Oakley Sutro Lite Prizm Trail Torch Review

Oakley has been making spectacular optics and polarizing styles since the 1980's. Arguably a leader in rimless and semi-rimless sunglasses, the Sutro Lite is a continuation of those styles with a minimal amount of frame, adding weight or impeding your view. According to Oakley, this model was “Inspired by the daily life of urban cyclists, the high-wrap shield creates a bold, versatile look, protects from the elements and enhances vision with Prizm™ Lens Technology, while inspiring athletes to move confidently and seamlessly through their day.” The Sutro Lite is one of Oakley's latest and features the Prism Trail Torch lens giving enhanced contrast to colors you're likely to encounter riding through the woods.

Performance Comparison

Lens Quality

We tested the Sutro Lite with Oakley's state-of-the-art Prizm Trail Torch lens and found them to be quite impressive off-road. The Trail Torch tint relies on rose-colored dies to tint the lens to the specific needs of off-road cyclists. Specifically, the Prizm Trail lens enhances brown and red hues giving you particularly high definition on the forest floor. The sharpness and clarity in the transition between different types of dirt, moisture levels, and different angles of the terrain enhance your perception of the trail. The non-polarized lenses also accentuate green hues, giving the forest canopy a bit of a wonderland vibe that makes it look. “even prettier than it actually is,” according to one of our testers. The Prizm Trail lens offers 35% visible light transmission which is quite high, exceptionally light-sensitive people may find them too light for a daytime ride. The flip side is that they offer stellar clarity in low-light and shaded areas of the trail. The lenses block 100% UVA, UVB, and UVC rays while blocking HEV down to 400 nanometers.

The Sutro Lite uses a cylindrical lens construction with “Plutonite,” which is Oakley's version of a polycarbonate that is highly impact-resistant. We didn't hit these lenses with a hammer, but we weren't exactly easy on them either. Good sunglass etiquette involves putting them back in the case immediately after each ride, using only the supplied cleaning cloth, and not subjecting them to sunscreen or scratchy bike jerseys; we didn't have good sunglass etiquette. After several months of riding with these, toting them around, storing them in helmets, and letting them slide across the dashboard a few times, they're no worse for wear.

Fit and Comfort

We found the Sutro Lite to be quite comfortable. With a weight of only 31.5 grams, the “Unobtanium” rubber nose piece rests gently on the bridge of your nose. The nose pad is soft and pliable but it does not adjust, the material itself is anti-slip, giving it impressive staying power over sweet and sunscreen. There is also “Unobtanium” rubber on the lower sides of the arms, where they rest on your ears. This is different from the Sutro and gives these frames a bit more comfort. The rubber coating on those three contact points provides more than adequate grip, we never experience any slip or movement of the glasses on any of our testers' faces. The arms are fairly long, and since they extend straight back, we occasionally experienced interference with Mips liners or helmet retention straps. Most of the time, we could fit them over or under the helmet liner, but on occasion, movement of the helmet caused the frames to shift.

The fit of these glasses felt ideal on larger heads; our XL tester commented, “These are actually comfortable for hours on end without feeling like they're pinching my head.” Testers with smaller heads didn't experience any slippage, but the frames seemed aesthetically larger than they needed to be, and those with smaller heads preferred different fits. Oakley classifies them as a wide fit, and we'd agree. If you require a large fit, we'd recommend these over the Sutro, as the Sutro Lite's minimalist frame seems to flex with more ease.

Coverage

The Sutro Lite lens measures 138mm wide at its widest point and 55mm tall. Including the frame at the top of the lens, the glasses measure 58mm tall. The wide-shield cylindrical lens keeps you protected from the elements and is contoured to the shape of most of our helmets. Bugs, pebbles, and twigs were commonly observed deflecting off the “windshield” while on the trail. Oakley set out to give the Sutro Lite a bit more breathability than the Sutro, and they succeeded in that objective; even in low speed, high exertion, and sweaty climbs, our eyes stayed mostly dry.

In faster descents, we experienced enough wind ingress that it made our eyes water. Through repeated testing, we found the negative effects of airflow to begin at about 25mph. Testing these back to back with the Oakley Sutro and Smith wildcat, it seemed like the added frame may help to keep the airflow out at higher speeds. Using these glasses for trail running, we found them to breathe adequately, and we couldn't run fast enough for airflow to be an issue.

