Oakley Factory Tour | How Are Cycling Sunglasses Made?

[@gcn]

What did you find most interesting about the factory tour? 👇

[@nickwarren9621]

Hmm, that's a hard question...

[@Krisszhu1990]

How much they care for minimal change in optics, and what a huge difference there is between brands... Did you ask them maybe if there are any health issues with wrong optics, or just simply annoying?

[@parrisgeorge9708]

You mean other than Lemonds jersey??? The prizm segment.

[@sergio895]

TATIANA

[@phillwhitlam6999]

Great video, never realised how strong the lenses are. Always use Oakleys, will keep using em after this.

[@485scottc]

It would be cool to see behind the scenes at GCN. See around the office/work shop and meet the people who make it possible like filmers, editors and people who run the social media accounts

[@disafear3674]

Second this

[@LegSpinna]

Third this

[@holinografias]

That would be great.

[@criggie]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWK2g6lmaqySfs0 and kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJ2xp4ymd6eVfNU but they're behind the scenes of filming epic rides. I do remember a vague touch on BTS at GCN - seeing Lasty in the Social Media area answering farcebook things, but can't find the link.

[@randomron3997]

Let’s give the people that make this channel work some love

[@mpuck972]

The stated price for those molds is pretty accurate, I was the designer of them back when I worked at the mold vendor that built their lens tooling, and the molds were not cheap to build. The accuracy demanded by Oakley was no joke, and every aspect of the design was looked at to help produce the most optically accurate lenses in the world. Pretty cool to see that my designs are still making lenses today!

[@skellator4848]

This proves my theory, I always save for that bit longer and purchase Oakley. You can just tell the difference when playing sports or simply driving. Great video GCN

[@Barrenchats]

I've been rocking a pair of Oakley's for the past 10 years I love them so much, my full polarized lens is god send! and yes I had Oakley BMX grips on my Norco.

[@garyw4211]

The history chat brought me right back to 1984. So cool. Thank you.

[@BikeItUK]

Good to see the simplicity of how the eye shade was born, still wear mine to this day. They have stood the test of time, and I feel they are still up there with the coolest shades. Thanks as always for an insight into Oakley.

[@dannynelson7263]

I met” The Duke “at ROCKVILLE BMX SHOP back in the 80’s. What an AWESOME DECADE!!!!!!!

[@leonardodivinci804]

Guys, thanks for visiting my back yard! I am at the Oakley facility all the time. You should let your fans know when you are traveling, you never know what we may do for our brothers across the pond! Great video.

[@lonestardude6283]

I still have my Oakley Razors from 1985 and the packaging they came in!

[@konradholland351]

Would you be willing to sell em?

[@hugoliljegren4932]

Willing to sell me a pair?

[@fredericktennant9151]

OMG back in the 80s we were all into BMX racing and their goggles were the ones to use while racing. One day while on holiday in France I saw a Vanns shoe shop and popped in while I could not wait for the custom made trainers for racing I picked up the Glasses they made by Oakley and I still own them today I did not know that they were the first, wow I had better put them on display lol

[@edmarkey4057]

Hey, Si! Glad to see you here in the states! Hope you enjoyed your visit.

[@HimalayanSnow-]

the best factory tour so far, kudos

[@ohrate]

Love this video. I have loads of Oakley so seeing inside the factory is great. Thanks guys.

[@esmurphy74]

Thanks for the very informative video. I got a pair of Flight Jacket Prizm Road glasses after I saw all the benefits (safety, vision) and I'm really thrilled. Love all the GCN videos - keep it up!

[@thelifeofodd4908]

Such a cool tour of Oakley. Thank you GCN. Much appreciated!

[@gcn]

The Life of Odd You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it

[@ThunderStruckMTB]

As a SoCal moto dude, I had Oakley grips and goggles as a 12 year old, and then I spent all of '85 - '87 in Blades..... and yes, I had an 80's mullet too.

