Black, black, black -- everywhere is black. It's the ultimate in safe color choices, but sometimes looking sharp requires a step beyond the official color of NYC. For the fashion curious-but-risk-averse comes the Oakley Radar in a Brown Smoke frame. You lose the (boring?) predictability of Black, but you maintain Black's versatility. We can't think of a single color helmet or team kit that won't match the classic, muted hue of this Brown Smoke frame. It comes standard with a Bronze Polarized lens. It transmits 15% of the available light, so it's ideal for medium-to-bright light conditions. It's an excellent all-purpose lens whose polarization expertly cuts blinding glare while boosting contrast and depth perception. We're thinking about what it's like to descend a mountain pass on a sunny summertime day -- this would be an ideal choice to help you pick the perfect lines.

The Radar is Oakley's first new cycling-specific design since the M-Frame -- that's a 15-year span between re-designs, testament to just how popular the M-Frame became. While the Radar bears similarities to the M-Frame, it's a far improved set of eyewear. Like the M-Frame, it has no lower ledge to the frame, so you get an uninterrupted field of vision. But improved is the updated look that is modern, almost high-fashion. The frame itself was re-designed to fit more types of faces with greater comfort.

And then there are the surge ports. These are the holes molded into the arms. The ports direct air inside the arms so heat and sweat don't build up behind the sunglasses and arms. And unlike certain models of the M-Frame, the arms of the Radar fold. The lens is large in a modern, high-fashion way without being too big -- a design Oakley calls the "Path" lens. We prefer the Path lens because we believe it is large enough to protect the eyes while being small enough so it doesn't overheat the head and seal the eyes off from the world. And overly big glasses fog up too easily. For those who are familiar with M-Frame lenses, this is kind of between the Hybrid and the Sweep. The next larger size of Radar lenses is the Pitch, and the largest is the Range. As with the M-Frame, the Radar has interchangeable lenses. Not only can you change tints, but shapes.

In comparison to the iconic M-Frame, the Radar has a new lens shape, a new frame design, and a choice of nosepieces (you get 2 of them, in order to customize the positioning of the Radar on your nose) -- all of which mean better fit. One other vital detail is that the lens is hydrophobic with a new oleophobic coating for better vision. Sweat won't streak your lens and muddy up your field of view. Rather these coatings cause moisture to run off the lens with no residue.

The frame is made from Oakley O-Matter. There is soft Unobtanium at the temple ends and the nose to better grip the face. Unobtanium is slightly hydrophilic, so it will grip better when wet and sweaty. The lens is made from Plutonite and has Oakley's famed High Definition Optics (HDO). The Radar comes with a zipper case that has room for a spare lens and a microfiber bag that is both a lens cleaning cloth and soft storage.