Does the lens colour in glasses make a difference?

ross_mcculloch

I'm looking to get some decent glasses fo MTBing, but I'm a little unsure whether I should be going for yellow, clear, grey or blue lenses?

I cycle in Scotland so the weather is never great but I def need some eye protection.

The Bolle safety glasses get a good right up, would these do me?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bolle-Silium-Safe ... .m14.l1308

crashtestdummy12

Just get something with photochromic lenses-I did and have neve looked back

ross_mcculloch

Bit out of my price range!

tbeat

Check out these. i havent got a pair, but surley it would do the trick

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 555614.htm

freddye

Had a pair of Alpina glasses, they have a prescription insert and a number of different colour lenses that are interchangeable. Can't rate them high enough. Have green for bright/cloudy days, yellow for low light morning, clear for nightime, and dark for bright sunlight. They do make a massive difference. Especially yellow, seem to enhance what light there is. Also being cycling/sport specific the frames have vents to keep your head cool.

Anonymous

yellow lenses are ace, they really do make evrything look brighter, even in thick wooded sections.

streako

I have lived in Scotland for 2 years and never felt the need for dark lenses!

As above, yellow are good for pretty much anything. Clear for winter months.

stumpyjon

I couldn't believe how much better yellow lenses make things look (even though they do still block some of the light). If you only end up with glasses with a single colour go for yellow.

ross_mcculloch

Anyone got any idea how you go about getting a prescription insert or indeed prescription cycling glasses?

I'd imagine it's ludicrously expensive!

Andy B

Tesco opticians have a small range of prescription sports glasses from £40 IIRC

Then there are the expensive ones....

Anonymous

Yellow, or amber lenses are ace. they make wales look sunny all the time
i lke them so much, I even got a set of oakleys for general use, with amber (I rhink they're called irridium fire) lenses.

trail jacker

yeh id agree, ive got a pair of Smith Empire sunglasses with amber lenses, and although a bit pricey, i cant fault them. you get what you pay for i guess

trail jacker

these look decent, and are on sale!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=27668

switchback18

What yellow (& orange) ones also do (apart from making everything look yellow & sunny) is increase contrast - so if it's a bit misty or dull, you can pick out details a lot better - helps for biking! Also, it's even more use if you're snowboarding (not skiing*) in dull conditions, as without, everything looks flat & uniform, so you tend to miss allsorts of stuff that makes you crash & burn (not literally, with all the snow...)
I like Oakley Half Jackets & the other model that looks very similar, as you can get spare lenses, so in the summer, you can use grey or whatever you think looks cool, and in the winter, yellow, orange, clear etc. They're not cheap, but mine are still almost new looking after 7 years (about £13 per year if you think like me) - they seem to be way more scratch resistant than most - and they stay put on your head. They were also the only Oakley design that was comfortable on me - another point - try before you buy, because if you get a pair mail order, you might have to return them if they don't fit your head shape, ear position etc...

http://www.chasingtrails.co.uk
http://www.chasingtrails.co.uk/uk-mountain-bike-holidays


*just kidding, some of my best friends ski

Chris`I

Another vote for Oakleys. I've just ordered a set of Flak Jackets recently. I've had about 3-4 sets of Oakleys, and although they are expensive they do last forever. My current Half Wires have lasted about 8yrs so far! Gone for the flaks so I can change the lense. If you want to see what the different lenses do, check out the Oakley website. Goto your prefered set of sunny's and click through to lense tints. They have a few sets of images (golf green, forrest, beach, etc) and you can slide the effect they have from right to left to see what it looks like. If you are uber flush they even do proper transition lenses. I was going to get a pair, but couldnt find any shops with them in stock to see how well they work.

Anonymous

Mine are oakley straight jackets. Unfortunately they don't make them anymore. But as with all things fashion, they'll be trendy again soon enough, so they'll be re-introduced (again)

Gr.uB

crashtestdummy12 wrote:

Just get something with photochromic lenses-I did and have neve looked back

Yep, agree. Optilabs were great service and I no longer need to worry about different lenses if I am late off work and have to ride home in the dark. Brilliant.

edwardmifflin

Ive got these and theyre great

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360021749

you can swap the lense according to the conditions, its easy to do and you get a selection of lenses.

Best of all get someone to refer you to wiggle and on your first order you get them free if you spend over £50 - let me know if you want me to refer you!

timeless1

Hardly ever change my yellow lenses.

GOLDGPR

ross_mcculloch wrote:

Anyone got any idea how you go about getting a prescription insert or indeed prescription cycling glasses?

I'd imagine it's ludicrously expensive!

Get some trial contact lenes from on of the optians and then just wear normal shades is cheaper if you fall off.

i have got the Bolle safety glasses in clear and smoke and work great just need some amber ones as used them before and make everything look nice and clear.