[@KillersFromTheWest]

Si is the best presenter by far. Love that guy

[@skandhaprasath2767]

Firstly: Thanks! Mad respect! 🙏Sitting here with 10 stiches in my face as my normal power specs broke and tore my face.. during a bad crash in a Grandfondo last week where I landed head first on the tarmac. I never knew glasses this good existed. But now I'mma save up and buy one of these soon. Thanks a lot for the video guys!! 👍

[@jsublett8871]

Fantastic video. I watch something else that sportrx did and that's what made me really like Oakleys even more than I already had. I've got three pair now and I love each one of them and they are very well made and constructed. Keep up the good work Wonderful video

[@chasepalpatine170]

Been using Oakley’s since the B1B BMX grip days.

[@andreas11735]

I wish Oakley would re-release​ some previous iconic models.

[@ybggorot1912]

like what ?

[@LUCYDIAMONDBOXER1]

"Oakley behind the scenes" .... Alows Simon into the tourist shop and a picture of factory on Google maps 😏

[@limyohwan]

Secretly sponsored by Prologis

[@pranavharikrishnan9840]

I just finished my first 400 km on my road bike within 2 months which doesn't sound like a lot but I am in the 9th grade which is highly demanding here in India Thanks GCN for inspiring motivating and teaching me a lot

[@gcn]

That's so great to hear! It sounds pretty impressive to me!

[@pranavharikrishnan9840]

@@gcn omg you replied

[@sumanthkashyap8366]

More power to you...

[@evolution8662]

How much or rather how far had Oakley gone in its R&D?? They really need to improve drastically on the quality of its lens.....

[@Skirata1000]

Si with that major swagger stance at the end

[@stephencowman3142]

17.05 kudos Si for maintaining eye contact!!

[@jochem1986]

Stephen Cowman was Si there?

[@stephencowman3142]

Jochem now you mention it I can’t remember

[@WhereWasItLastTime]

I've been told that that was the 5th or 6th take ;)

[@AR-mm2vt]

Bring back the x metal line!!!!

[@AndyVandy516]

Really bummed when this video ended. Cool to learn about testing and design.

[@gcn]

AndyVandy516 Glad you enjoyed it, Andy. You might also like this one gcn.eu/Oakley

[@nightmodem]

These factory tours are some of my favorite of the excellent GCN videos. Thank you so much for not only doing these, but doing them so well. ^_^

[@gcn]

Thanks Daniel, really glad to hear!

[@SashaTromsa]

editing and music - on point gcn!

[@gcn]

Thanks Sasha!

[@Ninjaturtles199]

I love Oakley these videos are so great I hope we great some mixes tho of old styles and new styles in the future too .

[@madedigital]

I LOVE OAKLEY from the 80s with the bmx grips all the way to many lab jackets i still have my original kitchen sink from the 90s and my gascans are timeless .

[@robertreynolds9228]

Back in the day when it was OAKLEY i bought a pair of T WIREs. Ive owned many brands of sun glasses. And i would say my favorites were always REVOs. The real glass lenses.

[@faustopina6639]

I like the resistance test for the Oakley glass. It is important for industrial engineer.

[@Holleaux]

It does make me appreciate Oakley a lot more. I've been wearing my pair of Oakley's for almost a year now, and I doubt I could ever go back. My lens is a prizm lens and has made a lot of colors just pop, which is really amazing since I'm colorblind.

[@gcn]

Nice stuff, they sure are awesome glasses

[@Toby3610]

Same

[@teamactiondad]

I bought the enchroma glasses for my color blindness and have a pair of oakley prism road glasses that do the same, and they are cheaper.

[@Tannerhasabike]

It's kinda crazy with all of this testing, their lenses still peel..

[@clcanturin]

Tanner yep, I have 4 sunnies that started to peel last year without much use of them

[@Rhyme905]

its called marketing, they show these tests in very "ad" they pay people to come and do .... do you really think every lens goes through this test? its basically mass shipments from china and they maybe do a sample of some of them and 'assemble in usa' and if the tests fail they prob ship em back but still some get through

[@martinpastor9137]

very good your comment

[@yaagul]

Tanner I know and they scratch easily also and so expensive Ray bans are beater they don’t scratch like that

[@richardkrivik7032]

I’m collecting 24 years Oakley’s, mostly Only the pre luxottica” one’s and None of my was peel..Yes vintage 1998-99 Straight jacket’s and Eye Jacket frame was cracked..but 20+ years old 🤷..

