Prescription Glasses

rjsterry

After 10-15 years of no change in my eyes, I found out yesterday that I've gone noticeably short-sighted to the point that prescription glasses will make quite a difference for cycling. Now I have a talent for trashing cycling glasses so have tended to go for cheap DHB or similar. Obviously I'm going to have to go a bit upmarket to get frames capable of taking inserts or prescription lenses (not a strong Rx so no probs there), but I can't, nor would I want to run to Oakleys or that ilk.

A quick search on here has thrown up 720 Armour range - do they all take their insert clip-on? Are there any other similarly priced brands with an insert facility?

I'm guessing inserts would be better (and cheaper) than straight prescription lenses, given the scratched to hell nature of my current DHBs.

All suggestions welcome.

rick_chasey

I brought this up at the opticians.

His response?

"Contact lenses"

.....

davis

If you trash glasses, are contact lenses an option?

If you do want to go for insert-based glasses (you probably won't need to; you can probably get away with directly glazed) then it is absolutely worth spending money. Pick another sense that's more useful than your sight when cycling.

greg66_tri_v2.0

My Rudy Projects have a prescription insert. I've had prescription sunnies in the past and prefer the insert for cycling. It allows me to change the lens (yellow is great for winter nights but less good for summer days) without losing the benefit of the insert.

I picked the RPs up on ebay and then sourced the insert by mail order. Pretty easy. Just don't expect perfect optical uniformity from a curved prescription lens ordered over the internet. It's plenty good enough for riding though.

PS: Hahaha! Specky foureyes!

Etc.

DonDaddyD

I've been wearing glasses since 10 years old. Maybe younger. I have a minus 6 perscription.

If you can't wear contact lenses for medical reasons, I do wear contact lenses. Then as a man with nuff experience, of sports and glasses, Greg's are the best that I've seen.

I've had perscription sunnines - despite the outlay to get the lens to be thinner than car windscreen they are limited often too dark or too light or that middle tint that's just not practical for anything.

So inserts are probably the best - contact lenses notwithstanding - as they come with versatility.

There are websites that will do you lenses (maybe inserts) with decent quality for silly prices. Example - my boots perscription glasses cost me £90 with 50% off the lenses (which was a great price considering the ones before cost £220 and were 50% off). My internet bought ones - similar frame as good lenses (remember I'm a pro-at this, they both have anti-glare, scratch, have been shaved down to be thin and made from the same material) £12.

Incidentally what is your perscription?

spasypaddy

right my eyes are -14 and all these RX inserts say only down to -4 or -5. i have some BBB and when they eventually die and need replacing id rather get something a bit nicer as these are cheap and nasty (apart from the inserts obviously).

has anyone put anything stronger into a rudy project insert or other brand?

davis

spasypaddy wrote:

right my eyes are -14 and all these RX inserts say only down to -4 or -5. i have some BBB and when they eventually die and need replacing id rather get something a bit nicer as these are cheap and nasty (apart from the inserts obviously).

has anyone put anything stronger into a rudy project insert or other brand?

I've said exactly this before: Adidas Evil Eye (silly name) are apparently the easiest shape to get high-prescriptions in. I'm around -8. RX Sport (great service; give them a call) were able to accommodate my needs.

-14 is quite a bit higher though. If you take one piece of advice, it's to give RX Sport a call; you can pretty much ignore the website as it doesn't show how high they can go.

Frankly, I think you'll be lucky, but I don't make glasses every day.

spasypaddy

ok when im in the market i'll bear that in mind. thanks

rjsterry

Greg66 wrote:

My Rudy Projects have a prescription insert. I've had prescription sunnies in the past and prefer the insert for cycling. It allows me to change the lens (yellow is great for winter nights but less good for summer days) without losing the benefit of the insert.

I picked the RPs up on ebay and then sourced the insert by mail order. Pretty easy. Just don't expect perfect optical uniformity from a curved prescription lens ordered over the internet. It's plenty good enough for riding though.

PS: Hahaha! Specky foureyes!

Etc.

Thanks all. I tend to use different coloured lenses as well, so another reason for inserts as opposed to directly glazed. The optician suggested contacts: not given it too much thought yet, but I'm not at all good with things close to my eyes - and I think the chances of me forgetting that the thing is in there (would only need it in one eye) is quite high. Agree with the principle of not cutting corners on being able to see, but need to try and strike a balance.

Specky foureyes? Pfft. That's Mr Wavey-eyes to you, not to mention a slight squint in the right eye.

greg66_tri_v2.0

rjsterry wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

My Rudy Projects have a prescription insert. I've had prescription sunnies in the past and prefer the insert for cycling. It allows me to change the lens (yellow is great for winter nights but less good for summer days) without losing the benefit of the insert.

I picked the RPs up on ebay and then sourced the insert by mail order. Pretty easy. Just don't expect perfect optical uniformity from a curved prescription lens ordered over the internet. It's plenty good enough for riding though.

PS: Hahaha! Specky foureyes!

Etc.

