contact lenses and MTB'ing

Davy-g

I’m contemplating dumping my glasses and getting Contact Lenses.
Are there any forum members who actually wear contacts whilst out on the XC trails or going flat out on the Down-hill slopes. If so, how do you get on wearing them, and what are the advantages/disadvantages of them..
I have posted in other forums as I am trying to get a bigger picture (no pun intended there).

T1berious

I think there's a few threads on it but as a convert, you'll never look back after getting lenses. I would recommend you use them with decent shades or clears as muck in eye + lenses = bad day.

If your out for an all day ride, I pack spares to as losing a lens (never happened to me) would ruin your day.

Depending on prescription you really can't go wrong with dailies, I use monthly's but that's only due to my prescription rather than preferring dailies.

Most opticians will give you a free trial.

Win win

meanredspider

You'll be absolutely fine. I've been wearing contacts now for 25 years and I can't think of a single instance where I'd rather be wearing specs. Your vision is vastly improved and some other bizarre effects happen. When I switched I went from being an average clay pigeon shooter to runner-up in the students' nationals almost over night. So much so that my fellow shooters joked that I'd had a cross-hair etched on them!

I can't imagine using specs now - in fact, I had to use them for a whole week a while ago as I got an infection (first proper one in 25 years) and I hated it.

d87heaven

I have been wearing contact lenses for nearly 20 years now. Never had a problem with them coming out when doing any type of sport. Don't open your eyes when swimming underwater though.
Contacts give you much better periphiral vision. I do wear clear glasses when on the bike though as stones/flies/twigs in the eye is not nice.

meanredspider

d87heaven wrote:

I do wear clear glasses when on the bike though as stones/flies/twigs in the eye is not nice.

Yup - whilst contacts do provide protection against onions and some UV light, they don't stop the same stuff as you'd wear safety glasses for.

ianrams

I agree with the other posters regarding contact lenses. I've worn them for 10+ years and have never had an issue. I wear clear lenses during the winter/nights and a range of Oakleys during the day or summer etc. I do always take spare solution and a container with me in the car but I've never used them.

Cheers

bartimaeus

d87heaven wrote:

I do wear clear glasses when on the bike though as stones/flies/twigs in the eye is not nice.

+1...and clear glasses help prevent problems with the lenses drying out.

Davy-g

many thanks for all the replies...

does anyone have an astigmatism? and wear contacts??

bartimaeus

Yup... though my astigmatism is not too bad. I have been using "1-Day Acuvue for Astigmatism" lenses (which are slightly weighted to orient them in your eye) and they seem to work pretty well. Not quite as comfortable as the 'Moist' lenses, but sharper.

Apparently they now do "1-Day Acuvue Moist for Astigmatism" so I think I'll give them a go next.'

singlespeedexplosif

Yup, as the above.
I actually work in CL research! There have been some massive, massive improvements in lenses over the past few years and more to come shortly. THE best upgrade I've ever made to my cycling, bar none. Agreed, a pair of sunnies over the top will help protect your eyes - but then you should be using those whether you wear lenses or not!

wheezee

I started using them for cycling this year, and they're marvellous.

The only drawback is that I'm still new to them, and it takes me an age to get the right hand (eye) lens in.

ddraver

Yep - I use Contacts - never used glasses for sport as i did nt think my eyesight was bad enough (I'm recently a -1.5) - it's is absolutely stunning what difference they make - to any sport - I would never wear glasses for sport again. It's even clearer what difference they make when you forget them and have to ride/play without them and you can't see anything!

wheezee

You need to make sure you get the right ones for the right sports, mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj7f3B1VCYM

MountainMonster

I wear contacts and glasses, I absolutely hate wearing my glasses when cycling. They constantly bounce around, and with my -8.50 prescription in my good eye and -9 in the other, when the glasses bounce around it could be lethal for me. Contacts are amazing for cycling for me, and make it so I can wear shades and not look geeky while riding.

getonyourbike

MountainMonster wrote:

I wear contacts and glasses, I absolutely hate wearing my glasses when cycling. They constantly bounce around, and with my -8.50 prescription in my good eye and -9 in the other, when the glasses bounce around it could be lethal for me. Contacts are amazing for cycling for me, and make it so I can wear shades and not look geeky while riding.

omg, that's a massive prescription, I'm only something like 2.5!

meanredspider

MountainMonster wrote:

I wear contacts and glasses, I absolutely hate wearing my glasses when cycling. They constantly bounce around, and with my -8.50 prescription in my good eye and -9 in the other, when the glasses bounce around it could be lethal for me. Contacts are amazing for cycling for me, and make it so I can wear shades and not look geeky while riding.

My wife was at around that prescription - she could almost literally not see the end of her nose. Then her contacts started giving her issues so she went for laser surgery - bloody fantastic! If I ever start getting issues with my contacts, I'll do it, but I'm at that stage where my eyes are heading in the other direction.

singlespeedexplosif

omg, that's a massive prescription
it really isn't -20 is fairly massive. -9 is 'moderate'

tri-sexual

can anyone recommend a cheap supplier of contact lenses?
precription -2.75 both eyes with astigmatism, what should i expect to pay?
thanks all

meanredspider

tri-sexual wrote:

can anyone recommend a cheap supplier of contact lenses?
precription -2.75 both eyes with astigmatism, what should i expect to pay?
thanks all

Costco?

tri-sexual

just checked the costco website, cant find listing for contact lenses
what are likely costs?

bennett_346

Been using contacts here for riding for a good few months now and they're really really good. Couldn't reccomend them more!

adzsubtract

I have been wearing contacts for off roading for about 2 years now. My prescription is -2.25, so can get by on the commute. Dailies are definately the way forward for me, but it does depend on how often you are going to wear them. I can't understand how people can ride in glasses. Cost is all dependant on whether you go basic, as I do. I have an astigmatism. I think the cost is about £12 for 25, for each eye from Boots.