[@nicolasdepaulabatista3817]

Fenomenal video, factory, products! Congratulations!

[@justinvance2898]

This is a question about your videos in general. Do you have the same 20 people always give you a thumbs down each week or do you give yourself the thumbs down so you don't look so perfect? Another excellent video by the way.

[@rugvedk109]

The Factory exterior is some real STAR WARS thing

[@gcn]

It's pretty cool eh?!

[@rugvedk109]

I kinda hoped to see the glasses from the thumbnail though, the overhead harness looks dope!

[@jochem1986]

dom inic precisely. If they don’t know where to leave the money and do this kind of thing... their stuff is too expensive.

[@datboi1026]

haha funny number likes funny number 😂

[@singhatar0912]

Global Cycling Network a bit pretentious looking tbh

[@Boopop1024]

10 minutes in and you've reminded me to switch my photochromatic lenses to my shaded pair for the forecast sunshine tomorrow. Thanks! =P

[@gcn]

Good news!

[@zdravo4]

Luxotica is the owner of the Oakley brand and good part of production is moved to Italy ;)

[@martinpastor9137]

luxottica Made in China, thailand and italy = trash, garbage, basura

[@1nulcearfamily224]

Thanks for showing us around Oakley

[@gcn]

Cheers M0nkey!

[@destroyerup.gaming3691]

📣 Oakley Inc. 1975 - 2007 R.I.P. 🙏

[@Jules.C.]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5PJdmysn7Blb68

[@briantruck2284]

Yup

[@rocketboyxbb]

Ever since Luxotica took over, their lens keep peeling off. Till today this issue has not been resolved. Durability of lens has gone down the drain.

[@luisvilla799]

Yeah they are going to shit long with ray ban because of Luxotica

[@Spazik86]

Yea, my lenses started peeling off very quickly on my Oakley Flak (and I am very carefull and take care about my glasses). I would expect more from 200 USD glasses. Otherwise they are very nice, optics is great, but durability of lenses is shit.

[@tinacofactory]

Unfortunately Oakley failed me when I needed them the most. This summer racing with a pair of Kato 24K, they broke letting me without glasses to ride for the rest of the month. Sure Oakley sent me a brand new pair because two years warranty, kudos! It's a bitter-sweat feeling, not having them when I needed the most, but at least getting a new pair.

[@richardjohnson4696]

My wife is a rep for Oakley. My buddies love it, they all have Oakley glasses for riding.

[@martinyun5438]

GCN, again with another cool video! And a wholehearted thanks to Oakley, and GCN!!

[@gcn]

Cheers Martin, really glad to hear you enjoyed the video!

[@anibaljesusdelgadillo2091]

Now I know why I love OAKLEY.

[@adamgriss2025]

I love that picture of Glen Plake in the background at around 5 minutes. He can be referred to as the grandfather of hors piste extreme skiing. Because of him, all my friends and I skied on K2 skis, wore North Face, and of course, the obligatory Oakleys.

[@gregconroy7026]

That Glen Plake poster in the background!

[@nicholassmith831]

mega kudos to Si for maintaining eye contact during his interview with Tatiana :)

[@bhumiriady]

Wow! That is so cool, awesome and fascinating! It made me know more about how Oakley sunglasses are made. Hats off to Si and the staff at Oakley.

[@gcn]

Cheers Omaris, we feel super lucky to have been able to see inside and behind the glasses and share that with you guys too.

[@bhumiriady]

Anytime! (^_-)

[@petinka721]

Everything! And how GCN and Simon made it.

[@flyriviera]

note Jim Jannard, Oakley's founder, sold the company to Luxottica, probably the biggest optics and glasses manufacturer, years ago. Nowadays, it is an Italian company. notice the fact, when you visit an store, if your oakleys are made in USA or Italy (in fact, for frames have six factories around the world). Only lenses are still made in USA.

[@wserda]

Dang ok, I’m ordering a couple pairs now for for cycling/tri and a pair for driving. Impact resistance and thoughtfulness on fogging-up sold me on them!

