Chris Froome shows off unreleased Oakleys, custom-painted Pinarello at the Vuelta
Froome's custom-painted Pinarello Dogma F12 will be auctioned for charity, but there is no word yet on when the Oakleys will be for sale.
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Chris Froome may be leaving Ineos-Grenadiers at the end of the season, but while he enjoys his last grand tour aboard his current equipment, Froome is spending a few stages at the Vuelta a España on a custom-painted Pinarello Dogma F12, and wearing some unreleased Oakley Shades.
The Dogma F12 Froome is riding during stage 7 of the Vuelta features custom paint from artist Romero Britto, according to Cyclingnews. Froome also rode the bike during Monday’s rest day. You can expect to see Froome ride the pop-art-covered bike until the end of the Vuelta, at which time the bike will be auctioned off to benefit Best Buddies International, an organization that provides economic and social aid to people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).
The Oakley sunglasses Froome sported on Sunday’s stage are a bit more mysterious. Oakley is of course no stranger to flashy shields, and the new glasses certainly are a wild design, with a large lens that scoops out over the bridge of the nose Batman-style. The nosepiece itself must be integrated into the lens somehow, though that’s impossible to confirm based on the photos.
The lens also appears to have some other unique features, most notably the outward, visor-like bend at the top of the lens and the pointed ends at the back of the lens, which appear to be protected by some sort of plastic material. The top visor bend could be some sort of sweat mitigation feature, or even an effort to curb some fog build-up on the lens. Those are just guesses, of course.
The arms of the sunglasses are fairly minimalist, which means the lens likely does most of the work keeping the glasses planted on your face. With a nosepiece as stout as what appears to be shown here, that’s not too surprising.
While no information has yet been released from Oakley, rumors on the internet suggest the new model will be called the Oakley Kato. VeloNews has reached out to Oakley for comment but has not yet received a response.
