Oakley Sports Frame Shootout
We'll admit it right now: we are big fans of Oakley. While they don't make the cheapest shades on the market, they certainly make some of the best. They consistently improve the fit and functionality of their frames, while simultaneously pushing the design frontier and creating styles that are mimicked the industry over. In 2008, the brand was acquired by Luxoticca, and there was a lot of specualtion about what would happen with the brand's quality after that point. The intervening years have proven that Oakley has lost none of its creative edge, and continues to produce some of the most exciting and usable athletic eyewear.
In fact, if there's a problem with Oakley's lineup, it's that there are potentially too many athletic pieces to choose from, leaving consumers with a bit of a riddle in terms of what to choose for a given activity. Specifically for us, which set will be the best for the triathlete? That's the question we've set out to answer in this review. We've taken four of Oakley's athletic pieces - the Radar, the Radar XL, the Jawbone, and the Split Jacket - that pitted them against one another in a battle royale.
Function over Form
Note that we won't be going over much of the aesthetic features of these shades. Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. What we're interested in is how these shades perform for triathlon. That query ultimately comes down to two main considerations - how the glasses fit (and the features of the design), and what field of visibility they offer. Which frame will come out on top? Read on.
