Oakley

Jawbone Livestrong Sunglasses

In honor of The Lance himself, his foundation, and his superhero-like fight against cancer, Oakley offers this special Livestrong edition of the Jawbone. The upper part of the frame is polished Black, with Livestrong Yellow "Jawbone" lower frame. The lenses are vented Black Iridium. Black Iridium is a superb choice for the spring and summertime. It transmits only 10% of the available light to your eyes, also making it ideal for bright, sunny days. The great thing about Oakley Iridium lenses is that the Iridium coating creates a uniform filtering layer that optimizes contrast and reduces glare. And with every purchase of a set of Oakley Jawbone Livestrong Edition glasses, Oakley will donate $20 to the Livestrong Foundation.

After all these years of Oakley boasting about the best optics in the business, meaning seeing clearer and with less distortion than just about anything else, they've gone out and beat their best. How? They did it by changing that which arguably makes sport shades sport shades. The pressure-fit lens. The lens that is held by only a small portion of the frame and can be removed. In order for your riding eyewear to do it's thing, the lens and frame are separate components with the lens probably being held in the frame by a notch in the lens or lenses and that notch matching a tab in a frame. In order to hold, there's likely some flexing of plastic going on. That flexing causes distortion. The more sensitive of us can really feel it, the rest probably just sense it. Rigid frames and rigid lenses can minimize this distortion, but have a hard time totally removing it.

The Oakley Jawbone doesn't use pressure to hold in the lens. The Jawbone lens is clamped into place, both firmly and softly, by the hinged jawbone on the lower part of the glasses. Oakley calls this Switchlock technology. The frame is rigid from the nose and the upper and temples, and the frame is rigid at the aluminum-anodized hinge and lower frames, but it moves like a well-oiled hinge when freed. The nosepieces, split into a separate left and right, are hinged as well. Under each hinge in each nosepiece is a slot where the lower segments of the frames are secured. Pull up the nosepieces and the jawbones move freely. Open the jaw, take out the lens, insert another. Close the jaw, flip down the nosepieces, lock the nosepieces into place, and you've got incredible optics that aren't going to change when you flex the frame.

The clamp doesn't exactly hold the lens. This is why the Jawbones do such a great job. The clamp retains the lens in the frame; the actual lens holding is accomplished by a soft liner inside the frame on which the lens rides. It's a suspension system, if you will. This allows the frame to flex while the lenses stay in place without flexing.

The frame is the usual light, sturdy, flexible O-Matter. The nosepieces and ear socks are the usual Unobtanium rubber. This stuff gets stickier the more you sweat. And if it ever wears out, the Unobtanium pieces can be replaced.

A lot is made over frame shape and fit. As it should be; you don't want the glasses to sit so far from your eyes that you're getting debris coming from above and below and you don't want them sitting so close that your eyes are sealed from the elements. Oakley has done an impressive job to work their sizing magic; these should sit well, comfortably, securely, and protectively on pretty much all faces. Since variation is inevitable, the Jawbones come with interchangeable nosepieces. If it feels like the frames aren't sitting as they should, pop out one set and insert another. Chances are, you'll find the right fit.

Helping with airflow are the vented lenses. These are small enough that they let in some cooling airflow, and reduce the chances of fogging up, but not so large as to bring debris onto your eyes.

Since Oakley is all about protection, the Jawbones come with a "soft vault," cleaning cloth/bag, and a set of spare lenses. The vault is designed to carry the glasses, the cloth, and two sets of spare lenses securely. The cloth is a great-looking screened sack that probably deserves 1,000 words of its own. The spare lenses are because not every day is sunny, nor is it overcast. Extra lenses are available as well.

Proposition 65 Warning for California Consumers: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and/or birth defects or other reproductive harm.