the cost is (Within reason) if the item provides the functionality one requires.

Sometimes we pay way the price even if it's out of reason, such as $4 coffee, $100 dinner, $190 bike shoes, $150 bike helmets (it's just styrofoam!). Sometimes the stuff we buy (e.g., art) doesn't even have functionality. Land o' plenty.

 

[Jm.]

In the long run everything has markup on it, and generally a good bit of profit is made. Like it or not. Look at a simple disk brake pad or brake cable.

I don't think it matters what the cost is (Within reason) if the item provides the functionality one requires. No need to make a fuss me thinks (Not that you are!)

yeah, but the injected pastic for your glasses frames probably costs about 5 cents, then they charge like $150 for those same frames....not just "no", but "hell no". Then for the lenses yes, it might actually cost around $30 bucks or so, a normal price for lenses, ....the markups are not reasonable, oakley is definitely not the first company to do this, in fact they probably got the idea from perscription glasses, but the point is that the prices that are charged for glasses and sunglasses are highway robbery, they are in no way "worth every penny". I have these A-wire frames and there's no way they could cost more than $5 to make (vrs injected plastic for those other ones I saw in this thread), and $5 is probably stretching it...yet they cost like 120-140 bucks..., that's not a fair markup, that's just ludicrous.

notice how oakley has had an excess amount of cash to expand into other markets within the last few years

There are some things that command higher prices, but there are usually good reasons that they do so (the lack of market for disc brake pads, the fact that they are not cranking them out by the hundreds of thousands, the fact that disc brakes change and require totally new kinds of pads every few years...etc).....there is no good reason though why eye-glass frames should cost in the hundreds, nor why lenses should be excessive (except for a few excessive-curving lense situations).

 

[Trevor!]

yeah, but the injected pastic for your glasses frames probably costs about 5 cents, then they charge like $150 for those same frames....not just "no", but "hell no". Then for the lenses yes, it might actually cost around $30 bucks or so, a normal price for lenses, ....the markups are not reasonable, oakley is definitely not the first company to do this, in fact they probably got the idea from perscription glasses, but the point is that the prices that are charged for glasses and sunglasses are highway robbery, they are in no way "worth every penny". I have these A-wire frames and there's no way they could cost more than $5 to make (vrs injected plastic for those other ones I saw in this thread), and $5 is probably stretching it...yet they cost like 120-140 bucks..., that's not a fair markup, that's just ludicrous.

notice how oakley has had an excess amount of cash to expand into other markets within the last few years

There are some things that command higher prices, but there are usually good reasons that they do so (the lack of market for disc brake pads, the fact that they are not cranking them out by the hundreds of thousands, the fact that disc brakes change and require totally new kinds of pads every few years...etc).....there is no good reason though why eye-glass frames should cost in the hundreds, nor why lenses should be excessive (except for a few excessive-curving lense situations).

Actually when you put it like that I totally see what you mean.

Shame everything costs so much, but I suppose thats how big business operates. Why charge just a bit when you can charge a ton knowing suckers will pay the $$$ - I suppose thats the attitude in the marketing department..

The price of glasses in Australia is somewhat reasonable, and the price becomes more palatable when my health care fund kicks in.