Myself and a few friends seem to collect sunglasses so figured it must be something that other people do too. As such I thought it might be nice to have a thread to share our collections and any new additions as they come along 😄 I'm applying the term sunglasses loosely as I'm also including a pair of goggles 
My small stash is currently made up entirely of Oakley's - I bought my first pair (Eyejackets, in metallic bronze with gold iridium lenses) from a branch of Sunglass Hut on main street in New York about 25 years ago. I was in my mid teens and had saved up for months as it was a big outlay at that age so was pretty gutted when I dropped them lens down on the tarmac about 10 feet out of the door
I was very lucky to get away with just a tiny ding in one lens but that was the last time I dropped a pair for a very long time. In fact it was only when I was stung on the head by a wasp 24 years later that it happened again 
I got the glasses tangled in my helmet straps, launching them down the road as I tried to extract the pesky blighter
Anyway I looked after and loved my Eyejackets and was impressed with the Oakley brand so when the titanium alloy X-Metal Juliet's were launched in '99 I was deeply besotted and again started saving. When I was able to afford the upgrade I gave the Eyejackets to my cousin, the only pair I've parted with to date.
I still have my original first gen pair of Juliets but at now 22 years old their not 100% original anymore, more like Triggers Broom I took the opportunity to freshen them up so they're now sporting polarized ruby lenses and new rubbers but the metal frame is still original. I've added two more pairs of Juliet's to the stash - a dark framed pair of customs that my wife bought me about a decade ago and much more recently (arrived this morning!) a custom Violet Iridium pair which may well be my new favourites 
I'm quite protective over the Juliets so the thought of taking them out mountain biking made me come over all funny, so some time ago I bought a couple of pairs of Flak 2's in quick succession to keep the mud out of my eyes - a pair with Prizm lenses and a pair of photochromics which work very well. The prizm lensed ones were the unfortunate candidates that were flung down the road fairly recently and you can see the scars on the left hand lens I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a pair of replacement lenses on eBay and some came up at a reasonable price recently so I'll be able to swap them out soon 😊
For road cycling I originally bought some Radar EV's on sale. They're great on my Pilot with its relaxed riding position but on the Bianchi I end up trying to look through the frame at the top as my head is so low, hence the Flight Jacket's were purchased. I find when wearing these my neck is in much better shape at the end of a ride and the Prizm lens is much nicer to look through than the bronze of the radar's too. They look pretty silly, and I look pretty silly wearing them, but they do a grand job
Then there are my Crankshaft's - why do Oakleys have such silly names
Bought on a whim due to a crazy low price in a sale plus having money left at the end of a gift voucher. I really like the look of them and the Jade Iridium lenses are really lovely, but I can't wear them for long as the thin arms seem to dig in above my ears 
In reality I could probably sell them for more than they cost me but for what what it's worth I'll probably just hold on to them for the occasional wear
My goggles are O-Frames with the carbon effect frame and a couple of different lenses. I generally use the clear ones - they only get used when I'm using my full face helmet which normally suggests the weather isn't nice enough to be out on my road bike
My second oldest pair of Juliet's are in desperate need of a refurb so I've got the bits on order. I know from the first pair that this can be quite a fiddly job but well worth it when they're back together. The frames are made of 5 sections - 2 arms, 2 lens surrounds and a nose bridge. The lens surrounds and nose bridge are pinned together with rubber spacers between them - these deteriorate over time so the frames go floppy. To fix it the lenses need removing, the pins need pressing out and the rubbers need replacing. Here is my eldest pair with the frame disassembled when I refurbished them a few years ago to give an idea of whats involved...
