Aftermarket Lense Quality?

[Jruta]

My Pennys currently have the original vr28 lenses which i LOVE, but at some point i would like to try fitting my frames with a new color lens, I always see the following aftermarkets out there- Walleva, Exovista, Keystone, and Linegear. Is one brand better than the other in terms of fit/finish/quality? Does anyone have experience, either good or bad with them?

John

 

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[Oakleynerd]

hope this can help.....
http://www.oakleyforum.com/oakley-sunglasses-discussion/1075-aftermarket-lenses.html

 

[Jruta]

Thank you!

 

[Oakley_Sight]

I have purchased a set of Ruby lenses from Exovista for my Monster Dogs. The lenses are sharper imaging from Oakley & better quality but the others are half the price. I am more than happy with the lenses i got as i do not wear these glasses all the time. If i were wearing them all the time the i would have to go with Oakley lenses.

 

[xmetalmaniac]

Keystone and Exovista are the same company.....I have had some of their lenses however the quality is no where near Oakley Lenses, but it does have its purpose and they have some awesome colors.... Also its hit or miss on some models as to fitment. Some lenses are just a hair to big which cause the lens to warp. Some aftermarket lenses that fit into wire frames have issues with not being able to fully tighten down the screw in the orbital. Some X Metal frames have issues too with aftermarket lenses, they are too small and move around in the orbitals, this can be fixed but why should we have to fix it. It should be right. The Romeo 1 model, which I have tried EVERY aftermarket lens in still has micro gaps in the frame orbitals which let light through.

I have tried Visionary lenses (VL) also, they are the thickest lens for Oakley aftermarket repalcements I have seen. I put a pair into a titanium whisker frame and they just barely fit. They appear to do alot of beveling to get it to sit into the orbital channel properly...

I belive the Linegear company comes from Japan, and I have not tried the lens as of yet...

 

[Jruta]

Thanks to all for the info, looks like ill try exovistas, cant go wrong for the price. I'd always prefer Oakley originals, I'm not sure theyre all that easy to find.

 

[hkwinger]

I have tried all of them. When I got into collecting, I had multiple pairs of x-metals that were mine from years past, the only issue was that the lenses were bad. I purchased a few aftermarket pairs and found out quickly that they were nowhere near the quality of authentic Oakley lenses. I have since replaced all the aftermarkets with originals that I have picked up over time. It's not cheap or easy, but there is a reason that Oakley makes the best sunglasses out there. If you wear your glasses like I do, take it from me, don't waste your money. Display is OK. As I said, over the last year I have purchased quite an inventory of Romeo 1, Mars, Penny, and many other X metal lenses. Some cheap some expensive. The point is that hey are out there, so be patient. For color combos that Oakley never did, I had my optometrist cut original Oakley lenses with great results. I love my Romeo 1's with slate.

Good Luck