Yellow Tinted Glasses for night riding, anyone do this?

cajun_cyclist

I've had these for goggles for years, they work pretty well but I get conflicting info as to whether they are for night riding. Of course, many ski goggles are yellow tinted. I always thought that was mainly for all the snow that can be so bright.

Anyone else try them? I'm not exactly talking about those "amber" sunglasses that they sell though those could have similarities, I think that is mainly to keep the blue out.

Thank you for your answers.

Adding in, found this:

According to several sources, yellow-tinted lenses do not filter out enough light to be effective against headlight glare. UV protection claims are not valid for night-time driving, as the absence of sunlight means that there is no UV light to filter out. Similarly, polarized lenses are not advantageous at night, as night-time glare is not polarized like daytime, sunlight glare.

http://sunglasses.lovetoknow.com/Night_Sunglasses

So, I bought these about 6 years ago, they are real wrap around goggles with an elastic band but I probably should have gotten clear ones. They have good vision and are good against the wind.

Mr Plum

I always thought they were for daytime but were meant to bring out more definition so objects/the road are clearer.

TommyEss

On the snow they're great for giving contrast and definition to bumps in the snow in flat light, e.g. cloudy, overcast days, but at night that's null and void. I remember reading something on the Oakley website about light transmission, so their darkest tint allows about 5-10% of the light through, their clear lenses obviously let it all in. If I remember right, their lightest yellowy tint was around 95% transmission, so not too awful. I guess if you're riding in built up areas with street lights you're not really going to be hindered - if you're on unlit roads or trails seeing with your bike lights only, I'd be going clear all the way.

davis

Rode home in my yellow lenses tonight 'cos I couldn't be arsed to change them. Tonight's the first night I've done 'cos I generally ride on unlit roads and I need all the light I can get.

They are of absolutely no benefit whatsoever over clear lenses for night riding. They don't improve contrast noticeably, nor do they have a magic effect on car headlights.
They are wonderful things in daylight though; I find they confer a preternatural ability to spot diesel, and they improve contrast quite a bit, which makes it easier to spot lumpy bits.

{edit} Why on earth are you talking about "keeping the blue out"? You mean ultraviolet, right? There's not much about at night...

DrKJM

davis wrote:

{edit} Why on earth are you talking about "keeping the blue out"? You mean ultraviolet, right? There's not much about at night...

No, blue. If i remember correctly blue light is harder for the eye to focus. Taking it out (allowing everything but the blue through, which is what a yellow filter does) increases contrast. B&W photographers, back when cameras had film in, used them all the time. (Photographers using B&W film that is, not monochrome people. I'm not aware of an army of John Major clones with cameras)

bompington

TommyEss wrote:

On the snow they're great for giving contrast and definition to bumps in the snow in flat light, e.g. cloudy, overcast days, but at night that's null and void.

Personally I've never tried skiing in the dark so I wouldn't know :-)

cajun_cyclist

bompington wrote:

TommyEss wrote:

On the snow they're great for giving contrast and definition to bumps in the snow in flat light, e.g. cloudy, overcast days, but at night that's null and void.

Personally I've never tried skiing in the dark so I wouldn't know :-)

But actually, this is part of the situation. I guess unless it is totally pitch dark, snow absorbs light, reflects it or however that works and allows one to see at night if you live somewhere with a lot of snow so it really is not that dark at night. So actually, it does come down to what would one mean "skiing in the dark", we all know how we can see a totally snow covered hill in the dark. I was thinking about this issue last night. Winter has the late sunrises and early sunsets so most cyclists will ride more in the dark in the Winter vs. the Summer if they ride all year. Stating the obvious but I think that is part of the reason that every winter I do get these yellow tinted goggles out.

So, right, we might not ski in the dark but we were talking about cycling in the dark and the snow in a sense illuminating the surroundings. And of course, you could cross-country ski in the dark. Going on here, this winter has not had as much snow but the glasses have still been helpful.

davmaggs

I ride all the time with yellow lenses in winter. With the weather changing all the time I don't want to be switching between clear lenses and tinted ones, so I just leave the yellow ones in. And, they do take the edge off headlight glare at night (for me) without hindering what I can see, and take the edge off when the sun sits low.

In terms of the 'blue' discussion above. They do filter out shades of blue, so on overcast days things appear sunnier when using yellow lenses and as dusk comes you can see a little better.

TommyEss

When we were making our way down the final few hundred drunken meters after the apres ski in Skt. Anton, I was snowboarding in the dark with persimmon lenses. I crashed. A lot*.

Back on track - I think for town centre riding with street lights, you won't really notice the difference. For unlit night riding, I'd go clear - I don't see how yellow would give much of an advantage over clear in these light conditions, but I can't see it being that much worse either.

In other words, if you've already got yellow, keep using them.


*I'm not sure the crashing had all that much to do with the lenses if I'm being totally honest - but it was pretty dark, and the next night I tried it without goggles, but it was -25 before windchill and I had to shut my eyes, which was darker than the goggles.

bompington

TommyEss wrote:

I was snowboarding in the dark with persimmon lenses

I prefer the pomegranate and pear myself

TommyEss

Very tricky to slice pomegranate thin enough to make effective lenses...!

rideslikeagirl

Up until a couple of weeks ago i used them for riding in the dark and definitely found they took the edge off those really stupidly bright car headlights that flash idiots in audis etc have... And meant i could actually see in front of me instead of being blinded by glare... Not sure if they make any difference on contrast although i did see the massive sheet of black ice that threw me off on a downhill. The glasses were one of the casualties of the crash though... Eye protection and helmets are a good good thing..!

mercedism

cajun_cyclist

Thanks for the answers all. That was my aim, to get some feedback on the use of such tinted lenses.

Also as for the "UV" vs. Blue arguement, I think if one even looks up "blueblockers", that is even the name of a brand of amber coloured lenses. I have some ski goggles, the big kind and those are probably proper, I guess for extreme cold I might use them. Saw an owl flying through the trees the other night above the street, I was able to see that clearly with the yellow tints the other night.



Mine are something like this, I take persimmon means a sort of rose colour, my ski goggles are really orange more than anything. Hope the image shows up.