And the same frame re-assembled with new rubbers 😊
This time around the lenses are in good shape so I'll keep those original and just replace the bits that are perished but in future I can see some Green/Jade lensed Juliets in the collection... Whether that means another pair or just some replacement lenses remains to be seen 😄 I've also got my eye on a pair of Eyejackets on eBay in the same colour combination as my first pair - if they don't go for silly money I might put a cheeky bid in at the end
So then... Any Ray-Ban fans? Is Bolle your bag? Whether you're a Rudy Project collector or still sporting a pair of original Arnette Catfish it would be pretty cool to see them all - they don't have to be rare or expensive, they just have to be sunglasses
or goggles
My small stash is currently made up entirely of Oakley's - I bought my first pair (Eyejackets, in metallic bronze with gold iridium lenses) from a branch of Sunglass Hut on main street in New York about 25 years ago. I was in my mid teens and had saved up for months as it was a big outlay at that age so was pretty gutted when I dropped them lens down on the tarmac about 10 feet out of the door
I was very lucky to get away with just a tiny ding in one lens but that was the last time I dropped a pair for a very long time. In fact it was only when I was stung on the head by a wasp 24 years later that it happened again I got the glasses tangled in my helmet straps, launching them down the road as I tried to extract the pesky blighter Anyway I looked after and loved my Eyejackets and was impressed with the Oakley brand so when the titanium alloy X-Metal Juliet's were launched in '99 I was deeply besotted and again started saving. When I was able to afford the upgrade I gave the Eyejackets to my cousin, the only pair I've parted with to date.
I still have my original first gen pair of Juliets but at now 22 years old their not 100% original anymore, more like Triggers Broom
I took the opportunity to freshen them up so they're now sporting polarized ruby lenses and new rubbers but the metal frame is still original. I've added two more pairs of Juliet's to the stash - a dark framed pair of customs that my wife bought me about a decade ago and much more recently (arrived this morning!) a custom Violet Iridium pair which may well be my new favourites I'm quite protective over the Juliets so the thought of taking them out mountain biking made me come over all funny, so some time ago I bought a couple of pairs of Flak 2's in quick succession to keep the mud out of my eyes - a pair with Prizm lenses and a pair of photochromics which work very well. The prizm lensed ones were the unfortunate candidates that were flung down the road fairly recently and you can see the scars on the left hand lens
I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a pair of replacement lenses on eBay and some came up at a reasonable price recently so I'll be able to swap them out soon 😊For road cycling I originally bought some Radar EV's on sale. They're great on my Pilot with its relaxed riding position but on the Bianchi I end up trying to look through the frame at the top as my head is so low, hence the Flight Jacket's were purchased. I find when wearing these my neck is in much better shape at the end of a ride and the Prizm lens is much nicer to look through than the bronze of the radar's too. They look pretty silly, and I look pretty silly wearing them, but they do a grand job
Then there are my Crankshaft's - why do Oakleys have such silly names
Bought on a whim due to a crazy low price in a sale plus having money left at the end of a gift voucher. I really like the look of them and the Jade Iridium lenses are really lovely, but I can't wear them for long as the thin arms seem to dig in above my ears In reality I could probably sell them for more than they cost me but for what what it's worth I'll probably just hold on to them for the occasional wear My goggles are O-Frames with the carbon effect frame and a couple of different lenses. I generally use the clear ones - they only get used when I'm using my full face helmet which normally suggests the weather isn't nice enough to be out on my road bike
My second oldest pair of Juliet's are in desperate need of a refurb so I've got the bits on order. I know from the first pair that this can be quite a fiddly job but well worth it when they're back together. The frames are made of 5 sections - 2 arms, 2 lens surrounds and a nose bridge. The lens surrounds and nose bridge are pinned together with rubber spacers between them - these deteriorate over time so the frames go floppy. To fix it the lenses need removing, the pins need pressing out and the rubbers need replacing. Here is my eldest pair with the frame disassembled when I refurbished them a few years ago to give an idea of whats involved...
And the same frame re-assembled with new rubbers 😊
This time around the lenses are in good shape so I'll keep those original and just replace the bits that are perished but in future I can see some Green/Jade lensed Juliets in the collection... Whether that means another pair or just some replacement lenses remains to be seen 😄 I've also got my eye on a pair of Eyejackets on eBay in the same colour combination as my first pair - if they don't go for silly money I might put a cheeky bid in at the end
So then... Any Ray-Ban fans? Is Bolle your bag? Whether you're a Rudy Project collector or still sporting a pair of original Arnette Catfish it would be pretty cool to see them all - they don't have to be rare or expensive, they just have to be sunglasses
or goggles
