Prescription glasses-talk to me

stevie63

Now that the sun is barely above the horizon in the morning, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to deal with glare at certain points on my routes. I've always just worn my normal glasses for cycling but I think now is the time to consider prescription cycling glasses.

Problem is I don't know what to go for. I don't want to spend too much on them. I quite like the look of the ones from Optilabs but if I can avoid spending £150 then so much the better. I asked at specsavers when I had an eyetest but all they had was a crumpled book with a couple of goggle styles in it.

I also don't think much of the Kontrol Sport styles they are far too safety glasses looking for my liking. Sorry if I sound fussy but I would like to spend around £100 on something that looks good and does the job. Am I expecting too much?

spasypaddy

depends on how good/bad your eyes are.

my perscription is -13 so i had to spend alot more. a cheaper way of doing it is buying a frame online (i use the BBB frames from dotbike.com ) and then get a local glazer to put lenses in. Obviously get a quote on the lenses first

SlowingDown

Yup, same boat as you, wanting to spend as little as possible...always end up with Optilabs and I've got no complaints with the 3 pairs I've had from them. I've always gone with the reactive lenses so I can wear them all year. Not as much glare protection as a non-reactive lens but more versatile.

Daver27

I have had the same issue and have tried going down the contacts route.
I bought a months worth of daily disposables and only use them for riding. that way i keep the same sunglasses for riding and i get to see where i am going!
takes a while to get used to them though.
all the prescription cycling glasses i have found (bar Oakley) are hideous, don't fit my face or are insanely expensive, and expense is the big thing for me as i refuse to spend big bucks on cycling glasses that ultimately have a very short hard life.

kingrollo

I have optilabs b- they don't look great - but do the job.

I tried some from kontrolsports which I wouldn't recommend. First of all I ordered 'moondog clear' - which weren't clear at - but a tinted. Couldn't get a refund - so purchased 'gelshock' clear - better - but steam up really quick - and is a bit like looking through a gold fish bowl.

fungus_the_muffin_man

Even though you don't like the look of them I've found my Kontrolsport glasses a absolute godsend. I have 3 different sets of them, which with lenses came in at less than £100.

I now have a clear set so avoid potentially ruining my normal everyday glasses plus a black lense set and red tinged set. It would cost me 100's more to have a similar capability using other manufacturers.

cryocon

I originally spent £15 on a pair of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=29492 and got the clip on insterts done at Specsavers, unfortunatley they messed up and didn't take into account the angle of the insert would mean the prescription would need adjusting.

In the end I got a pair of Optilabs Nevada in red. They look great and do the job nicely, although they are £153, but worth it i think.

markbrundrett

I got a set of these for £89.99 whihc do the job a treat

http://www.gosportsspex.co.uk/SportsVis ... unglasses/

sherer

I use Rudy Project Rydons which have an insert for the lenses to go in. Changed to contacts now but still use the same sun glasses

pottssteve

spasypaddy wrote:

depends on how good/bad your eyes are.

my perscription is -13 so i had to spend alot more. a cheaper way of doing it is buying a frame online (i use the BBB frames from dotbike.com ) and then get a local glazer to put lenses in. Obviously get a quote on the lenses first

Bloody hell! That's not a prescription, you need a guide dog! I though mine were bad at -8.5.

Out of interest, where did you get yours and what did you pay?

Steve

clx1

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but won't find "cool" prescription cycling sunglasses for £100, double the budget and you can probably find some. I paid £220 for Oakley's with transition lenses.
This is a great company with a wide range, good prices and good service.
www.rxsport.co.uk

dennisn

FWIW you don't have to have, and pay high dollar for, a pair of, so called, sports glasses(i.e. Oakley and all the other trendy brands). Shop for regular frames that look good as sunglasses. Plenty of that available and I think lots of it looks better than the "trendy" stuff. One thing to consider is that if you need bi-focals be sure to somehow come up with the extra bit of money to have this included in your new sunglasses. Nothing worse than have a pair of glasses that you can't read with. May seem like a small thing but I'm really glad I did it on my latest set.

andyhilton

That's all very well and good but 'normal' glasses never quite look right.