Frame Quality

“Oakley O-Matter” frame is a lightweight nylon-infused plastic that was comfortable to wear, returned to its original shape, and flexed when we needed it to. Unlike some minimal frame shield-style shades, the nose piece is actually connected to the frame with a thin bar that descends from the brow. It's not noticeable while riding, but you can see it if you're trying to look cross-eyed. The Unobtanium rubber coating on the arms solves the comfort issue we experienced with the Sutro and prevents any slippage or discomfort. Some of our testers expressed that they would have preferred a pliable nose piece that would allow them to adjust the lens up or down on their face based on where it contacted the nose, but no one complained about its comfort.

If we had any issue at all with the Sutro Lite frame, it would be the lack of adjustability in the nose piece. It seems like it would have been easy to make that a moldable piece that would allow you to adjust how low or high the lens sits on your face. We liked the softness of the Unobtanium rubber and found it comfortable, but just a small bit of adjustability could have gone a long way.

Field Performance

One of the things we really liked about the Sutro Lite was the lack of a lower frame. Not having a frame in the lower part of your field of view seems sensical on a bicycle, affording you better visibility of your controls. While your view is indeed unobstructed, the lack of a lower frame may have been responsible for letting additional airflow behind the lens. At lower speeds, that ventilation is welcome but as our wheels spun faster, air ingress began to be an issue. In technical sections of riding or trail running scenarios, we were typically at speeds below 25 mph, and the increased clarity and contrast were absolute plusses. At higher speeds, however, the distraction of too much air behind the lenses became a point against the Sutro Lite.

This is a well-designed pair of shades, and honestly, we'd expect no less from Oakley. We didn't use these exclusively for mountain biking, taking them on several trail runs as well. They stay put remarkably well and feel light on your face. They never fogged, evening insanely cold desert trail mornings. The only caution we'd give to potential buyers is about their high VLT, these lenses allow a considerable amount of light in and especially in exposed high alpine riding, they felt more like safety glasses than sunglasses.

Style

While styling is largely subjective, the bright shield of color wrapped around your face isn't exactly a versatile lifestyle sunglass. Our test pair wasn't neon green or covered in splatter paint but they definitely feel like specialized shades to be worn with a helmet only. We can't be sure how much you'll value our opinion of the styling but these glasses worked well with all of our mountain bike gear. We tried them on the road, and while there were no issues with the styling, the lens color and high VLT made them a sub-optimal choice for non-dirt surfaces. Oakley certainly offers more polarizing styles, and even with the bright shield of rose-tinted polycarbonate between us and the world, we didn't feel like we were too far in the future.

Case Quality

The Sutro Lite includes a sturdy, zippered case with a standard sunglass bag for cleaning and storage. The case is cloth-lined and rigid enough to protect the glasses from almost anything they could encounter. The case looks to be a standard issue, and while it works well, there are no foam inserts or protective pads inside, so the glasses do jostle around inside the case.

Should You Buy the Oakley Sutro Lite Prizm Trail Torch?

If you want to treat yourself to incredibly high-definition trail riding, the Prizm Trail Torch lens is amongst the nicest available. This lens can be had with several different frames and the Sutro Lite is worthy of your consideration. If you're a trail rider who prioritizes breathability and can handle a little wind at high speeds, these may be the ticket. If you'd rather wipe the sweat from your brow occasionally and have better high-speed coverage, look for something with a bit more coverage. At over $200, we didn't feel like these were an excellent value but the more we rode with them, the more we were convinced that seeing the trail in HD was just about priceless. Those with larger heads/faces will be happier with this model than those requiring a smaller fit.

What Other Cycling Sunglasses Should You Consider?

If more coverage and better airflow protection are at the top of your list, the Smith Wildcat or the Oakley Sutro would be our top choices. The Wildcat nails the frame design and is available with ChromaPop lenses, which do a remarkable job of enhancing colors and contrast. If you want something a bit more value-oriented, the Tifosi Sledge and Blenders Eclipse both offer exceptionally good performance for the dollar.