[@IanRamon]

i was looking at these glasses price (after i saw u talking about them in a video) and i would not buy them if i did not see this video !! thanks a lot ! for this quality to really protect my eyes YES i pay the price.

[@kona6812]

Did have good customer service, which was needed, but when bought by Luxottica everything went to worst. So I decided to go with other companies. Can't get spare parts for a 2 years old Jawbone! Greatings from an ex Oakley fanboy (like Si still is or have too for ad reasons). But you did a good vlog!

[@keithwong1423]

They’re called racing jackets now

[@kona6812]

@@keithwong1423 yeah, doesn't matter how you call it you can't get it 😑😣

[@ilovelimpfries]

Paid around £180 for my Jury (made out of metal) and they dont sell the plastic hinges. And guess what the plastic hinges broke (under warranty) and they only gave a coupon for a 30% discount on another pair. WTF??! Oakley give worse customer support.

[@NallePu83]

Oakley and Ray-Ban same owner Luxottica

[@jlkinsel]

It's sorta hard to buy eyewear that's not Luxottica. :/

[@pauli6570]

So f..cking what

[@benjaminbyerly1521]

Annnnnd Oakley is still better than rayban.

[@andreacamin2222]

@@benjaminbyerly1521 both are Luxottica, but the product oakley is totally made in California Trust me, i work for Luxottica

[@benjaminbyerly1521]

@@andreacamin2222 did I say they arnt lux? No I didnt... oakleys lenses are better for saftey and prizm is unreal.

[@loamtrailer805]

Sweet tour of Oakley, so I see in the mini clips of your ride it looks like you are riding Glendora Mtn Road, haha, I love that road!!

[@gcn]

Thanks Adam, glad you enjoyed the tour!

[@alexyau3920]

Miss my crystal framed Mumbos!!! Recall buying & wearing my early 90’s Blades & Razor Blades - because of Greg Lemond. Also love that Oakley came up with the “Asian” Fit...

[@JustinDoesTriathlon]

This is probably a minor thing, but I will say, with regards to helmet design, and him talking about brand recognition: Yes, he says that brand recognition is #2, but then goes onto say "If every other helmet on the market looks like swiss cheese, you can't really see whose is whose. The biggest thing is how can we create something really identifiable from the front..." Yeah see I don't want my designers even considering that. If every other brand looks a certain way, and they were designed with cooling and aero in mind, maybe there's a reason for that. I don't know, could be reading too much into that, but I'll take form following function any day of the week.

[@simedinson984]

agreed if anything they could have made a went or something looking like a O but then the aerodynamics would be off but you get where i am comming from

[@averispapastefani2233]

love the lenses treatment

[@Encryptedte]

I live in this county. Had friends work there and I believe my friend's brother(his brother was a classmate of mine in High School) still works there.

[@keinpietz7697]

Fuck me dead, what a story!

[@dannynguyen9039]

Im so glad they test the flight jacket 2.0’s. Theres nothing like a June bug straight to the eyeball

[@sureshchinnappa2290]

Very interesting show. Thanks Si.

[@7pines77]

I loved my Razor blades I had in the late 80s

[@cyb3rd0g]

Its great to see Jim Jannard still killing it with the Red Hydrogen One, Oakley died when he sold up :(

[@martinpastor9137]

Unfortunately yes

[@SandroMoiron]

You just sold me on a pair on prime cycling glasses. It would be cool to touch a bit on prescriptive cycling glasses, maybe next time.

[@willshaughnessy8515]

where did you ride Si? well done..and quite impressive..

[@listofromantics]

Too bad Oakley's owned by Luxottica.

[@propdouchebag]

Why is that too bad?

[@propdouchebag]

@Tri-Shake-Atops I see.

[@ALIENdrifter66]

Just so you know, they have in fact said that they could be selling their 150€ products at 15€ and still take a bit chunk of money out of you. They sell status, not quality, and that's why they have such a bad reputation. If you don't care about the brands anything from anoter brand not owned by Luxottica will have the same quality for a fraction of the price.

