DropBarFan

Older riders & racing fans remember Greg Lemond & his Oakley Pilot sunglasses. Greg helped pioneer the popularity of using shades designed for cycling & undoubtedly boosted Oakley sales by a huge amount.

The Pilot was a great design with maximum coverage of eyes ( ie helped reduce wind draft, glare etc). No problem with top of frame obscuring vision while riding on drops. A nice feature was the extra pair of temples with the soft round-the-ear loops. On long rides that was a lot more comfortable than current shades with temples that grip with compression. Plus they came with a neck cord.

Then Oakley came out with their skinnier stylish shades; IMHO fine for people who want to look kewl but I don't understand why Oakley discontinued the formerly wildly-popular Pilots? M-Frames & Radar seem to have a decent amount of coverage but less than Pilots, plus they lack the ear-loop temples.

commo_soulja

Because times change as does cycling fashion.

Cyclaholic

Newer designs have lower coefficient of drag

Nermal

I'd toss my valve stem caps before I would worry about the aerodynamics of my sunglasses.

calamarichris

Unless your Mom suddenly gives you a box of your baseball cards, triathlon medals, and Winning Magazine copies from 1986-1988, and your old Oakleys, I suggest you check Ebay.
I got lucky and my old Razor Blades were in there, (sadly, my Traci Lords/Vanessa Williams Penthouse was not.)

LemondFanForeve

I had like 5 pairs of those things when I rode back in the day. I wrote to Oakley once, and told them i was a HUUUGGGGEEEEEEE Greg Lemond fan, and that although I loved their glasses, I couldnt afford them. I went on about how he was such an inspiration in my life, and he's who made me get into riding, and he was my hero, and also, how I made a homemade pair of Oakleys(they werent even Oakleys, some knock off brand, my buddy painted "Oakley" on, and put a white stripe across the top). They hooked me up big time. About 2 months later(I had actually forgotten that I had written them), I received a box in the mail addressed:"To the Biggest Greg Lemond fan we've ever met"(no bull****) it then, had my name on it...I open it up...they sent me like 5 pairs of glasses, 2 shirts, a ton of stickers, some bad ass Lemond stuff(some pics, and a few posters of him) and a cool Oakley hat. Needless to say, they were my hero's then. I eventually got rid of them, as they became scratched, and/or broken from years of moving from place to place, or a drop/crash/etc. They were big time cool with me @ the time, I was 15, and was stoked they were so nice to me. I even wrote them back a "thank you" letter...they responded with a" you're very welcome, enjoy", letter. I wish i still had those sunglasses.

Did the same @ the time(wrote a letter) to the USCF, they took care of me big time too. Sent me all kinds of Lemond goodies, and forwarded a letter I had written to Greg to him, I began to have correspondance with him through the mail. Course, it consisted of me sending him letters, and not getting back anything in return, except a VERY NICE response from his wife Nancy, telling me that he read all the stuff i sent him, I was in shock(literally) when I received it back from her. I used to send letters to his dad Bob Lemond, when he lived in Carson City(he still might live there? not sure), he would then forward them to him, I think. It was very cool. I got a " thank you for being such a huge fan of Greg's" note back one time from his dad too.

My point is......too bad things arent thay way anymore. I would write letters to alot of the pro teams, and get tons of stuff back from them, when I was a kid, and rode. They dont do that stuff anymore, sadly. I wrote to 7/11 one time, and told them i was a huge: Eric Heiden/Andy Hampsten fan, and they sent me back 2 7/11 bike caps, and a t shirt. I even wrote to Peugeuot(sp), and told them how much I appreciated Laurant Fignont(sp) and how hard he rode, they sent me backl a Peugeout Cap.

I miss those days sometimes. Back then, the companies/teams took care of their fans, and custies. My mom would laugh @ the stuff I'd get in the mail from so many people related to cycling sometimes, she'd say" they must really like you, to send you all of this stuff for free?", she would encourage me to write them all the time. It would always be "got something from some bike thing again". No BS on anything I've written here. My buddies were amazed @ how I would get so much stuff from them.


Give it a try(writing them a letter), it couldnt hurt.

neilG

I have a couple of pairs with extra lenses. PM me and we'll work something out. I haven't used them in years.

