Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be reviewing the Oakley Sutro Lite Sweep Vented
sunglasses. The Oakley Sutro sunglasses have been one of Oakley's most popular shield style designs
and have been a big hit among cyclists. As Oakley often does they introduce quite a few
variations with each lineup and what we have here today is the Sutro Lite Sweep Vented sunglasses.
These add retro inspired swept lenses to the existing Sutro light
semi-frameless sunglasses. They're available both in the vented version that we have here
which has little circular cutouts in the lens or a non-vented version. I'll go ahead and take
it out of the box and we'll go over specs. The box itself is pretty standard, Oakley on top
and then the specs printed on the door. Let's go ahead and pull this out and go over specs. So
retail price on this is $189. It's just a little bit more expensive than the
Sutro Lite. It has the retro styling which kind of harkens back to Oakley's original silhouettes.
It has integrated ear socks so it's better suited for performance both sports like cycling or other
active wear where you need to move around a lot and don't want your sunglasses to fall off.
They have the unobtanium nose pads which keep it centered on your nose for a nice comfortable fit.
You have Prizm lens technology they're currently offered in three options from road trail to the
ruby that we have here. They have the O matter frame which is their patented nylon composition
for the frame so highly flexible and something that should last quite a long time. You can see in
terms of what comes with it obviously you get the sunglasses and the cool retro design. You get a
fabric bag you get a second nose pad it's a little bit more narrow than the one that's pre-installed
and that's about it. You also have a little pamphlet inside the box
that tells you about the lens. Now let's take a look at the weight of the sunglasses
so with the standard nose pad on there comes in at 30 grams so quite competitive.
Now let's go over the fit and finish of the Oakley Sutro Lite Sweep Vented sunglasses. It's
quite a mouthful but what these sunglasses basically are is they take the Sutro Lite
which is a semi-frameless design you can see you only have a top brow and a nose pad
and it changes the lens from the more squared off version that the Sutro is known for. This Sweep
version it's more reminiscent of Oakley's original 90s design so more retro inspired
and to go further retro they've added the vents with this vented variation.
You can swap this out with any of the Sutro Lite options though so if you don't want the vent you
can get the non-vented and if you already have the Sutro Lite you can get one of these Sweep lenses
and swap it in through all interchangeable. Looks pretty cool gives you those retro vibes
the color scheme here is also very in your face. This is the Prizm Ruby with the tennis ball yellow
they also have a road Prizm lens with a pink frame as well as the torch trail torch lens with
the orange frame and again these are all very retro colors. They have more color schemes for
the Sutro Lite and the non-vented variations that are less in your face but with this one they've
really gone full scale retro. It is very bright has good curvature so it curves around your head
flexible temples and this is their magic o-frame nylon construction so very soft and highly durable
so you can drop this and not worry about it. It should last quite a lot for quite a while. Some of
the new features here are the integrated ear socks so that's just a little rubber material here along
the temple and you can see it's nice and flush prevents it from moving around doesn't add any
bulk and looks really sleek. It blends in you also have nice geometric patterns here that look really
cool so these little triangular elements and these sharp creases so nice little design details
that make it really stand out. Oakley branding on the side a big Oakley on the front and otherwise
just really bright colors. It reminds me a lot of some of the Matador sunglasses like ROKA with this
sweep back design. It looks really cool it's also nice to have a retro inspired pair of sunglasses
they are semi-frameless so you can see nothing underneath you you just have the top brow and
this interesting metal connector between the nose pad. This is what they call their unobtanium nose
pad which is kind of a strange name but it's just a rubber pad very soft and you get a second one.
They basically have a hook so you can pull this up and over and you can see it just hooks in
so easy to swap out and find the one that works for you. The temple arms are very flexible so
it can accommodate quite a different sizes of head this is generally a medium to large fitment
with an oversized lens that's perfect for cycling so you have a wide field of view.
