Do you wear cycling glasses?

turbo1191

+1 for bolle safety glasses.. got clear ones for typical british weather and tinted for the sun..

TakeTurns

I've owned £40 sunglasses from Endura. After about 14 months, the lenses aren't as clear and the frame is losing its stiffness. So I'm looking for a new pair.

Oakley do make decent kit. It still doesn't justify the price of some of their items though. They also make bad kit. I've tried the Jawbones, IMO they're awful. Lenses fog up quickly and the frame blocks your peripheral vision.

Having said that, I will be getting the Oakley Radar, with the price being a little under 3 figures, it's reasonable.

Southbound

+1 for the Decathlon triple/double lens options. Bought the doubles recently and they are a perfect budget pair that cover all conditions. Do steam up quite easily at times though.

As for Oakleys I would agree on the clarity issue, I've owned a couple of pairs over the years and have never found any others as well designed for adventure/outdoor sports. Saying that, I'm the clutz who dropped one pair to the bottom of a lake and left another pair on the balcony table in a storm... I've banned myself from buying another pair :oops:

Bwgan

Wish I had anything on today as my mates back wheel was kicking up a lot of spray, and going past farm entrances where you could see animal muck on the road doesn't bare thinking about

QuarterPounder

These are the glasses I use. Free supply from work and the tinted ones will come in handy in the summer. Also use them for driving in summer (the tinted ones!)

nawty

As a beginner I've always worn sunglasses as it seems sensible, today though was the first time I didn't as along the cold and foggy roads of the New Forest they were too dark and were misting up.

I usually wear Oakleys (full jacket in this case, which I use for running) as in my experience (and I've had a lot of sunglasses) they have really good optics, overpriced? probably but the performance is top notch. I've had several pairs of Sunwise glasses too and whilst not as good optically as the Oakleys they are otherwise similar and they are cheap, have changeable lenses and are robust.

I'm going to get another pair of Sunwise for cycling as the changeable lenses are so useful (I just lost the last ones in a house move) and would have been great for today.

stinger53

i always wear cycling glasses. i have a set that you change the lenses. mine has 5 lenses black, clear, yellow, blue, and orange which were £10 and i think they are great. friends have had oakley ones which have last half as long. mine are still going strong after about 3 years. (there pro-lite)

Camus

Have a pair of Bolle Vortex, really nice optics with good looks to boot, interchangeable lenses, lightweight. If I don't wear them when riding I look like I've been traumatised by the time I get in. Plus there is the issue of eye safety, don't want to end up with a glass eye!

Cf. Rule #39

Mikey41

I'm getting some Tifosi Roubaix glasses with the prescription insert, I've been told they are good, we shall see

Should cost me about £100 or so including having the prescription lenses fitted.

p1tse

My local bike shop although a chain , cycle surgery looking online to see what they have.
Anyone have experience with endura, tifosi, Madison? As they have a good selection at reasonable prices

ben@31

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LittlePlums

p1tse wrote:

My local bike shop although a chain , cycle surgery looking online to see what they have.
Anyone have experience with endura, tifosi, Madison? As they have a good selection at reasonable prices

I have a pair of Tifosi's with the triple lenses and would thoroughly recommend them. They do have a strange optical effect that make you feel taller/riding higher, but you get used to it within minutes and it really is no biggy - in fact, I quite like it.

schlepcycling

Another Oakley wearer here, Straight Jackets with prescription Transition lenses

djhermer

Ah...i was about to ask if anyone wore the Transition lenses from Oakley. Been tempted to treat myself and prove that i definitely have more money than sense. Although when it comes to cycle related purchases, sense is not always highest on the agenda.

Schelpcycling - how do you find the Transitions? I'm not interested in whether they're value for money or not, but whether they work and in what sort of brightness levels are the fully darkened? Can you use them as your main eyewear all year round? HAve you tried in sunnier climates?

Revdarny

I don't wear prescription glasses when cycling but I would advise wearing some sort of eye protection. I come from a background of mountain biking where grit and mud can get thrown in you face quite often. It never really bothered me until I one of my eyes was very painful in the morning. I'd wake in the morning in so much pain until half way through the day. Long story short, I had corneal erosion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurrent_corneal_erosion which would of been caused by damage to my eye at some point, probably through something hitting my eye but i'll never know for certain.

These days I always wear some glasses even if they're clear just to protect my eyes even when road cycling. It's not something i'd ever want again.

p1tse

Has anyone seen a set which has yellow/ blue/ tints as the lens choice?

Bhoy1888

I have Raleigh glasses with interchangeable lenses (clear, yellow and dark). Christmas present that didn't cost the world but really worth it for me.

Cycling into the wind or coming down hills at speed it's preventing my eyes from streaming. More importantly there seems to be an awful lot of crap being kicked up recently by cars flying past. Rather they hit the glasses than my eye(s).

jameses

I wear contacts and had much the same problem with excessively watery eyes when riding. Cycling glasses really help, never ride without them now. I got a really cheap pair (£8 with 3 sets of interchangable lenses) from Lidl about a year ago which work fine for me, though would probably spend a bit more if they ever die.
It's worth going for at least a couple of different lenses - dark/tinted for sunny days, orange for dark and cloudy days. The receptors in your eyes respond much better to light at the red end of the spectrum, so even though orange lenses do cut out about 10% of the available light, everything appears much brighter. It seems to turn a cloudy day into a sunny one!

p1tse

4 interchangeable lenses here for £15!

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/sg-btwin-700 ... #avantages

marz

Smith Pivlock, great glasses with no rim that sit high on the nose. So far the only pair I've found that really works for riding low in a Tri position.



