One Hundred Percent crushes it on style. But how do they stack-up against established players like Oakley’s latest and greatest, the Flight Jackets, on fit, performance and style? Is 100% the heir-apparent to cycling’s lucrative eyewear biz?
Having ridden Oakley’s Flight Jackets for weeks, I was excited to get a look at 100%’s and compare the two on aesthetics and performance. Like Oakley, 100% traces its roots to action sports, in their case, motocross and racing, and since 2010 when the brand was bought (the company actually dates back to 1982 but was then focused entirely on gravity sports and motocross), has applied that spirit to their designs - first with mountain biking, and now road.
The Speedcraft - probably the pair to register in the minds of most when thinking 100% - come out of the box with the company’s “HiPer” orange lens (made by French manufacturer, Dalloz), a spare nose pad, clear lenses, hard case and cloth lens bag. Immediately noticeable when handling the Speedcraft (SoftTac Day Glo orange and white version worn for this review) is the quality feel of the frames, a soft, tacky grilamid that’s velvety on the fingers and distinguishable from harder resins (which the company uses on other models). Also noticeable is the size of the lens, something we’ll address later on.
Oakley’s Flight Jacket comes with their signature hard case, one lens, additional nose pad and sunglass arms to customize length. Retail on the Speedcraft is $195. For the Oakley Flight Jackets, retail starts at $223.