Seek Optics - Aftermarket Oakley Lens Review?

[MJ]

Linegear lenses have been shown several times to be on par with Oakley in optical testing, but then again, they aren't exactly cheap lenses, lol. You usually do get what you pay for

If I remember correctly, linegear was the comparison, and def was not as sharp as oem oakley. Started some hubub on the post. This was a few years ago however

 

[joecool862]

If I remember correctly, linegear was the comparison, and def was not as sharp as oem oakley. Started some hubub on the post. This was a few years ago however

You are absolutely correct for that time/post. Linegear read it, said what a sec, this is bull, we have our lenses made from one of the highest quality optical shops in Japan and they are prism corrected. RETEST! So they submitted a set for testing and they came out virtually identical to the Oakley lens. They are the only ones I know of to pass such a test.

 

[OkStateJoe]

Its not a matter of bad or good. Its about optical clarity, impact resistance, scratch resistance and all that other stuff that is desirable or not desirable. You are correct, some people will be perfectly happy with gas station sunglasses. Your buddy (or anyone that buys oakleys or brand name sunglasses) bought oakleys because they wanted that quality, both optically and frame-wise, and to many members here, it seems counter-intuitive to buy cheap aftermarket lenses when you obviously bought oakleys for their name and the other lens qualities that come with the brand name is all.

Speaking optically, eye strain, even for a few hours a day, is a big deal, and combined with tv, your computer, is a fast path to having to wear glasses / contacts /lasix. It is a legit point to have them checked by an optician. There are posts on this board that compare even the best of aftermarket lenses, and they suffer in optical quality compared to oem oakley lenses.

Sure. I agree with a lot of that. I’m just saying that marketing creates “perceived quality.” It happens all the time in many areas of commerce, and especially in the sunglasses market (as shown in the video I posted). A lot of what everyone (including myself) on this board has done is paid a hefty premium simply because their frames have an “O” on the side of them (much like I did with my Jordans in the early 90s).

I have two sets of OEMs in addition to the SEEK lenses I have purchased for my various Oakley frames. All of them look great to the naked eye in terms of clarity and color. They also are very good when it comes to scratch/impact resistance. I can tell you they certainly are not gas station lenses (more on gas station lenses in a bit). I wouldn’t have continued to buy them if they were. They are much better. That said, in terms of eye strain, I’m not sure how they compare, as I am not an optician, nor I have I had any of my SEEK lenses tested. Personally, I’m not terribly worried about that. Someone who is, should definitely stick to the OEMs.

I had a pair of “polarized” gas station glasses last year to use only at the lake (for fear of losing a second pair of Oakleys to the lake gods), and they were awful…exactly what you would expect for $15-18. The frames themselves were actually pretty sturdy, but the lenses were junk. Color was off…clarity issues…and while there was polarization to be had, it was sketchy. They did work great though for wake-surfing, floating around, and drinking beer. Needless to say, when a drunken chick jumped from boat to boat and crushed them towards the end of the summer, I wasn’t terribly upset. I replaced them with some Oakley Sliver F’s. The post-Black Friday sale price, plus a 30% off code made the final price somewhere around $55 (including polarized lenses). The lenses are great obviously, but I’m REALLY happy I didn’t pay more than I did, because the frames themselves are cheap, flimsy pieces of crap. Good enough for the lake though. Makes it easier to find beers in the bottom of the ice chest!

Have a good one, all.

 

[DArnold]

Its not a matter of bad or good. Its about optical clarity, impact resistance, scratch resistance and all that other stuff that is desirable or not desirable. You are correct, some people will be perfectly happy with gas station sunglasses. Your buddy (or anyone that buys oakleys or brand name sunglasses) bought oakleys because they wanted that quality, both optically and frame-wise, and to many members here, it seems counter-intuitive to buy cheap aftermarket lenses when you obviously bought oakleys for their name and the other lens qualities that come with the brand name is all.

