When A Non-plan Comes Together

[CarGuy]

I had a pair of unlucky XM XX's. The nose bridge had gotten a scratch right in the middle and I sent them to Oakley for a tune-up. (These were my second pair of Oakleys)

When I got them back from Oakley they weren't the same. The front of the frame was virtually flat and not even 50 t-shox or bending the flex coupler got the ear stems any closer together. I had offered them to another forum member who declined so I was going to bring them to RED and have them re-tuned at HQ while in the area.

The XMAN agreed however to sort them out for me and they are spectacular now, He said that the orbital tabs were tweaked and the rubber for the flex coupler was in backward, While he had them he re-finished them to get rid of the scratch and keep it uniform. I think that he refers to this as his light finish.

Also purchased previously were a set of OCP/Ichiro rubbers and a unique pair of Blue IR chops from Dr. Chop. I can't wait to take them for a spin tomorrow...



Family Pics for reference:


In retrospect I probably should have put these next to the other XX XM frame, These are lighter but not as much as the flash makes them look in the solo shots above. They are a tad lighter and I bet that over time they will darken up a little. For now I like the cleaner finish!

 

[Beancooker]

Damn, they look great! Glad it all worked out in the end.

 

[Krank]

Agreed, those look awesome.

 

[THE X-MAN]

actually that was the dark x-metal finish,i couldn't believe H.Q let them out the door like that.

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

+1 on HQ letting them out the door like that. That is NOT cool at all.

 

[THE X-MAN]

how did your son like the juliets I tuned for him?

 

[CarGuy]

how did your son like the juliets I tuned for him?

He was amazed.
He's 28 so not much amazes him anymore (and he's my most jaded son to boot) but I think his quote was: "Wow, these are tight as sh*t, didn't you just ship these and they're done already?"
Thanks for the tee also, that's very cool!

 

[AngelAir]

Nice collection

 

[CarGuy]

Update: After spending some time with these I really like the finish. It's a little more textured (roughed up) as you can see in the pics.
This made it a little tougher to get earsocks on but in everyday use the finish provides a really positive grip when picking up or adjusting on my head.
And since the frame doesn't come in contact with skin the texture matters not a bit.
I like it much better than OEM and the base tint on Chop's custom IR Blue lenses is really easy on the eyes.
Great stuff from Chop and XMan!

 

[THE X-MAN]

On my own julies I like to blast only the portion that contacts the rubber on the temple arms,this keeps the rubber from "spinning" on the arm.that x-metal finish will darken with age and every once in a while I will oil the finish to darken them up.