Any Dangers In Getting A "Beater" Frame?

[Rustpot]

I think I'm getting ready to make the X-Metal plunge and have targeted an XX. I like tearing into something and fixing it up instead of buying pristine and worrying about making the first mark on it.

I'm looking at a XX frame on eBay that is pretty stripped down. The temples and earsocks are present, but it looks like the orbital gaskets are gone, the nose bridge flex coupler is toast/missing, the nosebombs are gone, and the lenses "need replacing".

Will buying this frame cheap and sending it to Oakley for new rubber be worth it? Does Oakley charge a flat rate and replace everything on the frame, so it would come back fresh and new in terms of hinges, gaskets, couplers, earsocks, nosebombs, besides the lenses (and Juliet noses)?

What should I cap my bid at, $100, 125, 150? I'm not desperate, and I'm not a collector. I'm mainly trying to break into X-Metals with as little up-front investment as possible :laugh:

Are factory XX lenses available, and if so do they sell for retail or over $100?

$100 frame (let's say), $75 tune up, $75 lenses is 250 for a like-new XX, or am I wrong?

Any way to fix the frame without an Oakley tune up?

Thanks for helping me, I know very little about the world of X-Metals!

 

[bouncing_boy77]

based on your description, it really looks like that the pair you're interested at is really beat-up. as far as sending it in for a tune-up, based on my experience, they really change all the rubbers when you send it in, and it helps if you mention that too when you call them to set it up. what i'm not 100% sure is that if the rubbers are interchangeable w/ the juliets since the xx is already discontinued, but then again, oakley might still have spares for them set aside for tune-ups. as far as i can remember, you can still buy xx replacement lenses (only regular and polarized black iridiums) over at oakley.com. unfortunately, there really is no way to fix the flex couplers w/o sending them in because of the rivets that hold it in place.

as far as putting in a bid, it's hard to decide what cap it in as it really depends on how much you want it. good luck with your 1st x-metal adventure!

 

[MasChingon]

I called Oakley 3 weeks ago and was told they were completely out of XX X-Metal parts. I was subsequently offered the 25% discount on another x-metal pair.

You may have better luck but I'd make 100% sure warranty has tuneup parts, in stock.

 

[Rustpot]

I thought the Juliet Tshox/earsocks/nosebombs/gaskets worked, and I assumed the flex coupler wasn't specific to each model.

If they can't service the XX that changes things.

 

[bouncing_boy77]

I thought the Juliet Tshox/earsocks/nosebombs/gaskets worked, and I assumed the flex coupler wasn't specific to each model.

If they can't service the XX that changes things.

yup, based on Mas' post, that might be the case. have you tried the x-squared? i know you being an m-frame/radar fan that the juliet might be small for you, but the x-squared might be ok. those are still fairly easy to find and not that expensive.

 

[qtrain23]

I believe there are people on eBay who do tuneups on discontinued models. Give that a look

 

[Rustpot]

yup, based on Mas' post, that might be the case. have you tried the x-squared? i know you being an m-frame/radar fan that the juliet might be small for you, but the x-squared might be ok. those are still fairly easy to find and not that expensive.

They work, but I'm not a fan of their style. The Carbon and X-Metal colorways are about $250-300 right now, right?

 

[oakleyandi]

You can still buy XX lenses at Oakley
Oakley X METAL XX REPLACEMENT LENSES - Purchase Oakley eyewear from the online Oakley store

the tune up is 64.95 and they will replace all rubber, including the orbital gaskets but no the nose pads but you can use Juliet nose pads, as a matter of fact, they will put Juliet nosepads and tighten the nose bridge, you can send them to Oakley and the turn around time will be 2-3 weeks, or you can send them to an Oakley fan in southern california (anaheim, OC, irvine, mission viejo or even SD area) that goes there with a frame of his own and they will do a two for one in tune ups for walk ins and they will tune them up in 10 minutes and you can split the cost of the tune up with this guy, even more, last couple times I went my tune up were free and I fixed 5 frames, they will even install the lenses for you, this way you wouldn't even need to get a t6.
I think they're good investment frames, not only because they're cool, but because they hold the value well better than plastics. If that auction ends up in 120 that'll be cool, because they will cost 120+65 for lenses + 65 tune up equals 250 for a frame that you could get 350

 

[bouncing_boy77]

yeah, around that price range. if you decide to get them, you can try to find one here, it might be a bit cheaper to buy from fellow members.

 

[SpliceD]

I was at walk in warranty earlier this year and got two of my XX's tuned up. All they did was tighten the nose bridge. All parts from the juliet work, EXCEPT the nose bombs. They are completely out of those. However, the nose bombs from juliets will fit with some massaging. They're not a perfect fit, but will work if you simply plan to wear them.

As for the lenses, they're $65 for Black Iridium or 24K from Oakley.com. Or, you can have Dr. Chop cut a pair for you. $75 just to tighten the nose bridge isn't really worth it if you ask me. If the nose bridge isn't floppy, i'd say you should be fine wearing it without a tuneup. When i took my set of XX's in there, the tune up didn't even really do anything to tighten. Apparently it has to do with the rivets and the rivet holes being widened over time. The only fix is to replace the nose bridge itself. This was all explained to me by the tech at Walk-in Warranty.

If you can get a beater pair of XX for around $150, $65 for lenses, and $15 for a set of juliet rubbers, you'd have your XX for $230, which isn't a terrible deal. You could always get the gaskets from linegear or DGMods from ebay too.

So basically, make sure the nosebridge isn't floppy and you should be ok.