Speaking optically, eye strain, even for a few hours a day, is a big deal, and combined with tv, your computer, is a fast path to having to wear glasses / contacts /lasix. It is a legit point to have them checked by an optician. There are posts on this board that compare even the best of aftermarket lenses, and they suffer in optical quality compared to oem oakley lenses.

I agree completely with you about our reasons for buying Oakley's. I simply tried to say that the "assumption" that if it isn't an Oakley lens then it "must" be deficient in optical clarity is a poor logic algorithm and postulate. Now, to be clear, I am NOT saying that lenses other than Oakley's are "as good as Oakley's". What I am saying is that it is possible for other manufacturer's to make lenses that pass the three optical clarity test that Oakley does, and to do so at a lower price point, which should in turn offer performance that would also eliminate eye strain and other optical deficiencies.

Whether or not those aftermarket lenses are completely comparable to Oakley's in every way, and in every test (assuming that Oakley's surpass some minimum benchmark for each of the three test) is a completely different matter. What is clear is that a number of forum users have had sufficient experiences with a few upper tier aftermarket offerings in which they did not/do not experience eye strain, optical anomalies, or any detectable clarity differences in back to back comparison tests with their Oakley lenses. Given that some of the aftermarket lenses are providing increased information about their lens' manufacture specifications, it does indeed seem to support various forum users experiences, and the thought that some aftermarket lenses are true performance options. Obviously the lower to mid-tier lenses within an aftermarket provider's product line most likely won't cut the mustard, and are therefore not even to be considered. However, if no one researches and is brave enough to "test" and "try" these other options than no one can potentially benefit. In the end, our Oakley's have awesome performance; we just need to be aware that they may not be the only ones capable of delivering such performance. I'm not saying that they aren't the only ones, I'm just saying that they probably aren't the only ones; and as Oakley users we need to keep an open mind to that possibility.

 

[fastpunx]

This is my first ever post in the forum, but I'm not a newbie when it comes to Oakley.. have had countless pairs since the early 90's and even was an assistant store manager at an Oakley Vault outlet for a few years.

Anyway... I've started wearing some of my old Radars a lot more while running lately, and needed some new lenses. I no longer have a hookup at the company, and once you have had the discount, its hard to go back to full retail!

I checked this forum last week and saw some reviews of SEEK, so decided to give them a shot. I just got in from an awesome long run, on a beautiful clear and sunny morning in them... and I am VERY impressed with the quality. If i did not know any better I would 100% think they were true Oakley lenses.

I'm going to order a couple more sets of lenses for my Radars from SEEK, good enough for me and the price is killer.

 

[CommodoreDave]

I know this thread is a couple of years old, but I just had a phenomenal experience with Seek Optics and wanted to share:

I have a Fuel Cell and a Holbrook, both of which desperately needed new lenses. After doing some searching and reading reviews, I felt good about trying out Seek Optics. A set of lenses are $20.95, but they have a seemingly evergreen discount of buy 3, get 1 free, so I decided to get 2 pair for each of my 2 frames, which comes out to just over $60 for the 4.

When they arrived, I was impressed- the fitment was perfect and the clarity is superb. But! All 4 sets were Fuel Cell lenses, so I reached out to Seek Optics to make it right. They were hyper-responsive: they quickly apologized and offered to send me the 2 Holbrook pairs ASAP. (Technically, one of the colors was out so they ended up refunding that pair, but still.)

The quality and customer service are through the roof, and they are a fraction of the price of buying from Oakley. I will definitely be doing business with Seek Optics in the future, and encourage other Oakley fans to do the same!

 

[kegger28]

Has anyone tried Seek Optics Aftermarket lenses for Oakleys? Currently looking for replacement lenses for my Juliets and wondering if anyone has a review of these?

I have used seek optics for my Juliet's and my flak 2.0. they work great standard or polarized. The Oakley lens will work better but i scratch my lens a lot and cant afford to buy $100+ lens every 2 months.