Thanks all. I tend to use different coloured lenses as well, so another reason for inserts as opposed to directly glazed. The optician suggested contacts: not given it too much thought yet, but I'm not at all good with things close to my eyes - and I think the chances of me forgetting that the thing is in there (would only need it in one eye) is quite high. Agree with the principle of not cutting corners on being able to see, but need to try and strike a balance.

Specky foureyes? Pfft. That's Mr Wavey-eyes to you, not to mention a slight squint in the right eye.

I will add this about contacts: I wore them for a short period. I was told by all and sundry "Wow. I love my contacts. I can't feel them at all. I forget I'm wearing them".

Well. I could feel them most minutes of every day. I had trouble getting them in, and I had trouble getting them out. I have since discovered that I have quite dry eyes and am not much of a blinker. So the lenses would run dry, and feel crap... you get the picture.

Plus I had to keep repositioning them with my finger, although that was something specific to my prescription (astigmatism).

sketchley

I have astigmatism bad, and bad shirt sight as well. I wear PureVision Toric contact lenses. Cost me £75 every 6 months. Great thing about apart from being very comfortable is that they are continuous wear. Pop a pair in at beginning or month and forget about them till the end, at which point he day and night with them out then new pair in. Brilliant product.

rjsterry

The more I think of it, the more contacts seem not to be the answer - Mrs RJS's reaction to the suggestion was something along the lines of "but you can't even use an eye bath without a huge fuss. How are you even going to get the lenses in?"

On the reasonably-priced-glasses-with-inserts front, I'm currently looking at 720 Armour and Tifosi. Rudy Projects and Oakleys look great, but they're still a bit out of budget for me. Looked at Optilabs, but all their stuff seems to have full frames, and I prefer a half-frame style for cycling - I find the outer frame really distracts my peripheral vision.

davis

What is your budget, anyway?

Whatever you end up with, you're probably going to have to take more care with them than you do currently!

optimisticbiker

Mine are Salice 826... Italian styling and half the price of Oakleys or Rudy's with the inserts. Have the larger insert as well so can take bifocals, which is what I have.

Also on ebay even cheaper here

Ooohh... turns out that that place is an opticians only a mile from where I live! At that price I might get another unglazed set as a spare while the price is low...

rjsterry

davis wrote:

What is your budget, anyway?

Whatever you end up with, you're probably going to have to take more care with them than you do currently!

The more expensive 720 Armours are available for £63 from CRC, plus the Rx inserts on top; this is about as high as I'd want to go. What isn't clear from the CRC website is which ones come with outer lens options for summer/winter/low-light riding.

Yes, I'll have to be more careful.

NGale

No matter how much I try I can't get used to contact lenses. a bugger to put in a bigger bugger to take out, when I do get them in I can feel them all day (even eye drops don't make them any more comfortable), any lights on indoors means I get 'flaring' and there's no chance of being able to wear them at night with street lighting!

I have 'weird' eyes. I was born with a squint in my right eye which wasn't corrected until I was 4 years old and even then they cocked up the operation (which I didn't find out about until I was 27 years old at my RAF medical!) which means I am one step off being classified as partially sighted in that eye. Essentially I can't 'see' out of my right eye, just be able to form outlines and see colour and add depth to the sight in my left eye. My left eye is my 'good eye' and as my optician put it 'Your left eye is good, your left eye has the sight of a Harrier pilot...unfortunately your right eye has the sight of a blind geriatric!'

I have never found a pair of prescription sunglasses that are a real 'do it all for me', so there has never been anything that encompasses Leisure, cycling, kayaking and fieldcraft

squeeler

I got some rudy project ones a couple of years ago: i'm about a -4.75 prescription. I wouldn't recommend them, in comparison with "normal" lenses on my everyday glasses they have to be incredibly thick to cope with the curve of the wraparound shape. I actually feel so self-concious about the goggle effect I don't wear them, if you saw me it would confirm that I'm not a vain person but they were too horrible for me.
Instead I just got a pair of prescription specs with darkened lenses from my optician that looked a bit more sporty than my normal specs and put the waste of £220 down to experience. Good luck with your search.

rjsterry

Well, my new non-cycling have arrived, and they are taking some getting used to: my brain is still fighting it a bit. Wanted to try them out on the bike before investing in some cycling specific ones, so wore them today for the commute and the improvement was quite noticeable this evening... which is a little worrying. I do definitely need the wraparound lenses of cycling glasses as the eyes were watering somewhat by the time I got home, but think I'll be OK with inserts rather than full prescription lenses.

StorckSpeed

I didn't know there was an issue with the strength of the Presciption.
I bought the Rx inserts and sent a copy of my prescription to the company concerned (along with some details about my current specs, ie details found on side of frame legs eg. 53-17-140) and recieved the inserts 3 days later. This was 2 years ago and I can't remember who I bought them from but they cost about £50.

alanjay

Another one here who can never get used to contact lenses. Tried many different shades - by far the best I've come up with are the Spiuk Torsion with the prescription inserts. You just take them to local opticians for lenses and job done - really have made a big difference to me!

richVSrich

just ordered some off planet x - the apache: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CLP ... ng_glasses

26.50 with their added discount today...hopefully getting the rx's done up is simple and not too expensive - it's been an expensive day ....

rjsterry

richVSrich wrote:

just ordered some off planet x - the apache: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CLP ... ng_glasses

26.50 with their added discount today...hopefully getting the rx's done up is simple and not too expensive - it's been an expensive day ....