I have a pair of prescription oakleys and they are grea (on my second pair now).

spasypaddy

pottssteve wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

depends on how good/bad your eyes are.

my perscription is -13 so i had to spend alot more. a cheaper way of doing it is buying a frame online (i use the BBB frames from dotbike.com ) and then get a local glazer to put lenses in. Obviously get a quote on the lenses first

Bloody hell! That's not a prescription, you need a guide dog! I though mine were bad at -8.5.

Out of interest, where did you get yours and what did you pay?

Steve

i got a pair of BBB frames from dotbike.com (£30) they come with an insert, i had lenses glazed a few years back for around £100.

When i bought my new glasses last spring (non-cycling glasses) the whole thing was around £400.

clx1

dennisn wrote:

FWIW you don't have to have, and pay high dollar for, a pair of, so called, sports glasses(i.e. Oakley and all the other trendy brands). Shop for regular frames that look good as sunglasses. Plenty of that available and I think lots of it looks better than the "trendy" stuff. One thing to consider is that if you need bi-focals be sure to somehow come up with the extra bit of money to have this included in your new sunglasses. Nothing worse than have a pair of glasses that you can't read with. May seem like a small thing but I'm really glad I did it on my latest set.

Regular frames might be all right purely from a vision point of view but they do nothing to protect your eyes from the wind, that's why they make cycling specific (bigger, wrap around) glasses, regular glasses are fine if you don't mind streaming eyes on every ride.

clx1

dennisn wrote:

FWIW you don't have to have, and pay high dollar for, a pair of, so called, sports glasses(i.e. Oakley and all the other trendy brands). Shop for regular frames that look good as sunglasses. Plenty of that available and I think lots of it looks better than the "trendy" stuff. One thing to consider is that if you need bi-focals be sure to somehow come up with the extra bit of money to have this included in your new sunglasses. Nothing worse than have a pair of glasses that you can't read with. May seem like a small thing but I'm really glad I did it on my latest set.

Regular frames might be all right purely from a vision point of view but they do nothing to protect your eyes from the wind, that's why they make cycling specific (bigger, wrap around) glasses, regular glasses are fine if you don't mind streaming eyes on every ride.

ADIHEAD

I've got a pair of Adidas Shields and also a pair Rudy Project Rydons with Photochromatic lenses. To be honest though I do have problems with them steaming up in the winter/wet summer rides. This is because the insert is closer to the eyes than the main lens, also water gets trapped between the insert and the main lens.

dennisn

CLX1 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

FWIW you don't have to have, and pay high dollar for, a pair of, so called, sports glasses(i.e. Oakley and all the other trendy brands). Shop for regular frames that look good as sunglasses. Plenty of that available and I think lots of it looks better than the "trendy" stuff. One thing to consider is that if you need bi-focals be sure to somehow come up with the extra bit of money to have this included in your new sunglasses. Nothing worse than have a pair of glasses that you can't read with. May seem like a small thing but I'm really glad I did it on my latest set.

Regular frames might be all right purely from a vision point of view but they do nothing to protect your eyes from the wind, that's why they make cycling specific (bigger, wrap around) glasses, regular glasses are fine if you don't mind streaming eyes on every ride.

I'm not a big fan of sunglasses unless it's really bright out. I think sunglasses make the day look kind of gloomy. in any case I ride a lot of the time with "regular" glasses and don't have watery eye problems. Maybe, maybe on long downhill runs my eyes might water a bit, but nothing I can't deal with.

Undies

I agree with Andyhilton, normal glasses just dont cut it on a bike, just bought a pair of prescription Oakleys with transition lenses. Expensive, but fit like a glove and in my opinion are worth the money but I guess we all have different opinions on value.

FransJacques

Best. Idea. Ever. Wished I did it years ago. I bought generic frames with tinted lenses for about £220.

I'm blind: -7 left/ -6.50 right which added to the cost. I got mid-range lenses, not super-thin 1.7 but 1.5 index.

Only issue is they're a bit too dark. The optician showed me sample lenses but in practice due to the final thickness the tint was greater than the sample. Reckon the actual tint is somewhere around 8-12% light transmission when I really prefer about 20% light transmission. Lesson learned.

Other consideration is polarizing. I didn't get it but should have. On really bright days when sun shines off worn, smooth pavement the glare is bad. The distortion is made worse by the high refractive index of the thick lenses. I have Kaenon Kores sunglasses with amazing polarized lenses which are great, so next time, will opt for polarized lenses.

But go for it for sure, I've not worn my contacts for about a year now.