Nachimir

Contacts are fantastic for off road and commutes, having 20/20 while looking to the side and behind you makes a massive difference.

Your eyes might stream a little on DH, but I don't find it's bad enough to obscure my vision. Carrying spare lenses is a good idea; also possibly some hand sanitiser to avoid putting muck in your eye. Always checking they're not inside out before putting them in too; you might not notice at first but an inside out lens will become very uncomfortable.

They'll be b*ggers to get in at first, but with practice you'll get really fast. Took me half an hour each morning for the first week, but you'll speed right up after a while and possibly even be able to do them without a mirror.

Another thing to be aware of is that your perception of distance might change between contacts and glasses, so it's worth taking it easy for a while to get used to it.

There are downsides to contacts, but the difference they make to your vision and confidence is well worth it.

MountainMonster

Nachimir wrote:

Contacts are fantastic for off road and commutes, having 20/20 while looking to the side and behind you makes a massive difference.

Your eyes might stream a little on DH, but I don't find it's bad enough to obscure my vision. Carrying spare lenses is a good idea; also possibly some hand sanitiser to avoid putting muck in your eye. Always checking they're not inside out before putting them in too; you might not notice at first but an inside out lens will become very uncomfortable.

They'll be b*ggers to get in at first, but with practice you'll get really fast. Took me half an hour each morning for the first week, but you'll speed right up after a while and possibly even be able to do them without a mirror.

Another thing to be aware of is that your perception of distance might change between contacts and glasses, so it's worth taking it easy for a while to get used to it.

There are downsides to contacts, but the difference they make to your vision and confidence is well worth it.

Some very good points in there. With the perception of distance, it isn't the perception of distance that is the problem, it's that the correction is directly on the eye rather than being a few cm off. That does take a few days to get used to, and can cause headaches if you've been using one or the other for a period, and then switch.

I've been wearing contacts for years, and i'm now at the point where I can put them in and take them out with basically one 5 second attempt without a mirror. It's become second nature for me now.

bennett_346

Nachimir wrote:

also possibly some hand sanitiser

:shock:

ouch? :P

I wouldn't be using anything like that before touching my eye, least of all putting something in it lol.

MountainMonster

bennett_346 wrote:

Nachimir wrote:

also possibly some hand sanitiser

:shock:

ouch? :P

I wouldn't be using anything like that before touching my eye, least of all putting something in it lol.

Beleive me, you will want to get the hands clean before putting contacts, even dirt too small to see hurts like fark.

Nachimir

bennett_346 wrote:

I wouldn't be using anything like that before touching my eye, least of all putting something in it lol.

I've used it without problems. Obviously (?), rinse with some water and rub hands dry between using the stuff and touching lenses

stuart_c-2

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

omg, that's a massive prescription
it really isn't -20 is fairly massive. -9 is 'moderate'

*waves*

-20 over here. Haven’t used my lenses in a while, should really pull them out and give them a go on the bike.

Due to my prescription and astigmatism, apparently I can only wear hard lenses, so dailies are a no go for me.

As others have said, the depth perception is what will confuse you when swapping to lenses, especially if your prescription is strong. 1st thing I remember when I put lenses in for the 1st time was that everything seemed about 20% bigger. I was straight off to the toilet!

Eyon

wouldn't ride without contacts! My frame/lenses cost me around £300 no way am i going to fall face first on them, break them and be blind for the rest of my ride.

I do find that my eyes stream a little if i dont put sunglasses on, but with them on its perfect.

Im not sure what lens i use now, as I've literally just changed from Acuview for astigmatism 2 weekly's to these new monthly leave in ones, you can sleep in them as they allow for extra air to your eye, and are insanely comfortable, even after having them in for over 40 hours last week i couldn't tell they were in, where as dailies are very uncomfortable for me after 10 hours or so. Good thing is they are cheaper too at around £20 a month via Vision Express with all the aftercare and spares if I loose one etc.

I should be getting them through the post this week, I'll report back with their brand/name. Highly recommended

Ian

Northwind

Davy-g wrote:

does anyone have an astigmatism? and wear contacts??

I do... Used to have toric lenses but I couldn't get on with them, the corrected patch would float about and make things worse not better, so I just use standard prescriptions- gives me a wee bit of bad focus but it's out of my main field of vision anyway so it's never a bother.

If you can get along with contacts- not everyone can- then there's practically no reason not to wear them riding, they're so much better than glasses. Good idea to wear clear riding glasses with them, but then, that's a good idea if you don't have contacts too.

Davy-g

got my eyes tested today, the contacts are gonna work out at £18 per month for monthly disposables or £35 per month for daily disposables.....didn't think it was gonna be that expensive... I will be getting a free pair to see how I get on with them, as my astigmatism is on the borderline (whatever the hell that means.. think its for standard lenses..)

I may have to look for cheaper options...