Oakley SI M Frame Alpha – Complete Review

[Rustpot]

This one goes to 11! A complete review of the Oakley SI M Frame Alpha Sunglasses so you can decide if they’re right for you!







Background



A few of the people that expressed recent interest in these;@schnitzeraffe @JOHN Oakley RadarFan @Ventruck @Iridium Fear @Eric Short



I’ve been a fan of the M Frames for a while now, and I’ve felt that every new iteration of the M Frame (I do not count...

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[JOHN Oakley RadarFan]

Nice! Much appreciated. Thanks
John

 

[flyer]

Mmmmmm...eleven!

Terrific review.

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

Mmmmmm...eleven!

Terrific review.

I concur.

 

[schnitzeraffe]

Cool! SI only?

 

[JOHN Oakley RadarFan]

Cool! SI only?

Yep.

 

[Nortika]

Thanks for the great review!

 

[Ventruck]

Thanks for the tag. Definitely wanted to find out about how these pan out as a dedicated performance pair. Not sure what I should applaud more: the detail of the review, or the detail by Oakley on designing this pair. The swapping system is very cleverly executed. Most people unfamiliar with the pair wouldn't think for a second it had a Switchlock. I slept on the details early on and didn't expect it myself. Seems you caught everything.

Venting was an awesome solution to not compromise coverage. That's the one feature I wish carried over to general release pairs.

Only thing hanging in my mind is the stops for the stems. The Radar EV could collapse without lens contact, but I guess creating such geometry for the Alpha's would conflict with narrow spacing and the tension-dependent fit. If the stop isn't hitting your face in use (er, no offense; just know you have a big face based off previous lens demands), guess it's a non-issue. Also noticed that the lens cut has decent spacing from the cheek bones.

Plain awesome.

 

[Rustpot]

Only thing hanging in my mind is the stops for the stems. The Radar EV could collapse without lens contact, but I guess creating such geometry for the Alpha's would conflict with narrow spacing and the tension-dependent fit. If the stop isn't hitting your face in use (er, no offense; just know you have a big face based off previous lens demands), guess it's a non-issue. Also noticed that the lens cut has decent spacing from the cheek bones

I didn't notice they were there at first, until I played with the stems a bit. The temple area on these fits a lot wider than the 3.0, so there's no pressure or contact, very much a 3-point-fit pair, compared to others that have a lot of contact with the wrap - specifically the 3.0 which wraps like a headband on my head.

 

[Sir Rossi]

IMHO, from those pictures, they look very cheaply made (though that may just be the result of cutting weight). How do the hinges feel? They look relatively crude