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FEATURES: OAKLEY JAWBONES
Road Bike Action
June 1, 2009
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STORY
The Oakley Jawbones were first seen being tested by Thor Hushovd and George Hincapie at the 2008 Tour de France. Since then the Jawbones have become the choice of Lance Armstrong and Columbia-Highroad fast man Mark Cavendish. The Jawbones were officially debuted at this year’s Tour of California. At their launch Road Bike Action was given a set for a long-term test.
TECH
The Jawbones are an evolution of Oakley’s Racing Jackets. Besides the visual restyling, the Jawbones feature Oakley’s 3-point fit system and lenses that are suspended in the frames using Oakley’s new Switchlock retention system. This retention system isolates the lenses from compressive stresses of a conventional frame. By eliminating these stresses Oakley is able to further reduce distortion within the optic field. The pivoting nosepiece and “lower jaw” system doubles as a quick-release system for lens switch outs. When the “lower jaw” is in the open position, the pivoting nosepiece and lenses can be easily removed and replaced. Once the nosepiece is rotated into the locked position, the lens removal feature is de-activated. Using the nosepiece as a quick-release, dirt and fingerprints on the lenses are kept to a minimum.
The Oakley Jawbone is available in a range of color options including Atomic Orange, Retina Burn and Infra Red. Lens options include vented Iridium® lens coatings to balance light transmission, photochromic technology that auto-matically adjusts lens darkness in response to sunlight, and Oakley polarization that blocks glare without the haze and optical distortion. With multiple lens color options, athletes can choose to maximize their color perception or improve their visual contrast to optimize depth perception. The lenses feature Oakley’s High Definition Optics, are impact resistance, and offer 100-percent UVA, UVB, and UVC protection.
RBA SAYS:
It is hard to find fault with the new Jawbones. In the time that we have had the Jawbones they have become one our favorite sets of riding glasses. The styling is bold and clean. The optics are crystal clear, as we have come to expect from Oakley, plus they are comfortable and stayed securely in place while riding. We initially thought that the Switchlock system was overkill, but quickly grew to like the system and the ease in which it allowed us to switch out or clean the lenses. The Jawbones sit closer to the face and provide more coverage than Oakley’s popular radar glasses. To counter any fogging issue that might occur due their coverage and proximity to the rider’s face, the Jawbones are available with vented lenses. Our Jawbones featured the vented lenses and we experienced no issues of fogging, even in humid conditions.
The only minor criticism of the new Jawbones is that unlike the Radars, which have temples that arc outward, the temples on the Jawbones sit close to the riders face which makes it more difficult to run ones helmet straps inside the frames of the glasses.
PRICE: $195.00 - $250.00 depending on lenses
INFO: www.oakley.com
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