X-Metal, Carbon Or Polished Carbon?

[Razerwire]

I can't decide on which to go for when I get around to obtaining the X-Squared.

I don't own any X-Metal or Carbon frames as of yet as I only have a Plasma Juliet, Titanium Penny, TiO2 XX, and 24K XX.

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to get it directly from Oakley or if I want to eBay the frame so I can have a choice of lenses.

I do like the Ruby/X-Metal combo as I don't have that set up yet. However, I do wonder what the Carbon frame would like like with Ruby. I'm not sure if I really like the Carbon with Black.

Any advice? Moreso, do any of the stated frames have any flaws I should be aware of like prone to scratching or scuffing?

 

[doowutchyalike]

Polished carbon is awesome, I've been hunting for the Ichiro Juliet for a long time and I think that is going to be one of my Holy Grails. I have it in the XS but I won't be satisfied until I have a polished carbon Juliet!

 

[Razerwire]

Polished carbon is awesome, I've been hunting for the Ichiro Juliet for a long time and I think that is going to be one of my Holy Grails. I have it in the XS but I won't be satisfied until I have a polished carbon Juliet!

Yeah I got to try on all three today at the O Store and the Polished Carbon was really nice.

The black on the Carbon frames aren't painted on right? That's just the natural color of the metal? I want to avoid anything painted/powdercoated for the frame.

 

[dcl10]

I've had all the available colors at one point and If I was to rate them from top to bottom it would be


1.Polished
2.Plasma
2.X-Metal (tie)
4.carbon
5.Polished Carbon

If you are going for the stealth look X-metal is my favorite. Has a nice industrial look to it. Plus its the most durable of the darker colors. It will scratch more than plasma, but as titanium re-oxidizes it will turn a dark gray again so they are less noticeable. The carbons are an anodized finish, so scratches look pretty bad, and will stay that way.

Carbon itself is pretty boring from a distance, just looks black and I think it's too reserved for most X-metals (although I think on the already reserved Half X it's a good fit). That said up close the metallic surface shows through a bit so it does have a unique character of its own.

In very bright light polished carbon can look pretty cool, almost like a dark chrome, but under most conditions it just looks like black plastic to me. The more light the more the titanium underneath shows through. It's neither stealthy, nor loud but a safe choice that will work with pretty much any lens, whereas I think the x-metal and carbon need a loud lens.

 

[Razerwire]

Hmmm. The Carbons being anodized may turn me away from them. Pity as I was curious as to how they'd look with Ruby lenses to contrast the black frame.

 

[del518]

Which OStore did you make it to today?

 

[dcl10]

Hmmm. The Carbons being anodized may turn me away from them. Pity as I was curious as to how they'd look with Ruby lenses to contrast the black frame.

The anodization is actually pretty durable. It wont wear off under normal use like paint, and is not as easy to scratch. That said if you do scratch it, it does not look great. I tried to fill a scratch with paint on my polished carbon pair, and it just looked awful.

 

[Razerwire]

Which OStore did you make it to today?

The one in Tyson's Corner in McLean.

The anodization is actually pretty durable. It wont wear off under normal use like paint, and is not as easy to scratch. That said if you do scratch it, it does not look great. I tried to fill a scratch with paint on my polished carbon pair, and it just looked awful.

Yeah I tend to have some bad luck with anodized stuff. I think I'd rather play it safe and get the X-Metal. I'd hate to scratch the Carbon and have to Sharpie it or something. LOL

 

[ucdavis4PT0gpa]

I've owned both in multiple models. First, I've never had an issue with scratching any either...but I double bag and case when now wearing so I'm more obsessive than most. To me, Carbon has nothing on Polished Carbon....to the point where I rearranged my collection so the one Carbon in the collection would be a Polished X Squared. As far as overall ranking of frames in the X Metal line here is my list....some of these are REALLY close and could be swapped with their closest competitor:

1. Polished (gets stares EVERYWHERE. Pain in the A** to keep clean and unmarred....but worth it).
2. 24K (the ole one..not the new abomination..if only Oakley made this for Juliet).
3. X Metal (early generations, industrial, otherworld looking...current gen would rank around Plasma on my list).
4. Titanium (many like early generations, I don't...second gen is what plasma should be..a dark industrial silver...almost a Plasma/X Metal hybrid).
5.Polished Carbon (hides a lines a bit...works on XS because of how that frame is designed..makes a dark finish pop enough to be noticed).
6. Plasma (want your X Metal to like every other metal glass? Here you go. Works decently only with Ice).

 

[doowutchyalike]

Yeah I got to try on all three today at the O Store and the Polished Carbon was really nice.

The black on the Carbon frames aren't painted on right? That's just the natural color of the metal? I want to avoid anything painted/powdercoated for the frame.

I'm pretty sure the natural color of the x metals is a shiney chrome color, when my buddy sanded down my X metal Romeos, this is what turned out: