Peeling Oakley Lenses - suggestions?

[NC_lurker]

3 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

.... seem to cater for everyone over 6ft2'.

Methinks you're overstating things by about 1ft 😉

[quintonb]

My Photochromic lenses did the same, tbey are about 7 years old. Walked into my LBS to have a look at a new pair and explained what had happened.

Bike shop owner gave me some free advice that he used on his old Oakleys.

Take some packing tape or Sellotape and wrap it around your fingers, sticky side outwards. Then dab the lens and the left over film will come off with the tape.

I did mine and they look perfect and function the same as far as I have noticed. 

Nothing to loose so it's worth a try and see if you can get more life out of them. 

[michaelbiker]

The aliexpress / Temu glasses are probably the best bang for buck at the moment. I have a set of Kapvoe photochromics and if they die, I lose R300 - so a tenth of some Oakleys. They are comfy and work pretty well.

Oakley are ridiculous, particularly their sh*t lenses. The frames are pretty tough but that doesn’t help if you have to keep replacing the lenses. I also had a set of Raybans peel but only after 4-5 years. Best I’ve seen were a set of Smiths which are still going strong after 14 years but they are pretty old school now. 

[Lapierre]

Delamination - huge problem with Luxottica products ( especially Oakley )

Next time try Rudy - next level quality

[Bub Marley]

20 hours ago, The Ouzo said:

if this keeps happening, why do people still swear by Oakleys ?

Because they look phenomenal. I’ve had a look at Rudy Project, Scicon, 100% and sorry but none of them hold a candle to Oakley in terms of looks. You can wear most of the oakleys off the bike as well. 

 

The contrast you get with Prizm lenses is great as well. It definitely enhances the clarity of what you see vs just a darker tint with most other companies.

 

I’ve had multiple Oakleys and yes, that lamination is a problem but only after years of constant use. If you are riding your bike 5 times a week, all that sweat just gets built up, it will sooner or later start to affect the lens. If people are saying this doesn’t happen to other lenses, I disagree. It will happen to any lens.

 

As long as i get my years of use out of it i am fine. I dont also want to wear the same pair of glasses for 10 years. Going for a fresh look every few years, Im fine with that. 

[Paul Ruinaard]

also had this problem and TBH many forums say its beacuse of the chemical products like sunvlock etc. Which is pretty acceptable if you understand how thin that film is. Use cheaper glasses IMO - Oakleys are nice but its just about the label. You get almost the same for a lot less.

[Rapunzel]

16 hours ago, quintonb said:

My Photochromic lenses did the same, tbey are about 7 years old. Walked into my LBS to have a look at a new pair and explained what had happened.

Bike shop owner gave me some free advice that he used on his old Oakleys.

Take some packing tape or Sellotape and wrap it around your fingers, sticky side outwards. Then dab the lens and the left over film will come off with the tape.

I did mine and they look perfect and function the same as far as I have noticed. 

Nothing to loose so it's worth a try and see if you can get more life out of them. 

Thanks for the sellotape suggestion, it took most of the flaking off the outside. Soaked the lenses in cold fresh tap water for an hour and the coating on the inside is now 90% off and using sellotape on them too. Far from a new set of lenses but they're usable. Wonder what all the coating does or if it's just aesthetics ...

[DieselnDust]

12 minutes ago, Rapunzel said:

Thanks for the sellotape suggestion, it took most of the flaking off the outside. Soaked the lenses in cold fresh tap water for an hour and the coating on the inside is now 90% off and using sellotape on them too. Far from a new set of lenses but they're usable. Wonder what all the coating does or if it's just aesthetics ...

 its a polymer that absorbs UV, IR, and depending on colour, some of the visible light spectrum

[Bub Marley]

18 minutes ago, Rapunzel said:

Thanks for the sellotape suggestion, it took most of the flaking off the outside. Soaked the lenses in cold fresh tap water for an hour and the coating on the inside is now 90% off and using sellotape on them too. Far from a new set of lenses but they're usable. Wonder what all the coating does or if it's just aesthetics ...

Essentially what you’ve done is, let’s say your current lenses had a 20% light transmission, they’re probably 30-40% light transmission now. Meaning that more light will pass through the lens, in other words your tint will be lighter.

[Spinnekop]

21 hours ago, The Ouzo said:

if this keeps happening, why do people still swear by Oakleys ?

This is certainly not the first time I've read about this happening, yet, as proved by the posts in this thread, some people will just keep buying them

If they were cheap to buy and you could treat them as disposable then by all means, but they are certainly not cheap.

They are the price of two road tyres

 

[The Ouzo]

22 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

Because they look phenomenal. I’ve had a look at Rudy Project, Scicon, 100% and sorry but none of them hold a candle to Oakley in terms of looks. You can wear most of the oakleys off the bike as well. 

 

The contrast you get with Prizm lenses is great as well. It definitely enhances the clarity of what you see vs just a darker tint with most other companies.

 

I’ve had multiple Oakleys and yes, that lamination is a problem but only after years of constant use. If you are riding your bike 5 times a week, all that sweat just gets built up, it will sooner or later start to affect the lens. If people are saying this doesn’t happen to other lenses, I disagree. It will happen to any lens.

 

As long as i get my years of use out of it i am fine. I dont also want to wear the same pair of glasses for 10 years. Going for a fresh look every few years, Im fine with that. 

the only lenses I've ever had ir happen to were on a cheap pair of Nike sunglasses that I abused. Used to wash them with pool water, use them as safety glasses when weed wacking the lawn and so on.

I've daily worn D'Arcs and Rudy Project for cycling and have not had this happen.

[The Ouzo]

21 hours ago, Spinnekop said:

They are the price of two road tyres

 

but i would switch brands if it was common for that brand of tyre to be defective

[DJR]

I have had both Oakleys and Raybans that peeled. Both were polarised and when the peeled layer was off, it was no longer polarised. just saying, if you are trying to cut glare along the Atlantic coast on a sunset ride, or spot a trout in a du Toits Kloof pool, those glasses are toast.

[DJR]

Also, I have the suspicion that the peeling happened where sunscreen and sweat got on the lenses

[Spinnekop]

I have MANY oakley glasses.  Over the years many of them peeled.  I have learned the hard (expensive) ways that If you don't clean you glasses after every sweaty session, the will peel.  

Warm soapy sunllight water, quick wash.  Sorted.

I have oakleys in my garage that are over 20 years old.  

[Bub Marley]

18 minutes ago, Spinnekop said:

I have MANY oakley glasses.  Over the years many of them peeled.  I have learned the hard (expensive) ways that If you don't clean you glasses after every sweaty session, the will peel.  

Warm soapy sunllight water, quick wash.  Sorted.

I have oakleys in my garage that are over 20 years old.  

I tell myself this whenever I get something new. Make sure you clean them immediately. Unfortunately after a month or so old habits kick in, laziness kicks in. Ahh… no worries, I’ll clean them after work. Then a day a goes by, 2 days before it gets cleaned. But yes, I agree if you actually do look after them properly they will last.