Hmmm, interesting. Let us know how you get on with these.

richVSrich

rjsterry wrote:

richVSrich wrote:

just ordered some off planet x - the apache: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CLP ... ng_glasses

26.50 with their added discount today...hopefully getting the rx's done up is simple and not too expensive - it's been an expensive day ....

Hmmm, interesting. Let us know how you get on with these.

sure thing, cant wait for them to arrive

rjsterry

richVSrich wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

richVSrich wrote:

just ordered some off planet x - the apache: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CLP ... ng_glasses

26.50 with their added discount today...hopefully getting the rx's done up is simple and not too expensive - it's been an expensive day ....

Hmmm, interesting. Let us know how you get on with these.

sure thing, cant wait for them to arrive

Gah! Back up to full price. That'll teach me to dither.

richVSrich

rjsterry wrote:

richVSrich wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

richVSrich wrote:

just ordered some off planet x - the apache: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CLP ... ng_glasses

26.50 with their added discount today...hopefully getting the rx's done up is simple and not too expensive - it's been an expensive day ....

Hmmm, interesting. Let us know how you get on with these.

sure thing, cant wait for them to arrive

Gah! Back up to full price. That'll teach me to dither.

yeah i've learnt that lesson before :P

so anyway, they arrived!! they are pimpin'! it was the white frame with the red mirrored lenses (but they shift colours...) and a plain tinted lens and clear lens...took the rx adaptor into my opticians on the weekend to get the frames done up...cant wait

the "case" it comes in is massive, very protective though...

havent figured out how to change the lenses yet, and getting the rx adaptor off was quite fiddly...thought i was going to break the damn thing...

oh and they are slightly too big for my face , but wearing a helmet hides that fact...

rjsterry

richVSrich wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

richVSrich wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

richVSrich wrote:

just ordered some off planet x - the apache: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CLP ... ng_glasses

26.50 with their added discount today...hopefully getting the rx's done up is simple and not too expensive - it's been an expensive day ....

Hmmm, interesting. Let us know how you get on with these.

sure thing, cant wait for them to arrive

Gah! Back up to full price. That'll teach me to dither.

yeah i've learnt that lesson before :P

so anyway, they arrived!! they are pimpin'! it was the white frame with the red mirrored lenses (but they shift colours...) and a plain tinted lens and clear lens...took the rx adaptor into my opticians on the weekend to get the frames done up...cant wait

the "case" it comes in is massive, very protective though...

havent figured out how to change the lenses yet, and getting the rx adaptor off was quite fiddly...thought i was going to break the damn thing...

oh and they are slightly too big for my face , but wearing a helmet hides that fact...

Sounds good. TBH, £53 is still not bad for some half decent glasses, but would have liked to have saved the £23. I trust the build quality is up to scratch.

richVSrich

£53?...is that how much they are now? hmm

well its costing me almost £40 to get the rx made up..so im glad ive saved the 26.50

i know chain reactions have some 720 armour glasses that i had looked at previously

build quality seems fine, very light, and i put them on and shook my head about to check for tightness and they stayed in place (i plan on running with them too)

rjsterry

richVSrich wrote:

£53?...is that how much they are now? hmm

well its costing me almost £40 to get the rx made up..so im glad ive saved the 26.50

i know chain reactions have some 720 armour glasses that i had looked at previously

build quality seems fine, very light, and i put them on and shook my head about to check for tightness and they stayed in place (i plan on running with them too)

The 720 Armour RX options are around the same price - one cheaper but looks cheaper and flimsier, one more expensive. I've also found the Tifosi Roubaix at just under £50, which seem to be fairly widely available, but the insert frame is an extra £12.50. May just go with the Power Race anyway.

richVSrich

i guess even at £53 they are still a good deal , it comes with 2 extra lens and the rx frame..some others are a lot more

it was just that £26.50 they were a no brainer to buy...and now with the lighter mornings and evenings i cant wait to have them on

on weekend rides i was using contact lenses and cheap "safety" style glasses which actually were very decent...its just that my eyes still dry out with contacts in...

if you sign up to planet x, they will send you their special deals via email.. its turning in to quite a temptation though!!! :P

EKE_38BPM

Bump!

Mrs EKE needs some prescription sunglasses to cycle in. It looks like she would prefer non-insert glasses, so what is the general consensus?

richVSrich

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Bump!

Mrs EKE needs some prescription sunglasses to cycle in. It looks like she would prefer non-insert glasses, so what is the general consensus?

specsavers? - should have gone there.

(if you just want normal / tinted glasses then thats fine - i've been doing that while i sort out my proper ones)