G

robmanic1

Rose tinted, surely........................ :roll:

dave_hill

Yellow for very dull conditions (yellow light has a long wavelength and is more visible - hence the "increased brightness" effect).

Orange/Red for intermediate - e.g. in and out of woods, cloudy/bright/cloudy conditions (red light has a short wavelength, less visible but it means that it takes your eyes less time to adjust to changes in brightness. This is why they have red light in submarines when under attack conditions at night - if they have to surface at night it means that the crews' eyes adjust more quickly to the dark conditions than had they been using white light).

Dark mirrored for really bright conditions.

Clear mirrored "blue blockers" the rest of the time (increase in resolution)

Anonymous

dave_hill wrote:

Clear mirrored "blue blockers" the rest of the time (increase in resolution)

What do you mean by resolution, Dave?

dave_hill

Resolution is the amount of detail that you can see.

Optical resolution resfers to your ability to "resolve" (see) detail. I don't know how it works but apparently by filtering out blue light, an image can become clearer (not brighter). You can apparently see more detail.

When I wear my blue-blocker lenses, everything that I see seems clearer and picked out in more detail. Like I say, don't ask me how it works but it does!

Oakley and some other optical manufacturers claim that cutting a lensefrom a sphere (i.e. so that it curves in both directions rather than one can help to maintain or improve resolution. I tend to agree - I have both flat- and double-curved visors for my motorcycle helmet and the double-curvature ones really do seem clearer!

Anonymous

hmm.
I wonder if it's got something to do with light beyond the blue spectrum? If our eyes become overloaded by light at blue frequencies or above, maybe they reduce sensitivity (close iris) a bit?

I've never tried blue-blockers, but I'm curious to try now!

As for the double curvature lenses, I totally agree with you, although I think oakley's lenses are of superior quality to most designer/fashion brands regardless.

ross_mcculloch

So just get a dailies trail and rather than use them daily just whack them on whenever I'm out on the trail?

delcol

i to have several pairs of oakleys i tend not to ride in them.

i got a cheap pair of shimano glasses with changable lenses last year wanted them for the commute clear lenses are good for nighttime i work nights so need them.

i got some polaris ones of crc for £45 these are polarised and come with 4 lenses i wore them a few times now and rate them i have to agree with the yellow lense especially in the shadow of the trees, oh and they come with an insert so you can put your perscription lense in...

stumpyjon

Ross

you may even feel like wearing the lenses permenantly once you get used to them. The daily disposables are really cheap now (I pay £20 for 30 days worth through Asda, and that's Bausch & Lomb lenses, not Asda own brand or anything daft ). The dailies are also much better for your eyes, they tend to be thinner (only need to last one day) so let more oxygen through and there's no cleaning at night so you always put in sterile new ones each morning. Lose one or tear it, that's less than 50p down the drain (compared to £20 / £30 for the ones that you clean each night).

I wouldn't be without my contact lenses now, gives me 20:20 vision (better than most people who don't wear lenses / glasses) and I can wear normal sunglasses. Don't let the whole putting your fingers in your eyes thing put you off, it's like learning to ride with SPD's, a few nasty moments at first but very quickly becomes second nature.

ross_mcculloch

Contacts it is then!

Do you have to get a special fitting when you first get them? I take it they just use your standard prescription to determine strength etc?

This has turned into an optician thread!

stumpyjon

A contact lense prescription is slightly different to a normal glasses prescription. They'll need to do an eye examination which is pretty similar to a regular eye test. If you use one of the supermarkets (a number of them have instore opticians now and they're open late) you can register with them and get tested (don't think you even need an appointment). They'll also teach you how to put them in and everything else you need to know.

You can then buy buy them online and have them delivered to home. Only thing you need to do is have a check up every year (which is worth doing anyway) to keep your prescription upto date.

Can't remember the last time I wore glasses, pop my lenses in at 6:30 in the morning and then bin em at 10:00 at night (don't tell the optician though, you're not supposed to wear them that long).

I do think contacts are much better than glasses for riding, if you stack you don't smash your glasses, riding specific glasses are much more impact resistant than normal glasses and you get all the fun of choosing what colour lenses to go for. If you go for the daily disposable lenses you can even carry spares (they come on a strip and take up no space at all), that said I don't think I've ever had one just fall out, even when I've been swimming. I even go diving wearing mine.

Filligan

tbeat wrote:

Check out these. i havent got a pair, but surley it would do the trick

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 555614.htm

I have a pair of these they do the trick ok keeping dust off the guy in front outa the old mincers bit stiff changing lenses so you are nervous first time but fine for a tenner I think
mine were a gift off the kids for fathers day