[@veganpotterthevegan]

@Tri-Shake-Atops Well, screw the free market but screw Luxotica too. They're the result of the "free market". If you really want free markets, you get things like Luxotica.

[@veganpotterthevegan]

@@ALIENdrifter66 There are very few VERY HIGH quality glasses for sale for under $50. The optics really are different. I have dozens of sunglasses from $20-250. Diminishing returns kick in around $80. Mirrored lenses is where you really see the difference in a $30 pair and a $200 pair of glasses.

[@tobortine]

I love seeing the care they take in both design and manufacturing. Yes they're expensive but they're also value for money.

[@gcn]

Very interesting to see behind the scenes of what goes into making a pair of Oakleys!

[@christopherwiley01]

Oakley sold to Luxottica and then all passion went out the window

[@martinpastor9137]

excellent your comment

Oakley rules!!! What a world of innovation and leading the industrie!

[@nikolapocrnja6044]

"...when you're starting from scratch" ta dumm tsssss Nice one Si!

[@nech060404]

Very little mention of the 2 elephants in the room. Oakley is owned by Luxottica, and made in China now.

[@dguillemi]

19:40 check out how the screen graph looks on focus on the tiny part that shows the screeen. Crazy!

[@ybggorot1912]

it is always fasinating to see how the idea gets born --------- simple mask with coat hanger arm simple but smart

[@derzkoeradio]

Thank you! And thanks Oakley.

[@ericpmoss]

It makes me want to go find my 1989 Oakleys.

[@moabsmithbey9583]

Oakley is the best sunglasses and eyewear company ever had couple of pairs.

[@AngryTomTom]

My favorite sunglasses all the way FROM Indonesia

[@johnwalker9388]

Love my oakleys they were a aweome company about 5-6 yrs ago ever since it was sold its never been as good

[@robertmecalis7189]

Very informative excellent video thanks.

[@greenrolaids]

Glen Plake.. sp? poster in the background. Had a chance to meet him in 1992, a super nice guy.

[@ayowser01]

What road are you riding on in this video? All the tar snakes remind me of Glendora Mountain Road.

[@vsaucenou323]

The clips showing Si riding with the helmet on look like they were filmed on GMR(Glendora mountain road). Does anyone know where they filmed this?

[@richardharker2775]

I used to be a value for money guy until I started to have vision problems with sunglasses. With what Oakley have been able to show dealing with clarity and optical accuracy it has changed my perception to what I deserve. Thanks GCN for the tour with Si.

[@fromann09]

Fascinating video! Thanks!

[@franchiniragazzonapolini9474]

Just the best sunglasses!

[@mattb9664]

Very interesting tour video for their Sport glasses which are still the best. But I totally lost interest in Oakley - it’s very obvious that Luxottica pressures Oakley to release as many glass designs as possible regardless of whether they will do well. It used to be a big deal when something new was released, but for the most part, not anymore.

[@omgaud]

Oakley girl at 17:13...Wow! Thank you GCN!

[@pukki34]

My field jackets say assembled in the us, not made in the usa

[@蔡威廉-m2f]

most item made in China already bad quality not oakley any more.

[@tomassoejakto]

My word... That Tatiana's got a huge pair... of glasses. 😎

[@RealMarcosMiranda]

My frameless Oakley EV Zero Stride Prizm road are by far the best cycling sunglasses I have ever owned. The clarity and incredible visibility in any weather conditions is absolutely mind blowing

[@naumankhan7593]

Amazing info

[@ericgeary6100]

Love the fact that mine say "American Made"!

[@luizznka]

just for the price you can say its america made

[@chuwy2k]

Brutal tour through Oakley’s HQ. 🤘🏽😎🤘🏽😉👋🏽🙂🇻🇪

[@stephentuthill4598]

Excellent video. As the extremely fit woman explaining the lense colours and spectrums of the lenses was wearing spectacles, what hope is there for those of us who need specific lense requirements such as long or short sightedness?

[@carlblaskowitz7817]

Oakley... craftsmanship and top shelf aesthetic. Bought my first in 1989 and my latest jawbreakers last year. Vendors take note, make cutting edge, high quality products and have loyal customers for life.