Square Wire 2.0 Aftermarket Lenses - Canada

[gmason86]

Makes sense, thanks!

Are the Prizm's still good even in the brightest sun in the middle of the day? That's one complaint I saw, that the BIP is actually better for that middle of the day sun and the prizm doesn't work well enough.

I've not tried them, so can't say for sure! But just wanted to see what you thought.

Thanks,

Graham.

 

[Lexkempo]

Makes sense, thanks!

Are the Prizm's still good even in the brightest sun in the middle of the day? That's one complaint I saw, that the BIP is actually better for that middle of the day sun and the prizm doesn't work well enough.

I've not tried them, so can't say for sure! But just wanted to see what you thought.

Thanks,

Graham.

If you lived in the southern USA (or anywhere else sunnier than that) I'd say 'yes ... Maybe!'

But since you love in Canada ...

Where the weather is usually Winter or the month of July ... You may be ok!

 

[gmason86]

If you lived in the southern USA (or anywhere else sunnier than that) I'd say 'yes ... Maybe!'

But since you love in Canada ...

Where the weather is usually Winter or the month of July ... You may be ok!

Haha, it's definitely not like that! Toronto actually gets a lot of sun, even in the winter.

Compare it to Scotland (where I'm from before I moved here a few days ago) where it's grey most of the year round! Then you'd definitely not need BIP

I may also be tempted to wait to see what new models are released... Not sure how much I want/need to spend the extra on the CB, compared to what something like the Wiretap cost. About $200 CAD difference ($100 with the discount, obviously). I think I'd mainly be getting them just because a suitable alternative isn't currently available. Maybe I'll wait. But also worth trying on the CB sometime when I get a chance.

Also still be good to hear from @Chris A Hardaway on the custom lenses questions when he gets a chance.

Thanks!

Graham.

 

[Chris A Hardaway]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I haven't read all the posts, mid week is always the busiest!
@gmason86
Best I can do would involve you sending me your frame... That could take 7-10 business days at a cost of $15usd. Then I'd need about 5 days to complete the work, cutting to fit your frame. If I supply the lenses, cut, and return shipping to you would run $120. I would also want you to know that's a steal, shipped to Canada.
Thanks for tagging me.
I also have a really cool bronze with gold iridium "thick a-wire" that you might like for sale. All original.
If you provide the lenses shipping and cut should run $60.
I just don't own the square wire , 2.0sh frames to do the cut without your frame.
Other colors could be a bit less expensive as well. Ciao!

 

[Chris A Hardaway]

I don't think you'll see a huge difference between oo black iridium, black iridium, or Prizm daily polarized. They all more or less do the same thing. But on less bright days my opinion is both prizm daily and oo black are better suited, due to slightly warmer base colors. The mirror on the prizm daily is more mild, personal preference there, I prefer the covert look of DPP.
New wiretap was cool, but Is very heavy (uncomfortable for long periods), plus spring hinge is notorious for breaking. Colors extremely limited due to phasing out status.
I personally think the carbon blade is so much larger you might not like it?
Conductor 8 would be closer to your style or Taper if they still had that.
It's the frame quality control that's an issue. Lenses can be an issue but I don't believe the sourcing has changed there, just minor flaws occasionally.

 

[gmason86]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I haven't read all the posts, mid week is always the busiest!
@gmason86
Best I can do would involve you sending me your frame... That could take 7-10 business days at a cost of $15usd. Then I'd need about 5 days to complete the work, cutting to fit your frame. If I supply the lenses, cut, and return shipping to you would run $120. I would also want you to know that's a steal, shipped to Canada.
Thanks for tagging me.
I also have a really cool bronze with gold iridium "thick a-wire" that you might like for sale. All original.
If you provide the lenses shipping and cut should run $60.
I just don't own the square wire , 2.0sh frames to do the cut without your frame.
Other colors could be a bit less expensive as well. Ciao!

Hey Chris,

Thanks very much for the reply and the quote. Definitely tempting!

So just to confirm (sorry, because I'm totally new to this!), if you were supplying the lenses, that'd be Oakley Black Iridium Polarized? So you just use a donor lens from another Oakley BIP and cut it to size? My main thing is definitely wanting Oakley lenses

I assume I'd just send you money via paypal or something like that?

I can check out options here for some kind of secure postage to you. Just out of interest, what company/method would you be using to send them back? A lot of the US ones (e.g. fedex, UPS) exist here as well, so I could use them if you find them really good. I know Canada Post have secure services, so could consider them.

As for the a-wire, is that a currently style they do, or some older one? Do you have a pic? So do you mean that the current lens is gold iridium but I could supply a different lens?

I've got a week or so to think and decide anyway (to meet the exchange criteria), so gives me a little time to figure out what I want to do.

Oh and you mentioned other colours... Is the Oakley Prizm Daily Polarized an option to custom cut for the square wires? How would that compare price-wise to what you quoted me for the Oakley BIP lenses?

