Oakley has a pretty exhausting product launch frequency. It seems every year we are either treated to a new model, or a limited edition (usually a more vented sub-model) in the run-up to the Tour de France. Olympic years are even bigger for the sports eyewear giant, with its products gracing not just the faces of cyclists, but rowers, runners, sprinters, jumpers, throwers… anyone, really. It’s latest model, the Sphaera, is not simply taking aim at the top spot of the list of the best cycling glasses, but it also has to be a good multisport offering too.
I’ve had a set of Sphaeras on the go for a while now, in a Tour de France edition colourway (more on that later). As a pair of cycling glasses, it certainly has its perks, but my view is that, especially at full price, there are better options for the cyclist in the range of Oakley cycling glasses, or from other brands. Still, if you are curious, read on to find out all the highs and lows.
Design and aesthetics
For many years Oakley has launched Tour de France editions of its top cycling glasses. Yellow frames with Prizm Road lenses, worn by its sponsored athletes. I’ve got the Tour de France edition already, and as Oakley usually sponsors the dominant Tour team of the day (Visma-Lease a Bike, in this case) I expect we will see them on the faces of Visma riders at some point. I suspect Oakley didn’t bank on a massive crash taking out the team's star Tour prospect, so chances to wear them in this yellow colourway may be slim unless the team take the team classification at some point.
Regardless, you’ll have seen them in use in the peloton already, primarily on the face of Kasper Asgreen, who's been sporting a few pairs including a photochromic number since the Classics.
The ‘Sphaera’ name - no prizes for guessing - comes from ‘sphere’. The arms and half-frame have a very full wrap, only opening out to a wider angle at the tip of the arms. Likewise, the lens is also wrapped noticeably in the vertical direction. You can sort of imagine the form of these sunglasses projected pretty seamlessly onto a virtual sphere.
The arms are classic Oakley; straight, with no hook and a solid wrap. The rear portion features grippers on the underside, while the entirety of the inside is coated with gripper. This gripper is built-in and doesn’t take the form of a replaceable sleeve like it does on some models.
The lenses are replaceable, but as is becoming the norm you don’t get any spares. Lens removal isn’t the easiest out there, but if you get the Prizm Road lens you really shouldn’t need to swap them unless they get damaged. Getting the lens back in is actually an enormous faff, and it is possible to damage the frames a bit, so I advise you just leave things as they are unless absolutely necessary.
The form, a classic half frame, cuts a modern silhouette, but compared to the rest of the offerings from Oakley the build feels a little cheap. The matte plastic looks cheap, and the fit and finish at least in my pair are somewhat lacking. The hinges are snappy and engage positively, but the lenses fit loosely in the frame at the temples, meaning that when the arms snap into place there’s an audible rattle, and in the hands there’s a lot of play.
They also have quite a forward aspect to the lens. The lower half sits very close to the cheeks, with the upper portion further away. If you have prominent cheeks then these are likely ones you should pass on, and at the time of writing, I don't believe they come in an Asian fit.
Performance
Let’s start with the good stuff. The optics are exceptional. The Prizm Road lens is the gold standard, and here it’s used to good effect. Full sun is no problem, cloudy days too. The wrap does make for a slightly odd look on the face, but the distortion-free clarity is undeniable. Retention, too, is the best out there. They’re more secure than even the Oakley Encoder and are absolutely unshakeable. I struggle to think of a sporting environment that would put the grip of them to the test - cycling certainly won’t come close, nor will the regular up-and-down of running. Maybe Karate…?
This retention comes at a price though, and that is comfort. On longer rides the arms, which press quite heavily behind my ears, become uncomfortable. The odd few hours are fine, but once you’re touching four hours or more, taking them off for a bit for a climb was actually a bit of a relief. It’s worth noting that I have a small head, so this will be exacerbated if you have a larger melon.
I suspect the gripper’d inside temples are there to help them grip the inside of a helmet. It does this relatively well, but they didn’t always stay put. I tend to leave mine on my face now, even while climbing, for wattage reasons, and on some slow, humid climbs I did notice some fogging as soon as I stopped moving. This is usually only an issue with wrapped sunglasses, which these are, and while it dissipated soon after moving again it was still a little more foggy than I’d expect.
I should also add that the included nose bridge gripper just didn’t fit my nose at all. It is perhaps a narrow nose, especially at the bridge, but out of the box, the weight of the frame was on the hard plastic of the nose piece holder, rather than the rubber roads themselves. This is an issue I’ve had with other glasses in the past, and given I have so many cycling glasses now I just bodged a spare gripper on, but having a narrow-fit pad is something that you get on some mid-range glasses, so it would be good to have it in this case too.
In terms of the field of view, the high fit of them means the frame isn’t too obtrusive, but compared to something like the POC Elicit it does sit in the eyeline. Because of the spherical wrap of the frame, the hinges sit a lot closer to the helmet than the central brow does, which can result in a gap at the centre between the glasses and the helmet, but not at the temples. While this isn’t a true performance black mark, it is visually unappealing.
All in all, things are good, but not fantastic. If you’re playing a sport when you’re upright, running around, looking around a lot, and occasionally taking an impact with the floor (baseball, for example), I think they’d be perfect. For cycling performance they leave a little to be desired, but such is the compromise when making a multisport set of glasses.
Value
New Oakley models cost a pretty penny. The RRP for a set of Oakley Sphaeras is between £191 and £231 depending on the frame and lens combo, and while you can find them cheaper, you can also find older, better Oakley models cheaper. The Oakley Encoder, my favoured set of cycling glasses, is a similar RRP, but you can find them elsewhere for a lot cheaper. They are also more comfortable, less prone to fogging, and look and feel more premium.
Verdict
I remain an Oakley fan. The brand has put out too many very good pairs of sunglasses for that to change just because its latest model doesn’t quite cut it. I am however a little disappointed in the Sphaera. The optics are excellent, but the fit and finish feel cheap, they sit too high on the face and aren’t hugely comfortable. Leave these to the Tour riders and Olympic athletes and save your cash and buy something better unless you absolutely have to have the latest model each season.