DropBarFan

Thanks for the offer, I was more just curious about why they were discontinued than specifically looking to purchase a used pair. I recently bought a pair of Tifosi Vogels--they have pretty wide surface area & fairly cheap price. No comfy wrap-around temple though. I'll keep the idea in mind though, thanks.

DropBarFan

Neat story about writing to Greg etc. I don't normally buy stuff because of celebrity endorsements but Lemond was an innovator. I bought a pair of Pilots largely due to his influence & also tried clip-on aero handlebars which I still use on my touring bike. I ride pretty slow but they are good for long rides (helps relax/rest arms & deal with head winds). Saw Lemond race on a few occasions in the USA...last time I passed by the team area before the race & saw Greg ride right by me. One nice thing about race spectating in the USA is that one can see the competitors up close unlike say Le Tour where crowds are so massive. I saw the "Tour of America" & got Roger de Vlaeminck's autograph. Wished him "bonne chance" & he said "Ptthhh", French for "yeah right". Turns out he had retired recently & only raced the Tour of America at the behest of Gios who made his bikes.

Writing to the teams was a good idea--I used to go to bike shops & wonder how to score the cool racing posters they had. Once Peugeot had a magazine ad that offered a nice free 2' x 3' Bernard Thevenet poster which I still have, 35 years old & looks practically new.

LemondFanForeve

Yeah, for about 2-3 years, I got TOOONNNNSSSSS of free stuff from the teams, and so forth, all from writing to them. Someone from Cinzano, I remember, sent me a cool hat, and encouraged me to keep riding. I remember writing to the "Coors Classic" people one time, and telling them how big of a fan of Greg's I was...they sent me some "Coors Classic" patches, and other swag. They couldnt have been nicer.

Similar story about Greg/Oakleys: saw him wearing them in the 85 TDF, and wanted them immediately. But, they were something like $100+ at the time, and I didnt have any $$$. As I said, Oakley was awesome to me, they totally sent me a ton of Oakley stuff, and thanked me for being such a huge fan of Greg's.

Truth be told, I've always wondered why they stopped making them too? I mean, I know they're 20+ yrs old, but why not a "classics" line or something, and include them in the line? Be pretty cool, dont you think?

I remember writing to the La Vie Claire team, and trying to get a note off to Bernard Hinault, wishing him good luck, even though I was a huge Lemond fan, and wanted Greg to win. Needless to say, I didnt receive a response back. I remember I had to have the LOOK pedals after he debuted them in the Tour one year. Sold all my baseball cards, and bought a set.

Cool story too bud.

DropBarFan

Yeah, Ebay's great for rare parts & stuff. BTW last week I tossed out my collection of Winning Magazine (I think I had almost all the issues)--I had thought about selling on Ebay but there didn't seem to be much demand. I actually thought about scanning them & posting to the internet but too big a project & I dunno about copyright issues. Hope I haven't done a major crime to cycling history. & a former bike-shop co-worker had the Vanessa Penthouse!

DropBarFan

Not terribly surprised at Vie Claire's lack of reply. Hinault was really retro with his Ray Ban Aviators. Used to ride with them too, not so much 'cause Hinault did but already liked 'em. Perhaps the glass lenses weren't the safest but they had comfy temples that wrapped around the ear making sure they wouldn't fall off. Plus once I was able to have the fit adjusted by an optometrist...AFAIK current shades either fit or they don't. BTW I noticed your sig line--I used to work with a bike mechanic that could actually rebuild Sturmey Archer hubs--I was amazed. He had a big tool chest with drawers full of parts. Labor of love more than necessity of demand but still impressive.

LemondFanForeve

Yeah, Im sure also, it probably wasnt a good idea(@ the time), to write to Hinault, saying "good luck" even though I wanted Greg to win it? that definitely didnt help Im sure with the lack of a response. But, @ the time, what did I know?

You asked about Oakley Pilot Glasses? Here you go my friend(if you choose to go this route):

https://cgi.ebay.com/Oakley-Factory-P...item3f08b0e9c0

https://cgi.ebay.com/Oakley-Factory-P...item3f08b0f58e

https://cgi.ebay.com/Vtg-Oakley-FACTO...item4cf5510c0c

https://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Oakley-F...item3cb6767639


https://cgi.ebay.com/oakley-vintage-f...item3a648624af