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Oakley Jawbreaker PRIZM Road Review

A perfect choice for serious road cyclists that want specialized shades
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Oakley Jawbreaker PRIZM Road Review
Credit: Oakley
Price:  $226 List
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Manufacturer:   Oakley
By Max Mutter and Steven Tata  ⋅  Aug 22, 2017
72
OVERALL
SCORE
  • Eye Protection - 25% 9.0
  • Comfort - 25% 5.0
  • Lens Quality - 20% 7.0
  • Frame Build - 20% 7.0
  • Case Quality - 10% 9.0

Our Verdict

While these glasses may look comically large if you wear them around town, the wide frames of the Oakley PRIZM Road make them perfect for fast paced criteriums and general road biking. Roadies will love the wide face coverage that sheds winds and dust with ease, and that the wrap around style keeps peripheral vision intact so you won't end up butting shoulders in a bunch sprint. Plus, the hinged frames make it incredibly easy to change lenses, so you can quickly swap tints if conditions suddenly change right before the race. These Glasses were an obvious choice for our Top Pick for Cycling Award. If you want glasses that can keep up with your leg burning sprints, these are the ones for you.
REASONS TO BUY
Wide face coverage
Hinged jaw for easy lens changes
REASONS TO AVOID
Very large
Expensive
New Colors

The Jawbreaker PRIZM Road is now available in a few new color options. All other features on these top cycling glasses have remained the same.

January 2019

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Oakley PRIZM Road lives up to it's name, providing great performance for road cyclists that like to keep the gears big and the tempo high.

Performance Comparison


The Oakley PRIZM Road's specialized design kept it from earning a top overall score in our testing, but it did well where it counts for serious cyclists. In the sections below we further discuss how these glasses did in all of our individual tests.

oakley jawbreaker prizm road
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Eye Protection


The Oakley PRIZM Road was the clear winner in our eye protection testing. The wide lenses cover more of the face than any of the other models we tested. Even on fast descents these glasses kept the wind away and our eyes tear free. They also provide unobscured peripheral vision, which gave us more confidence when navigating twisting roads at high speed.


Comfort


Comfort was one place where the Oakley PRIZM Road didn't do so well. This boiled down the two main factors, the weight and the temple design. These glasses sacrifice a light weight to provide wider coverage, and thus tip the scales at 34 grams, where most of our glasses were in the mid 20's. This can make them feel unstable for things like trail running that involves a lot of jostling. The temples are also straight and don't curve behind the ear, adding to that feeling of instability. However, in a road cycling setting those straight temples play nice with helmet straps, and helmet straps actually seem to lock the glasses in place. They always felt comfortable and secure when we wore them while road biking, but that comfort doesn't translate to other sports well.


Lens Quality


Here again the Oakley PRIZM Road earned an average score simply because it only performed well in a road cycling environment. When riding on sundrenched roads the lenses kept us from squinting and provided a high contrast view of the road so we could easily pick out small potholes and divots. However, when taking these glasses out onto a lake or into a snow field they struggled a bit to cut out the glare.


oakley jawbreaker prizm road - these lenses work great on the road, but don't perform well in other...
These lenses work great on the road, but don't perform well in other situations.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Frame Build


We were impressed with the quality of the Oakley PRIZM Road's farmes. They felt just flexible enough that they'd bend rather than break, and the hinges are bulkier and stiffer than most. Oakley also offers a two year warranty on all of their frames. This earned them a relatively high score of 7 out of 10.


Case Quality


We really like the semi-rigid cases that Oakley provides with all of its sunglasses. The case is solid enough that you can put the sunglasses in the top of a backpack without worrying about them, but light enough that you won't mind bringing the case around with you when you travel.


oakley jawbreaker prizm road - oakleys always come with a high quality case.
Oakleys always come with a high quality case.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Value


The Oakley PRIZM Road is one of the most expensive pairs of sunglasses we tested. That high price is definitely worth it if you're looking for specific road cycling performance, but models like the Oakley Flak 2.0 XL are much cheaper and are suitable for a wider range of activities.

Conclusion


While the Oakley PRIZM Road doesn't provide much versatility, it is the perfect choice for serious road cyclists. Just remember, you'll probably end up wanting another pair of glasses for your other outdoor pursuits.

Max Mutter and Steven Tata
 

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