Oakley Kato sunglasses

With their bold lens design the Oakley Kato sunglasses may not be for shy and retiring types, but Oakley has nailed absolutely everything from my point of view. These are some of the best shades I've ever worn, although, as is often the case with Oakley, they are reassuringly expensive...

At first, I wasn't completely sure if I liked the Kato's lens design, with the little bird-like beak protruding out over the nose, but it does look more subtle when you are actually wearing them. You can see where they (probably) got their name from – the black eye-mask worn by Kato, the Green Hornet's sidekick.

The fit is great, though. Behind the lens sits an 'unobtanium' nosepiece positioned in exactly the same place as normal which keeps the lens sitting close to your face. There are three different nosepieces included to dial in the fit.

Even when hot and sweaty the nosepiece stays put and the same is true for the arms where they sit over the ears.

The Katos fit very close to the face. I don't think I've ever worn another pair of glasses that literally stop any air from coming up through the bottom of the glasses. I found it a big bonus wearing them at the tail end of the grass pollen season, a time of year when I do not like any air blowing over my eyeballs.

The lens wraps around the edge of your face, too, which helps reduce airflow as well, and the lack of a frame means there's nothing to block your view when shoulder checking before manoeuvring.

This also helps when looking through the top of the glasses when you have your head down in a racing position.

For even more fit tweakage the Katos come with 'adjustable rake'. On the back of the Oakley logo on each arm you'll find a little door that you open, which lets you change the angle of the arm in relation to the lens, bringing the glasses closer to or further away from your cheekbones for a near custom fit.

Even with such a close fit there are no issues with ventilation, with only a slight bit of fogging on a muggy, rainy day when stopped at the traffic lights or something.

The Katos use Oakley's Prizm technology which is designed to enhance colour and contrast by filtering the light spectrum using sport-specific dyes.

There are seven colour options in the Kato range; I've been testing the Road Black Lens with a Grey smoke frame. This gives a purplish hue to everything in a subtle way, and they worked fine in bright sunshine and on mildly overcast days.

The clarity of the lens is awesome – crystal clear with no distortion at all, right the way around the curved section.

Value

As I said at the start of the review, these are some of the best sunglasses I have ever worn on the bike. The quality of the lens is excellent, the build quality throughout is top notch, and you also get a hardcase included and a cloth to keep them looking their best, though you don't need to treat them with kid gloves because the lens is impressively durable and doesn't scratch easily.

You can get some very good glasses for a lot less money, though.

For example, George was really impressed with the Rapha Explore glasses, which are £140. He rated the lens highly, and you get plenty of accessories in the box.

The SunGod Airas BF glasses Anna tested earlier this year aren't cheap at £195, but they come with a photochromic lens which changes from clear to dark in varying light conditions, so you'll be able to use them throughout the year.

> Buyer’s Guide: 10 of the best cycling sunglasses

Mat was generally impressed with the Roka GP-1X glasses he tested a few years ago (read his review here), but even those, now £225, are cheaper than the Oakleys. 

But if you want a pair of frameless glasses but are on a tight budget then you can't go far wrong with the Galibier Regale Ultra Optics, which cost a mere £46.

Conclusion

If money was no object, these are the glasses I'd be buying, as both the performance and fit are just awesome. Money is an object for the majority of us, though, and you can get a lot of very good glasses for a lot less money.

Verdict

Excellent clarity, performance and fit, but with an eye-watering price tag