Lens

The Line Miner uses a cylindrical lens, which in the past has been a slightly cheaper, less tech option. But come on, it’s Oakley we’re talking about here, so they’ve kept the price relatively low, whilst keeping the performance way, way up. Cylindrical lenses curve solely across your face, and are flat on the vertical plane, and while this does offer slightly less quality of vision, it allows to goggle to sit closer to your face (getting rid of that ‘bug eyed’ look). The benefits of this are three-fold, not only does it allow for increased view on the periphery, it also has a sleeker aesthetic and reduces space between your eye and the lens.

Oakley come in HOT with their Prizm lenses. They’re easily some of the best on the market in terms of optical clarity, durability and contrast. They filter specific wavelengths of light to allow you to better discern between objects, be they trees, rocks or even patches of ice. There’s a tonne of different tint options and Oakley allows you to pick and choose depending on the weather conditions. In general, go for darker tints to allow less light to filter through for brighter weather, and vice versa to allow for more visibility for when the storm starts rolling in.

“The frame itself is made of flexible O-Matter material, to better conform to your face and comes with notches to allow you to wear your glasses underneath”

Frame and Straps

The Line Miner’s are available in small, medium and large sizes, so you can pick your frame size depending on your head size, or whether you prefer the oversized look. There’s no real right and wrong with this, you just want to make sure they’re comfortable on your face, with no real gaps around the sides- or up top if you’re rocking them with a helmet.

The frame itself is made of flexible O-Matter material, to better conform to your face and comes with notches to allow you to wear your glasses underneath without pushing on the sides of your head.

Triple layer face foam works to wick sweat away from your skin and stop condensation building up inside the goggle, plus it’s super comfy to keep next to your skin for hours at a time. The 5mm adjustable straps use silicone to keep them from slipping from your beanie or helmet, and depending on your style there’s a bunch of different strap options to go for looks-wise.

“Everyone from Mark McMorris to Ståle Sandbech is jumping on the Line Miner hype train, and for good reason”

Roundup

No goggle is perfect and Oakley know that, but they’re doing what they can to reduce all the annoying things about goggles, including using an anti-fog coating, infusing UVA protection and even providing a soft case to keep them from getting scratched.

Oakley isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here, but they’re going back to basics in the best way possible. Taking tried and tested materials, infusing rider refined features and giving you a huge aesthetic range to choose from, sounds pretty damn good to us.

Pros:

• Huge range of sizes for every rider
• They’re low profile to face

Cons:

• Cylindrical lenses don’t offer the best optical clarity

Buy the Oakley Line Miner: £145 at Blue Tomato UK 

Buy the Oakley Line Miner: €160 at Blue Tomato EU