SunGod Velans review: the clamp
- Unit tested
- to confirm
- As configured
- Reviewed with the bottom rim removed, which is how I actually wear it.
- Lens curvature
- Dual axis
- Temples
- Clamping: angled in, rubber covered, with small notches
This reviews the SunGod Velans as a model. The unit above is the exact one tested; other colourways differ in paint and fitted lens, not in anything scored here. Lens tints and coatings are deliberately not part of this review, they are measured and scored separately in the lens research section.
Reviewed by Ken. Full disclosure: I run BananaOptics and I make prescription inserts for most of the frames in this series. Read the prescription section knowing that. Every frame is scored by me, on my face, against published anchors: each criterion is calibrated by the named best and worst frame in the collection, whole points 1 to 10. The full methodology.
Verdict
The Velans is huge, protective, surprisingly prescription friendly, and it stays on your head by a mechanism nothing else in this series uses: the temples angle inward and clamp the sides of your skull. The clamp works. It also has a bill, and mine comes due after about an hour, when the accumulated pressure starts to register. On a narrower head that hour stretches and the grip weakens, so this frame trades grip against comfort by head width in a way no Oakley here does. Style wise it is a niche object: very cool inside the cycling niche, just okay outside it. And one genuinely clever detail: remove the bottom rim and the cheek contact problem every big close frame has simply disappears.
Scores
| Criterion | Score | Anchors, best and worst in the collection |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | 10 | 10 Velans, 5 Sutro S and Lite S |
| Grip | 7 | 10 Radar EV, 2 Sutro |
| Ventilation | 7 | 9 Sutro Lite, 4 Sphaera, Radar EV and Jawbreaker |
| Comfort | 5 | 10 Radar EV, 3 Sphaera |
| Style | 5 | 10 Sweep, 5 Velans |
| Quality | 4 | 10 Jawbreaker, 5 Sutro and Sphaera |
| RX | 7 | 10 100% S3, 4 Vanguard |
| Ecosystem | 4 | 10 Sutro, 2 Vanguard |
Ride 29/40 · Life 20/40 · Banana Sunglasses Score 49/80
9th of 11 on the board. See what beats it
The frame
The Velans is SunGod's big dual axis shield, and big is the operative word: the lens is the largest of anything I own. It ships with a removable bottom rim, and that removability turns out to be one of its best features. One calibration note that matters for this frame specifically: I have a wide head, so my comfort observations sit at the pessimistic end of what a typical wearer would feel, and my grip observations at the optimistic end.
Size against the Oakley Sutro Lite
Loaded against the Sutro Lite, the frame most people already know, so the Velans coverage reads in context. That size is the Protection score made visible.
Select view
Any two frames in the collection overlay the same way in the full frame size comparison tool.
Protection
Really there, and probably the best on the board. The lens is huge, bigger than anything else owned, and it is dual axis curved on top of that, so it closes off entry paths that other frames leave open. More protection than the other manufacturers manage.
Grip
Fairly good, by a mechanism nothing else here uses. The temples are angled inward, rubber covered, with small notches. The angle is the main retention force: they clamp the sides of the head rather than hooking behind it. It works. But the mechanism is fit dependent in a way the others are not. On a narrower face the clamping force would be lower, retention would drop, and it would start to slide.
Ventilation
Pretty good, and surprisingly so given the size and the dual axis shape. No issues in use, with the bottom rim removed. The lens being huge appears to help rather than hurt.
Comfort
Good at first, then it degrades. After an hour or a little more the clamping pressure starts to weigh in and you feel it. That is the direct cost of the retention mechanism. Cheek contact when squinting occurs only with the bottom rim installed. Remove the rim and it disappears entirely, which is a genuinely clever bit of design and the reason this frame is reviewed rim off.
Style
Niche, deliberately. If you want something that is not the mainstream choice, this is what you want. Not a personal favourite. Coolness is conditional: very cool if you are in that niche, otherwise okay rather than cool. Pure cycling, not a frame you wear to the cafe afterwards.
Quality
Manufacturing very similar to Oakley. Nothing special. Possibly one point below Oakley, which are made slightly better.
Prescription
Surprisingly generous for a dual axis frame. Where the Sphaera and Radar EV leave the insert maker to engineer clearance, the Velans has more room behind the lens than its shape suggests. It is the second frame in this series, after the Jawbreaker, proving that close fitting and prescription friendly can coexist if the designer lets them.
I do not make a dedicated Velans insert yet. Everything I currently build is in the clips and inserts collection. The clips and inserts collection.
Ecosystem
The mixed cell. The lens catalogue and availability are not at Oakley's level, or 100 percent's. But the frame itself is easy to take apart and reassemble, which is real serviceability and exactly what prescription work needs. Shallow catalogue, excellent wrench friendliness.
Who should buy it
Cyclists with average to wider heads who want maximum lens coverage and something that is not another Sutro. Prescription wearers get an unusually easy time for a frame this shape. Narrow heads should expect less grip and more comfort than I report. And if you buy one, take the bottom rim off.