While we had seen the Oakley Jawbreaker quite a few times over the past year, we unfortunately had never had a chance to give it a proper review or even just take it out for a test ride. We finally got that chance at Interbike’s Outdoor Demo, and while we won’t call this a full review, we did get an hour with them riding on a paved and concrete bike path in the middle of the desert which gave us enough to, at the very least, know we really look forward to doing a full review.

The Oakley Jawbreaker

The Jawbreaker name is inspired by the gimbal mechanism that pivots to separate the bottom frame (lower “jaw”) from the upper frame, allowing the wearer to easily swap out lenses. Around the single lens you will find six integrated surge ports to enhance air flow and reduce fogging. The temples also adjust to three different lengths based on both your specific needs, as well as how your helmet fits.

In our hour with the Jawbreakers we found them to be incredibly comfortable. While we know the term “forgot they were there” is extremely over used, it still doesn’t change the fact that we really did completely forget they were on our heads. The glasses didn’t press up against our foreheads or cheek bones, and while you don’t sweat all that much in the desert (at least as compared to Miami), we never found any sweat got on the lenses either. Our field of vision was impressive, and while we were in a more upright road position almost the entire ride, we never found the frame itself enter our view.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to play with the ability to quickly swap lenses or ride with them long enough to see how ventilation really came into play. But those are tests for the complete review.

Oakley Prizm

Prizm is Oakley’s sport-specific lens technology. Prior to technology like Prizm, you tended to pick your lenses based on color and light transmission.  Prizm allows you to fine-tune your lens to the exact sport you are participating in. For road cycling, that means Improved vision in both bright light and shadows. Traffic lights become more vibrant, white and yellow lines are more clearly differentiated, and blues and greens are enhanced for a more pleasant ride.

When we first put the lenses on, the entire desert landscape around us became much more vibrant (and considering we had been wearing Oakley Iridium lenses to begin with, that’s a good start). Once we got on the bike trail the faded but solid yellow line really stood out against the blacktop. Cracks in the blacktop were easy to spot, and shadows around rail road crossings that can be wheel destroyers were easily avoided.

The cloudless desert sky almost looked even better with the lenses on than with no lenses at all – and the mountains really stood out against the sky as well. We didn’t have any traffic lights on our ride, so unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to test out that aspect. But then again, this is a first ride and not a full review, so we expect to get another chance.

We spent some time in a set of Oakley Prizm lenses and came away impressed (more details tomorrow)

Wrapping Up

As we said, we really look forward to doing a proper review. Outdoor Demo was a taste of how good these glasses could be, but we want to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Definitely stay tuned for a complete review. (Oh and one last look at the Oakley truck that they get to travel in!)

This is how we would want to travel to Interbike – Oakley does it right