Rustpot
M Frame Lover
First off, HUGE thanks go out to @schnitzeraffe who loaned the pair for this review. No questions, just shipped me a pair and let me hang on to it for several weeks as I try to get a free chunk of time to write this up. A true asset to our community.
The thread title sounds harsh, but I will say this is a killer pair. The style is definitely from the current era, but the SI team continues to produce designs with the edge and feel that's more in line with the Oakley we love. I'll get into the reason for the title a little further into the review. The size is firmly planted in the 'medium' category, which is a size I don't own much in so I apologetically don't have a good frame to compare it to for size.
The front of the glasses feature aggressive angles and a deep chamfer in the nosebridge that sets off the aggressive style nicely.
Moving to the side of the orbitals we're greeted with a familiar feature from the Jawbone/Split Jacket/New Racing Jacket, large bolts holding the orbital together.
The temples feature more aggressive, blocky features that look at home with the SI pairs like the Alpha Ecosystem and Strong Boxes.
And the inside of the stem shows us a welcome feature; Made in the USA.
Overall this is a very nicely styled pair that looks fantastic, and is backed up by the high-level impact protection of Oakley's Ballistic line.
And that's where it ends.
With those bolts at the corners of the lenses we'd all expect a robust Switchlock mechanism (at least I did). Sadly, the instructions tell a different story.
The pair comes with a tool to loosen the bolts, which are a simple Chicago Screw setup, and this serves to relieve a small amount of tension from the frame to facilitate standard lens changing methods.
Tool and screw setup;
The tool is a simple plastic T20 driver. Nice of them to provide it, and the small size helps keep you from over-tightening or stripping the screws. But the end of this one looks broken off almost.
And I found the easiest method to access the lenses for me was to simply remove the bolt and allow the frame to split.
So the bolts essentially add little value or function. The orbitals are clearly two separate pieces, and the slant in the center of the nosebridge looks like it's meant as a good spot to grab. But this is clearly not intended, as the frame has a screw through the nose, a small torx head screw that I would not recommend removing.
Suffice it to say I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting some kind of innovation, variation to the Switchlock mechanism (similar to the Alpha using the Radarlock mech), or some other bit of uniqueness to set it apart from the pack.
Final verdict? A fantastically styled pair with top-tier impact protection - good enough to add to any collection. Just don't expect anything more, and accept the fact that the frame bolts are all style, and [little to] no substance.
The thread title sounds harsh, but I will say this is a killer pair. The style is definitely from the current era, but the SI team continues to produce designs with the edge and feel that's more in line with the Oakley we love. I'll get into the reason for the title a little further into the review. The size is firmly planted in the 'medium' category, which is a size I don't own much in so I apologetically don't have a good frame to compare it to for size.
The front of the glasses feature aggressive angles and a deep chamfer in the nosebridge that sets off the aggressive style nicely.
Moving to the side of the orbitals we're greeted with a familiar feature from the Jawbone/Split Jacket/New Racing Jacket, large bolts holding the orbital together.
The temples feature more aggressive, blocky features that look at home with the SI pairs like the Alpha Ecosystem and Strong Boxes.
And the inside of the stem shows us a welcome feature; Made in the USA.
Overall this is a very nicely styled pair that looks fantastic, and is backed up by the high-level impact protection of Oakley's Ballistic line.
And that's where it ends.
With those bolts at the corners of the lenses we'd all expect a robust Switchlock mechanism (at least I did). Sadly, the instructions tell a different story.
The pair comes with a tool to loosen the bolts, which are a simple Chicago Screw setup, and this serves to relieve a small amount of tension from the frame to facilitate standard lens changing methods.
Tool and screw setup;
The tool is a simple plastic T20 driver. Nice of them to provide it, and the small size helps keep you from over-tightening or stripping the screws. But the end of this one looks broken off almost.
And I found the easiest method to access the lenses for me was to simply remove the bolt and allow the frame to split.
So the bolts essentially add little value or function. The orbitals are clearly two separate pieces, and the slant in the center of the nosebridge looks like it's meant as a good spot to grab. But this is clearly not intended, as the frame has a screw through the nose, a small torx head screw that I would not recommend removing.
Suffice it to say I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting some kind of innovation, variation to the Switchlock mechanism (similar to the Alpha using the Radarlock mech), or some other bit of uniqueness to set it apart from the pack.
Final verdict? A fantastically styled pair with top-tier impact protection - good enough to add to any collection. Just don't expect anything more, and accept the fact that the frame bolts are all style, and [little to] no substance.
