Oakley Sutro Review

I got a nice surprise earlier this week from Oakley Singapore- the Sutro sunglasses in red. They were actually released earlier a while ago but I only just got mine. Better late than never.

I tried it during my bike ride yesterday and it was awesome.

My fellow cycling friends who bought the Sutro's earlier said the long ear stems did not sit well with their helmets' adjusting and fastening. I use the Giro Air Attack helmet and they were fine.

Another comment was since the ear stems did not have any rubber (Oakley uses Unobtanium) to hold the sunglasses in place, they are not as secure and tends to move around. Again, they felt fine on my face while on the bike. Perhaps if you're riding off road or running they may be less secure with all the movement. However, I really like the retro Oakley wording (pictured above) on my ear stems compared to the 'O' Oakley logo commonly used now.

Greg Lemond and the Factory Pilots

I found out that the Sutro is modeled after the Oakley Factory Pilot Eyeshades made popular by Greg Lemond In the 1980's. Lemond won the Tour De France in 1985 wearing the Factory Pilot's and and they were the sunglasses many cyclists wore back then. There is a nice tribute to the Factory Pilot just above the nose piece (picture below).

Nice tribute

The huge, goggle style lens may not suit everyone's taste, but I think they're great at providing a large field of vision. The holes provide more than ample ventilation and they definitely didn't fogged up during yesterday's ride. Peripheral vision is superb with the Sutro's and you would expect nothing less in any Oakley sunglasses. Definitely a plus for cyclists.

Thanks again to Joey from Oakley Singapore.

*I remember watching Greg Lemond (above) winning the 1989 Tour De France by 8 small seconds over Laurent Fignon on the final day in the individual time trial (ITT). He had a deficit of 50 seconds before the day started. No one thought Lemond could pull it off as the ITT was just 25 km long. You can't make up 50 seconds over 25 km. But Lemond did, he averaged 54.545km/h in what was then the fastest ITT ever! 

The race was the greatest ever comeback in modern history as Lemond was shot by accident by his brother in law when they were hunting in April 1987 (Lemond first won the TDF in 1985 and 'gifted' the race to teammate Bernard Hinault). He underwent two surgeries and missed the TDF in 1987 and 1988.