The lens here is a Cat 3 so it's 17 vlt so great for really sunny areas like California where I am
and blocks out the sun and provides nice coverage. It has a brown base lens which is great for road
cycling as well so you can kind of see that here it brings up the imperfections in concrete or
road. In terms of the lens swap we have a separate video for that but it is quite
simple so you have an interchangeable lens design you basically want to take off the nose pad so
compress in from the corners push down and that'll release it. You just have to kind of push
and compress at the same time then you can pop this whole nose pad off so it has this little hook
which is kind of cool so it comes off completely and then you can always put it back on and that's
what keeps it to the frame and then you can just pull up take it out of the little groove and then
compress inward. So push down on each side and you can see it'll just slide out so that's the
lens and the frame itself you can see it is very flexible and definitely stand up to a lot of abuse
and quite bright in this color scheme. Putting the sunglasses back in very simple pull one side in
sort of bend it until you get both hooks in then you want to slide it under the groove of the top
brow and you'll hear it obviously you're going to get a lot of fingerprints on it in this process
the hardest part is getting the nose pad on instead of just having it slide on you have to
actually line this up the little bridge piece at the more narrow section so it'll fit in the groove
and then push down on it you hear the click once that's flush then you simply need to compress
and then push it forward so it goes back under those grooves and then you're ready to ride.
Now let's take a look at the Sutro on the road. Here we have it paired with the Gore C5
cycling kit in the fluorescent green and that really matches the tennis on the frame
as well as the Smith Trace helmet which has a nice matching blue on the Koroyd sections
with the blue on the temple. So you can definitely mix and match and find a good color scheme but it
is very bright and in your face. I do like the sweep design of the lens so it gives it a more
aggressive look and a very cycling specific design to it. As with all of Oakley's the optics are
great crisp clear and great build quality as well so very comfortable to wear. Our biggest complaint
with these sunglasses is the vented version you can see you have 10 circular vents and they're
quite large and they're actually distracting especially if you're cycling on the drops when
you tend to be looking upward they're in your vision and it can be again just distracting while
riding so i'd recommend going with the non-vented version. For other sports the vents aren't as much
of an issue though so if you're doing running or just around town you don't notice them as much.
Retro sunglasses are very common these days seems like everyone's gone retro. On the left we have
the Bolle Chronoshield you can see it's designed after the goggles back from the 90s from Bolle.
So you can see a very retro inspired big lens and it really does look like a ski goggle
so it's a bit taller full frame design with a little vents on the edges it looks really cool
even in the all-black color with this photochromic lens. It looks really nice you have this sweat
brow on top that's also removable but much larger and definitely looks goofy off the bike
wouldn't want to go in the store wearing this while the Oakley is still a little bit restrained
so you can use this for different sports. We've also recently reviewed the Smith Bobcat
and you can see this is a slightly smaller version of the Wildcat and it has a full frame design but
a almost fake semi-frameless design with it the lens actually covers up the frame and
similar to POC lenses so it kind of overlaps and gives you that cool semi-frameless look
with the mirrored lens that hides everything. So with this one you can see it's more similar to the
the original Sutro so it has a squared off lens with smooth corners while the sweep adds a
little more aggressiveness and retro styling with these new angled lines on the bottom.
Again the colors on this are very bright but you can get more subdued versions.
The swept back design also reminds me of the ROKA Matador sunglasses these are the semi-frameless
variation and what's cool about these they really sweep up so very unusual temple design
so you can put these side by side you can see similar curve to it the Oakleys are obviously
a little more exaggerated with this big bump here while the Matador Air has a smoother curve to it
and you can see vented but only a small vent on the top versus these big circular vents.
The other Oakley sunglasses that's quite popular are the Katos. So it's a frameless design it's
just a one big lens and you can see it has that very innovative wrap around nose piece so one
piece instead of having a big cutout just kind of loops over. It's a bit of a polarizing design.
I think the Sutro is a lot more mild and can less polarizing for different cyclists but you
can see both unique both have the prism lens and I think with the sutro you get a little more subdued
styling obviously compared to the Kato but you get that same prism lens technology so great clarity.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for these sunglasses. What we like about them is that you
have a retro silhouette especially with the sweep version. They're more aggressive and
in your face than the standard Sutro. You also have an oversized lens which offers a wide wide
field of view which is perfect for high intensity sports. It also has very comfortable and flexible
temple arms so this should fit a variety of different faces and has no pressure points.
Some of the negatives for the sunglasses the fact that it does have polarizing color scheme
especially with the Lite Sweep Vented or the Lite Sweep. They're a little more retro so they
might not fit everybody's style and the circular vents especially with these vented version lens
it's quite distracting while riding so I don't recommend them for cycling. I'd recommend just
going with the standard Sweep which is the same price but without the vents. Taking everything
into account would give the sunglasses an 8.9 out of a 10. It's a nice retro inspired variation
of the popular Sutro. Thanks for watching this review don't forget to like and subscribe. You
can see more content from us on our website at thesweetcyclists.com as well as follow us
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