[TiGuy]

Okay, I was at the swap meet the other day and I saw some people selling some "Oakleys". Now I know that they are just knockoffs but they look very close to the real things. They had several different styles. So later on I went on the internet to look at the real Oakleys and the the replicas looked like 99% similar to the real ones, with all the markings. So as I was browsing the internet I ran across several sites that offer replica Oakleys for "nostalgic" reasons and they also looked identical except the price was like 10% of what real ones cost. Some of the sites were even offering buy 2 get 1 free pair and one site was even buy one get one free, I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for, but I guess I can justify dropping a couple hundred $$$ for components on my bike but don't see the value in spending that much for a pair of sunglasses. So, I was wondering if anyone has ordered from any of these sites and if so what kind of quality did they receive. Any thoughts?

 

[elistan]

I bought some foakleys in NYC a few years ago for 5 bucks. The paint rubed/peeled off and they broke in like 3 months. But for 5bucks and 3 months use not too bad. They were peices of crap, but they were good riding glasses cause i didnt care if they got banged around and whatnot. Hope that helped some.

 

[SuperNewb]

Okay, I was at the swap meet the other day and I saw some people selling some "Oakleys". Now I know that they are just knockoffs but they look very close to the real things. They had several different styles. So later on I went on the internet to look at the real Oakleys and the the replicas looked like 99% similar to the real ones, with all the markings. So as I was browsing the internet I ran across several sites that offer replica Oakleys for "nostalgic" reasons and they also looked identical except the price was like 10% of what real ones cost. Some of the sites were even offering buy 2 get 1 free pair and one site was even buy one get one free, I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for, but I guess I can justify dropping a couple hundred $$$ for components on my bike but don't see the value in spending that much for a pair of sunglasses. So, I was wondering if anyone has ordered from any of these sites and if so what kind of quality did they receive. Any thoughts?

Some of my friends ride with knock off's. Yea its hard to tell the difference. One way I noticed was the frame material. The real thing is much more pliable? then the harder plastic knock offs at least the ones my friends use.
Just try asking the place you saw with the knock offs for a 2 for 1. Maybe they will do it maybe not.

I never tried buying them off the internet though. Im sure some on these boards have.

 

[Trevor!]

Some rip-offs looks good and some like crap. Also the optics are generally never the same. And whilst Oakleys optics are not the best, there stuff does hold up well for cycling and thus why the real ones are popular.

 

[RED5]

There's a reason that Oakley charges so much for their glasses. Whether or not the actual science justifys the price is up to the individual.

Oakleys are almost 98% distortion free, unlike glasses like Dragon, Bolle, Zeal, etc. And beleive me I wouldn't have beleived it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Oakley has this cool laser contraption they can bring to the LBS to run demonstrations with. What is does is to fire a laser light pointing straight ahead through the lens against the wall and when you put the pair of glasses of your choice on it it will show you the distortion based on how far off center the light is refracted. Most were pretty darned bad and the Oakley's were off by a very small fraction. See my diagram for a better example, the white background is the wall in this case.

It is Oakleys belief that this distortion is what causes some of the temporary problems, such as headaches among other things, from wearing sun glasses.

 

[RED5]

Additionally, Gargoyles are optically true and that's why they're used in the medical industry. They use a silicone coating over their lenses, at the least.

Not true, at least my Rakes aren't. When I put them on the laser, they went way off center. So there is definitely some distortion there and that proof you cannot argue with.

 

[Jm.]

for injection molded plastic, oakleys are about 500% more expensive than they should be.

They work, they aren't crap, but there's nothing "special" about them.

Oh sure, you hear "distortion this" and "lenses that", well look up how much they charge for just the frames of some. Hundreds of dollars, and for what? What costs a few cents to make. Lenses are no big deal either, lensemakers have been making many different shapes of polycarb lenses for years. It did not cost an extraordinary amount to get lenses made for my oakleys. My dad has some good views on this subject, as he worked in 3rd world countries providing glasses to people, and he knows how "cheap" glasses are to manufacture. Still, one good way to prove the "lenses" crap as BS is to just look at how much money the frames cost.

The wild overpricing of glasses is nothing new, the only difference is that oakley is working the non-perscription market for the most part.

Notice how many other areas oakley has recently entered into (clothes, bags, etc). Wonder where they got all that cash eh? From their wildely overpriced sunglasses no doubt.

I wear perscription A-wires. Are they good? Yes. Are they worth the $150+ or whatever? No. (insurance covered my cost for the most part )

 

[sonyisdope]

There's a reason that Oakley charges so much for their glasses. Whether or not the actual science justifys the price is up to the individual.

Oakleys are almost 98% distortion free, unlike glasses like Dragon, Bolle, Zeal, etc. And beleive me I wouldn't have beleived it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Oakley has this cool laser contraption they can bring to the LBS to run demonstrations with. What is does is to fire a laser light pointing straight ahead through the lens against the wall and when you put the pair of glasses of your choice on it it will show you the distortion based on how far off center the light is refracted. Most were pretty darned bad and the Oakley's were off by a very small fraction. See my diagram for a better example, the white background is the wall in this case.

It is Oakleys belief that this distortion is what causes some of the temporary problems, such as headaches among other things, from wearing sun glasses.

I have seen this Oakley contraption you speak of in person, and I gave the guy my Smiths, and the lasers did not line-up, however, another person standing there had a pair of knockoff Oakleys, and the dots lined-up almost exactly. Other people put their glasses on it, and about half of them lined right up. The moral of the story. . .Oakleys are cool. You are buying piece of mind by buying the actual product. I still like them though.

 

[S-Works]

Not true, at least my Rakes aren't. When I put them on the laser, they went way off center. So there is definitely some distortion there and that proof you cannot argue with.

Did you have the lens where the beam went through tangent to the laser beam. If not, you will induce distortions in any lense. And what you may be describing is more of a prismatic effect vs. distortion. Distortion would make the laser beam look fuzzy or unfocused. If it's clean, just moved over, it's prism.

The cheapo's are optically very poor, plus even if they say the block 100% UV. They probably don't. And that is very bad for your eyes. Cheap glasses or not, you need UV light filtered up to 400nm as well as HEV, High energy visible light. Most all brand names will do this. So find some glasses that meet these requirements. You only got one set of eyes, put the best UV protection over them. You will thank yourself when you are 65.

P.S. I agree that Oak's are way overpriced. But people keep buying them, that's why they price them the way they do.

 

[DJrider04]

Sunglasses, no.....goggles, I wear my a-frames for everything.

 

[Penn State]

I think the distortion thing is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. But yea, glasses are overpriced, and yea i do own a pair of bolle's (they feel better on my head then Oak's) But as long as we pay 100-150 for a pair of glasses they are going to keep charging that much, so lets just suck it up, get the wallet out, and ride on. (For the record, i wear crap glasses to ride in, since i have a habit of breaking them)

 

[malariavalley]

not worth it!

I bought a pair of FAKLEY's and I have had them for almost two years with plenty of crashes with them on. Maybe I got a good fake pair. I just can't pay that kind of money for sunglasses. Just my opinion.