Oakley’s Jawbone shades, the US company’s latest in a long line of stylish eyewear, have been catching the attention of cycling fans for the past few months, with people such as Mark Cavendish and Lance Armstrong sporting the latest look.

They were actually first spotted last summer when both George Hincapie and Thor Hushovd were key in the development of the new hinged frame designs, which allow for easy lens swapping, but we’ve had to wait an agonisingly long time before we [You mean you – ed.]could get our grubby mitts on them.

Nose piece folds out…	…and the bottom half of the frame hinges open

But the long wait was worthwhile, as the small package that arrived from Oakley today caused quite a stir in the RCUK office. The funky frame design conceals a pivot by means of which easy and quick lens changing is enabled, while ensuring minimal paw prints on the lens while changing.

Oakley calls it the ‘SwitchLock’ and is really quite easy to use. You flip the nose piece outwards and this releases the bottom half of the frame which swings open at the pivot and the lens slides out. Changes appear to be both easy and quick, it’s so easy that ‘on the bike’ changes could probably be done, but we wouldn’t recommend it!

Concealed pivot on the front	The pivot on the inside of the frame

The hinged frame aside, the rest of the Jawbone concept showcases Oakley’s keen attention for detail, with top-end optics and a great fit on this tester’s head. The nose pieces and arms are clothed in Unobtainium rubber to prevent slippage, the lenses are treated with a Hydrophobic coating to avoid the build-up of oil, fingerprints and other grime, and the nose pieces are interchangeable to get a perfect fit.

Oakley’s Jawbones will be in shops on 1 June. Prices range from £179.99 to £239.99 depending on lens option. More at www.oakley.co.uk.