Oakley Radar - the successor

No other shades are bound so closely to one single rider than the MFrame of Oakley. In all stages throughout his seven Tour de France wins Lance Armstrong wore them, whether during time trials, mountain stages or on the podium. After more than ten years Oakley took the courage and announced a successor to the MFrame, after Armstrong’s retirement, named Radar.

These newly designed shades had immediate success in the pro peloton and were worn by more than one third of the riders in the last tour, a clear sign that many people were eagerly awaiting a new design from Oakley. So what are actually the improvements of the Radar in comparison to the MFrame for being able to beat the commercial success of its predecessor.

The latest evolution in performance eyewear, as Oakley states, features an improved interchangeable lens design with 3 different lens shapes and a spectrum of over 15 lens colours, including polarized and vented versions, for adjusting the shades to every weather condition. All lenses of the Radar have the new hydrophobic coating which prevents water from leaving streaks and sheens on the lens and also maintains smudge resistance.

The fit of the Radar can be adjusted with interchangeable nosepieces and to a certain degree mouldable temples. Impact resistance meets all ANSI Z87.1 standards, and UV filtering is 100%. It all comes with the clarity of Oakley’s High Definition Optics (HDO). Other features in telegraphic style:

• Integrated surge ports to channel cooling airflow
• Optimized peripheral view and side coverage of Polaric Ellipsoid lens geometry
• Comfort and performance of Three-Point Fit that holds lenses in precise optical alignment
• UV protection of Plutonite® lens that filters out 100% of UVA / UVB / UVC & harmful blue light up to 400nm
• Glare reduction and tuned light transmission with Iridium lens coating (optional)
• Protective sports-specific Oakley Soft Vault included with capacity for an extra lens
• Prescription inserts available +2.00 to -4.00 with cylinder up to -2.00

The standard models come in over 15 different versions, including special version named LIVEstrong or Team CSC, priced between $155 up to $255, depending on the version an extra lens can cost between $70 to $105.


We ordered a pair of Radars over the Oakley Custom program, which is unfortunately only offered to customers with an US shipping address currently. There you can design your shades from scratch out of 14 different frame colours, 3 lens shapes and 15 lens colours.

But the customization goes even further by selecting the colour of the Oakley icons ( out of 14 ) and ear socks ( out of 5 ). The final touch receives every pair of Radars by adding an etching on the lens, which can consist of up to 15 letters in 3 different font styles. Out of all these options we designed our sunglasses, which you can see on all pictures in this article with the following attributes:

• Frame colour: Polished aluminium
• Lens type: Path G26 iridium
• Icon colour: White icon
• Ear socks: White ear socks
• Etching: RASCEL in font Stencil

Our customized pair cost $220 + 7.25% taxes and we received it roughly 3 weeks after ordering online. As being a fan of the MFrame before, we can say nothing negative about the Radar so far, very light ( 18g ), good fit and tremendous optics. One flaw we found on our custom pair is the frame coating and the nosepiece, which shows a tendency of flaking, especially when you often switch your lenses. Additionally you see in the last picture, that the coating is applied on the frame after assembly of the temples to the front part of the frame, thus leaving some areas around the joint unpainted, which could be easily avoided. We will wait with our final judgement on the Radar for some warm days to penetrate the hydrophobic coated lens with some concentrated, salty sweat and want to see how it performs in those conditions. Nevertheless you can be assured that with buying a pair of Radars, you will receive one of the most advanced pair of sunglasses available on the market.