A first look at Oakley’s lightest ever frame: The EVZero Path sunglasses

Oakley’s lightest sport frame ever, the EVZero Path, arrived at Canadian Running‘s office earlier this month, and based on a number of test training runs, these sunglasses are going to be a hit.

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The new EVZero Path is super light and offers a sleek, rimless lens that will be popular with runners.

Frameless

The advantages of a frameless lens is that you get a lot more vision as you look up through the top of the glasses and in your peripherals. The lens design also provides a lot of coverage to keep the wind and sun out of your eyes, especially helpful as the summer months approach. The EVZero Path has a “toric shield” which wraps around the contours of the eyes and the cheek bone, allowing for a full range of eye protection.

The EVZero Path comes in a variety of colourways and begins at $195, available online at Oakley Canada or in stores.

Are they there?

These are hands down the lightest Oakleys that our testers have worn. The previous versions of the Zero, released in the 1990s, also had a frameless design but those glasses had much thicker arms and didn’t provide nearly as much protection from the wind. They also weren’t as light as the EVZeros, which weigh just 22 g. The stems on the EVZeros are really thin, but still provide lots of stability and keep the glasses firmly in place when running or while cross-training outdoors.

Due to the minimalist approach of the new glasses they do not offer the ability to swap out the lenses though the large array of colour combinations is likely to provide at least one ideal choice for potential buyers.

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Seeing crystal clear

The EVZeros use Oakley’s Prizm Road lens that both shields your eyes from the sun’s rays while providing excellent optical clarity. Specially designed to help you spot subtle changes in road surfaces or on your local trails, whether you’re in bright sun or shade, the Prizm Road lens is very comfortable on your eyes and works very well in a variety of lighting conditions. Altering light conditions is especially relevant when running in a forested area on a sunny day.

There’s a line around the outside of the lens that provides a bit of styling, but doesn’t affect vision at all. Oakley has also released the EVZero Range, which is geared more for cyclists as it has a larger frame but can also prove helpful for runners.

A version of this review originally appeared in Triathlon Magazine Canada.