I remeber back in the day having these things on the first Mongoose I ever got back in like 84 or something and I remember that my hands seem to stick to them like glue.

I was just wondering why this type of design never really caught on, or faded out along with Oakley.

I can see why they wouldn't be good for guys doing freestyle stuff where you are constantly letting go of the bars and stuff, but is there some reason why they aren't good for racing?

I have never poseted over at this part of the forum before so for those of you asking why I don't try them out myself , I can't ride anymore at all and I only get into this stuff for my son.

He said they were weird looking, but I loved them and can't really find any for him to try out.

Until he got into this , I was out of the scence for a LONG time, so why did Oakley stop making grips?

It's weird but when I started getting into this again with him, all the sudden you could buy a Mongoose at Walmart and they don't seem to be what they were when I had one.

Singlehandedly, gave rise to the use of gloves in racing.
The were cool looking and worked great for ski pole grips but if your hands didn't fit them just right---Man, blister-city.

As for Oakley not making grips (enter sarcastic but truthful answer)
mmmm, $200+ for sunglasses or $20 for grips, but use the same marketing of "got to have it!" and you quickly drift to a market far beyond and above BMX.

I think IIIs were a personal preference. I loved them when I had them in 1981, ZERO complaints here. However, you were restricted to one hand position. Oh well. As far as looks go, I thought they were awesome looking, high tech if you will.

Heres my 1981 Supergoose, build exactly how my friend had his set up in '81.


My 1980 Race Inc.


My 1981 PK Ripper


...all with Oakley IIIs!!

Man, that Super Goose looks almost as mine did other than the blue tuffs

Awesome Rippers too!

I'm not saying Oadley shouldn't have made sunglasses cause God knows I can't go without mine, but my household would be buying both items from them HAHA!

Also, honestly when I bought my first pair of Oakleys(glasses) they were only about 30.00 more than my grips at that time

I can definately see now after seeing them again, that my sons hand wouldn't fit them correctly either.

Well they did make goggles before the sunglasses so I guess it was a natural progression. But yeah, I still wish they made grips. I heard they still have the molds...anniversary editions would be killer!!

Yea, anniversary B1-B's.. for 20.00 a set....
I would buy a case, just in case.......

i seem to remember the oakley III ad being plain n simple, but it was a cool pic, can anyone post it?

I was never a big fan-I didn't feel as though I had control. When everything else came out after the 3's, to me it made them obsolete.

I think I paid $69.99 for my Factory Pilots first editions back in the early 80's. I had them for a few years, they broke, sent them in, Oakley sent me a brand new pair. Cool.

I thought they were the coolest thing I had ever seen while they were sitting in the showcase at the bike shop back in '81 or so...then I put them on my bike. I got horrible blisters and they couldn't "creep" around the bars in a circle like II's. I hated them after using them.

Here's the new school version:

http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/grips/index.html

Are the B1'bs the ones that have the sleeves to them? They seem to be the only ones I ever see on Ebay, but I never see any in any colors my son wants, they are always BLue and Yellow

Yes they had sleeves but not the polka dotta ones, those are F-1s. B1Bs go for a good bit, F-1s tend to be cheaper and more common.

I had them on my bike in 1980 and I put them on almost every build. I have always loved Oakley III's. I even have them on my new school ride.

i put my one and only pair on and almost immediately felt cheated. throttle grip is why i hated them.

Sweet builds Burbbully--but Chicago called. They want their handlebars back...

I loved Oakley 3's for awhile, then I turned around and hated them. I think the complaint was that your hands got cramped up in that position. Also, to agree with Pgrino, the wing part would slowly slide down so it was angled downward, and you'd have to spend half your time at the jumps working your grips back into the right position.

I built a Team Mongoose as my first vintage build, and I had to throw some Oakley 3's on. I ended up giving the bike to a girl who had her Supergoose stolen. She locked the bike up in front of her work, and some guy walked by, stopped, and tried to pull the grips off with his bare hands. So, apparently they're still sought after.

Oh, and Rickmeister--Alan's in England had some NOS sets for awhile--they were about $50 US.

Gooser,

Thanks! I'll look into that.

Not to be stupid or anything, but wasn't there anything available back then like grip glue to hold them in place?

Back then I was like 15 years old and I really didn't get much into this kind of stuff cause I had no way of affording it. I was lucky I had a moongoose, but I wasn't one of the kids who could hang around the shop and see all this cool stuff, so I wouldn't know if there was grip glue then or not HAHA!

I used hairspray, then WD-40 when I learned that little secret. The WD-40 dries out and they stick.

A set of 3's came on my old Expert Racer when I got it, and those things came right off. They just didn't feel right to me. I stuck some O-wings with donuts on there in their place, which I liked pretty well.