I don't think you'll see a huge difference between oo black iridium, black iridium, or Prizm daily polarized. They all more or less do the same thing. But on less bright days my opinion is both prizm daily and oo black are better suited, due to slightly warmer base colors. The mirror on the prizm daily is more mild, personal preference there, I prefer the covert look of DPP.
New wiretap was cool, but Is very heavy (uncomfortable for long periods), plus spring hinge is notorious for breaking. Colors extremely limited due to phasing out status.
I personally think the carbon blade is so much larger you might not like it?
Conductor 8 would be closer to your style or Taper if they still had that.
It's the frame quality control that's an issue. Lenses can be an issue but I don't believe the sourcing has changed there, just minor flaws occasionally.

You shouldn't have told me about Taper. That seems to be discontinued as well and I love the look of that, lol. Stop teasing me with things I can't have! How long ago were they last available? Looks very similar to the square wire 2.0. Conductor 8 is definitely not an option. My wife hated them and while there's nothing stopping me buying them anyway, I'd have to listen to complaints about them forever, haha

What are the OO black iridium by the way? Not sure I've heard of them.

So on bright days, how do you feel the DPP compares to the BIP? I'm more someone that wears my sunglasses when it is very bright (I know I should wear them more often!), so that is a concern if the DPP isn't so good then. I've even heard sometimes you still need to squint with the DPP on a bright day.

To be honest, I'm now leaning towards not getting a full replacement, at least not right now. I don't think I like any of the current styles enough to go ahead and give up my square wires for. I'd be doing it for the sake of it. Oakley did confirm the 50% offer doesn't have a time limit, so I can wait on new styles (they apparently come out every 3 months with the next release around the olympics).

Here's what I'm considering... Get the lenses replaced by @Chris A Hardaway in my current square wires. Then I happily wear them and look after them. If at some point the spring fails in the hinges, or a new pair comes out that I really love, pop the custom lenses out and sell them (to recoup some of the money there, providing they're still in good shape), put the old lenses back into the square wires and then sell them to Oakley for 50% off a new pair.

What does anyone think of that? Would it be easy to swap the old lenses back in? Is there likely to be a market to sell the custom lenses and recoup some of the money? (Obviously selling the whole square wire with the custom lenses is an option if I really like a new release better but need the money - wouldn't know till the time what the money situation is).

My only worry is that I replace the lenses and the spring fails shortly thereafter. I realize it will eventually fail, but I'd be royally pissed off if they failed very soon after. I know that no one can say for sure, but wondering what thoughts are on likely longevity? I must have got them in 05 or 06. I have worn them a reasonable amount, but honestly not all that often. Up until 2012 I lived in Scotland and we don't exactly get much sun there all year round! Plus, from about 08 I had my X Metal Juliet's and they were worn for things like driving when we got sun. So otherwise, the square wires were usually when on vacation, so could then be daily for a few weeks each year. I would wear them sometimes in Scotland. Since moving here they've been worn more often, but the Juliet's are still the ones I like for driving. My point is that I've not worn them that often, so I'm hoping the spring has some decent life left in it. Any thoughts?

If/when the spring fails, are they totally done at that point? I'm assuming it's not an easy fix...

Thanks!

Graham.

 

[NoFair]

Still lots of places that have the Taper (usually at good prices) The new Square wire is also available with the lenses you want. DPP works great in full sun. If you are on a glacier you will want something darker though. OO BIP has a mild pink tint (very pleasant imho) and I normally prefer it to BIP. Chris is great. If you are having him ship you something get the DPP lenses for the Juliet if he hasn't sold them yet (he made me a set for mine).

 

[gmason86]

Still lots of places that have the Taper (usually at good prices) The new Square wire is also available with the lenses you want. DPP works great in full sun. If you are on a glacier you will want something darker though. OO BIP has a mild pink tint (very pleasant imho) and I normally prefer it to BIP. Chris is great. If you are having him ship you something get the DPP lenses for the Juliet if he hasn't sold them yet (he made me a set for mine).

Do you mean Oakley shops/vaults? Or are you thinking ebay for the Taper? Would definitely need to see it in person. There's an O-store downtown Toronto and a couple of vaults not too far away. Not sure what their stock is like though.

Yep unfortunately I don't like the new square wire.

Ooo, DPP on the Juliets... Is it easy enough for me to swap them in/out as I want? I'm definitely not normally on a glacier (despite what some Americans may think Canada is year round ), so that's good to hear they're good in full sun too.

Will wait to hear from Chris about my options from my (long!) reply to him

Thanks,

Graham.

 

[NoFair]

I'm a Norwegian and I'm on glaciers pretty often

Swapping lenses on Juliets is fast and easy if you have a good quality Torx 6 screwdriver. My X-Metal Juliets with DPP are my most used pair and my favorites for driving.

I'm not sure the Vaults have Tapers, you might have to try other places.

 

[gmason86]

I'm a Norwegian and I'm on glaciers pretty often

Swapping lenses on Juliets is fast and easy if you have a good quality Torx 6 screwdriver. My X-Metal Juliets with DPP are my most used pair and my favorites for driving.

I'm not sure the Vaults have Tapers, you might have to try other places.

Haha, fair enough

When you say other places, are you talking places like opticians, sports stores, etc. that still have old stock?

Thanks!

Graham.