Club rider counts cost of crashing while wearing imitation Oakleys
The injured rider with the scars from the knock-off Oakleys. He said the cheap glasses turned into a sharp weapon on impact. The results are horrendous.
A club rider has shared photos of injuries he sustained in a racing crash to warn others about imitation sunglasses.
Jamie Maidment from Southend Wheelers CC in the UK said he had bought imitation Oakleys for racing.
He had done so because he feared crashing while racing and breaking his expensive, authentic, Oakleys.
However, when he crashed wearing his knock-offs last weekend he quickly learned the grade of plastic and structure of his knocks created sharp edges.
As a resulted he suffered some very nasty facial injuries. And he is now running a social media campaign to warn other riders.
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“I’ve just got back from over three days in hospital due to a crash during the Alan Rosner races at Hog Hill on Easter Monday,” he writes.
“Part of the reason for my relatively long stay was actually my choice of eyewear. And I feel like this is worth sharing with everybody."
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The injured rider said the cheap glasses turned into a sharp weapon on impact and could have blinded him.
He continued: “I have a variety of different Oakleys because I’m a bit of a tart.
“However, I was always nervous about racing in them because they’re significantly more expensive than a lot of the competition.
“The last thing you want to do in the event of a crash is write-off loads of expensive kit.
“So, I found some cheap Jawbreaker copies on aliexpress for £15.
“I took a punt on them thinking, ‘well, if they’re rubbish then I can just scrap them, no bother’.
“Turns out the fit and finish on them is excellent, very nearly on a par with the real thing. And they were available in club colours!
The problem is that genuine Oakleys are impact tested to quite a high degree whereas these are not. I discovered this when I face-planted.
“The right earpiece snapped clean off and caused a quite significant laceration above my right eye. Frankly, I’m lucky it didn’t blind me.
“Please bear this in mind next time you’re shopping for cycling sunglasses. The cheap copies are great if you never intend on crashing them.”
He added while injuries could occur from any brand of glasses snapping in the wrong place, the impact testing of big brands offered more protections that cheap knock-offs.
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