I'm just beside myself that I missed the Razor Blades reissue back in '05, right when I was looking for new shades. They're always usually on eBay, but nah.

I'd like to find some mint originals like I had, guess I gotta start saving some $.

I didn't know they even re-issued those glasses. The razor blades were way cool but too small for my big face

I had a hard time just recently in getting a pair of straight jackets. For some dumb reason, they discontinued them, and the model that replaced them was a smaller frame.

I paid 115.00 for them and they were a gloss frame and the gloss peeled off after a week. I took them back THREE times and had the same problem.

After the third time , I got my money back and I happened to walk in a store that had a pair of straight jackets that had been in the back somewhere for about a year

It really upset me though to think that the Quality has diminished with the only brand of glasses I have worn over the past 12 or more years.

All of my M-frames and Straght Jackets have been molded in whatever color I got them in. The new pair of 20's(XX) that I got had the gloss painted over a matte fram and that is what kept peeling off.

Sorry guys, I dindn't mean to hi-jack my own thread

My IIIs didnt throttle but if I wanted to reposition them, I could coax them alittle one way or another, then they stayed put. One of the first cool upgrades I ever got for my 1981 goose.

I still have my 1988 Razor blades, so freakin' 80s.

A lot of people got hooked up with sponsors by Charlie Litsky BITD, and for me it was Oakley.
You should've seen his and the Duke's face when I told 'em I'd be needing III's! He had a large duffel bag full of everything BUT! LMAO!

Oakley 3s were highly anticipated and shrouded in secrecy until they were unveiled to the buying public. I was so excited to see them and so complete dissapointed when I saw them. Worst Oakley grips ever, bar none.

My vote for worst Oakley grip is the O-wings. I think I wore them out in 2 weeks. They were SO thin! At least the 3's lasted a while.

I don't think I have ever seen an O-Wing. How many models of Grips Did Oakley make?

I actually liked the FEEL of the O wings, really smaller diameter kinda like Jive Handles are but humi is right about them wearing out a lot quicker than say, A'me Tri's or just about any other Oakley grip.

Let's see...

F1
B1-B
3's
O-wings...

Rickmeister, I didn't mean to insult you with my comments. It's okay that you like Oakley 3s. I'm bitter and still feel duped after 25 years!

In roughly chronological order:

The Oakley Grip (Oakley I)
Oakley II
Oakley .5
Oakley III
F1
B1-B
B-2
O-Wing

My all time fave is the .5 followed by the Oakley II.

ScottTowne,

I didn't feel insulted at all, everythings cool. I jsut felt kinda dumb for not knowing weather or not grip glue was around back then.

Can anyone post pics of the different models listed above ?

Here are some pics of the O/Wing grips...

I liked them and rode them for a while when I was pretty young, but they were pretty impractical for freestyle when I got into that. I have a set now on one of my bikes and I always like the feel when I hold them. Reminds me of the days when my cousins would give me their old spare parts to help me make my bike a little cooler. I guess they didn't like them though which is how I ended up with them back then, LOL.

Great ! Now my son wants a pair of those Red O-wings Are they going to be immpossible for me to find ?

I had IIIs on the GJS. When I recovered it from my parents attic, the "unobtanium' had turned into a gum like substance that just stuck to anything it touched. Talk about custom molding to your hands! Regretfully I pulled all the "puttytanium" off. I luckily picked up a NOS set on the bay about a year ago and will put them back on the GJS when I move it inside to its rightful indoor display. Gosh it is great to now have an ex-wife and the ability to decorate my house tastefully now! GJS survivor, a restored Webco Replica, and a set of survivor, one owner (me) Motomags! Can a guys office get any better?

Here are some pictures of my NOS Oakley 3's. These are and were really soft grips, really nice to ride on. I never raced with these grips. People either loved em or hated em. I liked them but not on a Kuwahara.

Here are my pics

I thought they should have given them a different name. They don't look like III's, they look original. Maybe call them Cobra's or Pistol grips or something else. Did they have a nickname BITD? I liked them but they weren't ideal for racing or freestyle, more of a riding to the mall grip IMHO.

Rickmeister,

I just sold those O/Wings the other day for $75.
They were orange, not red.
The O/Wings are the toughest Oakley grips to find, especially in the good colors.
I have NOS sets of all Oakley grip styles and colors... except O/Wings. I only have a few of those, mainly the odd colors (purple, turquoise, white, orange, etc.) ...Still looking for black, red, and blue ones. I've been collecting these Oakley grips for 8 + years.

Tell your son to pick a new favorite, otherwise you'll be searching forever for those Red O/Wings.

I actually have a few sets of duplicates of some styles/colors that I've been unloading on eBay this week.

My favorite Oakleys back in the day were the B1B.
F1 was my least favorite... the diameter was too large.