I do love Oakleys and pairs I've owned have lasted for years. I've always liked how they can stay put even when it gets rocky or windy.

ajhapps

I wear Rudy Project glasses with photochromatic lenses. A bit pricey, but I found them on sale a while back. They work great for riding, hiking, or anything else where you may be going from shade to sun over the course of the day.

jordan_217

djhermer wrote:

Ah...i was about to ask if anyone wore the Transition lenses from Oakley. Been tempted to treat myself and prove that i definitely have more money than sense. Although when it comes to cycle related purchases, sense is not always highest on the agenda.

Schelpcycling - how do you find the Transitions? I'm not interested in whether they're value for money or not, but whether they work and in what sort of brightness levels are the fully darkened? Can you use them as your main eyewear all year round? HAve you tried in sunnier climates?

Sorry to hijack this one. I've been using Transitions prescription lenses (but in Rudy Project frames) for the last six months. I have the clear to brown tint as I was advised by my optician that the brown tint would give greater contrast and allow me to easily spot potholes and such in the road. She was right! (I also contacted RX sports for some advice, and they said the same thing. The bloke I spoke to was a cyclist, which helped)

I was a little worried that the lenses wouldn't be able to cope with sudden changes in light exposure, e.g; from open sunny/bright roads to a dark tree lined section and back again. I've not found this at all. I've worn the glasses for every ride in the last six months , in all weather and at various times of the day. The glasses (lenses) have performed flawlessly and I'm so glad I bought them. I also commute to/from work regularly and the lenses are perfectly fine when it's still dark too. IME yes, you could use a pair for all year round cycling.

The clarity of the lenses is also very impressive, they are noticeably better than the RX lenses I have in my everyday specs.

I would recommend visiting a local optician and trying out the various lenses. Vision Express had sample Transistion lenses in each colour and let me go outside to see which one I preferred. I found that the darkest black tints would of been too dark, even on the brightest days.

HTH.

jockywilson

I bought a pair of Oakley Crosslink prescription glasses with grey transition lenses about three months ago for my day-to-day glasses and although they're not specifically for cycling the fit's very good for on the bike (sits quite high on the face so when you're hunched over the handlebars you're not peering over the frames, and also very secure fit at the temples).

They've been great this winter when it's been bright sunlight during the morning commute and dark for the return journey. The transition lenses don't go completely dark but it doesn't take much sunlight for the lenses to darken. It's very subtle too, to the extent that I'm usually not aware that the lenses have changed from clear to dark (and back again).

schlepcycling

jordan_217 wrote:

djhermer wrote:

Ah...i was about to ask if anyone wore the Transition lenses from Oakley. Been tempted to treat myself and prove that i definitely have more money than sense. Although when it comes to cycle related purchases, sense is not always highest on the agenda.

Schelpcycling - how do you find the Transitions? I'm not interested in whether they're value for money or not, but whether they work and in what sort of brightness levels are the fully darkened? Can you use them as your main eyewear all year round? HAve you tried in sunnier climates?

Sorry to hijack this one. I've been using Transitions prescription lenses (but in Rudy Project frames) for the last six months. I have the clear to brown tint as I was advised by my optician that the brown tint would give greater contrast and allow me to easily spot potholes and such in the road. She was right! (I also contacted RX sports for some advice, and they said the same thing. The bloke I spoke to was a cyclist, which helped)

I was a little worried that the lenses wouldn't be able to cope with sudden changes in light exposure, e.g; from open sunny/bright roads to a dark tree lined section and back again. I've not found this at all. I've worn the glasses for every ride in the last six months , in all weather and at various times of the day. The glasses (lenses) have performed flawlessly and I'm so glad I bought them. I also commute to/from work regularly and the lenses are perfectly fine when it's still dark too. IME yes, you could use a pair for all year round cycling.

The clarity of the lenses is also very impressive, they are noticeably better than the RX lenses I have in my everyday specs.

I would recommend visiting a local optician and trying out the various lenses. Vision Express had sample Transistion lenses in each colour and let me go outside to see which one I preferred. I found that the darkest black tints would have been too dark, even on the brightest days.

HTH.

+1

Have to agree with everything said about the Transitions lenses. I had mine retrofitted to my Oakleys, mine are the grey tint and as said above they've worked flawlessly ever since. I use my Oakleys for both on and off road riding and like Jordan_217 was worried how they would cope with the sudden light changes when offroad but they been excellent. Also I've used them in much sunnier climes in both South Africa and Australia and again they've worked flawlessly, so well in fact that when I replaced my every day prescription glass I had the same Transitions lenses fitted and so to answer your question, Yes, you can use them all year round.

Bustacapp

no.

ai_1

I wouldn't cycle without eye protection. Wind will start making your eyes water once you get up a bit of speed, especially on fast descents and can really reduce your vision. Also most of us spend a lot of time being overtaken by cars. It would only take one stone kicked up by a passing car to do some real damage to an eye. It's not terribly likely but if you're out there on your bike every day the chances of it happening at some time in your cycling life are worth considering. A more common occurance is getting an insect in the eye. Unpleasant at low speed but I'm guessing a bumble bee at 80km/h could be painful and might even do some damage. I regularly see or hear insects hitting my glasses and without them a fair number would undoubtedly end up in my eyes.

I wear clear glasses most of the time, dark tinted lenses on sunny days and either clear or amber lenses cycling at night. The amber seems to do a good job filtering out headlight glare.

If you don't need prescription lenses and aren't too bothered about appearances you could just pick up a cheap pair of safety glasses (a lot of these are now available in a wrap-around style similar to typical cycling glasses).

cyclingsheep

ajhapps wrote:

I wear Rudy Project glasses with photochromatic lenses. A bit pricey, but I found them on sale a while back. They work great for riding, hiking, or anything else where you may be going from shade to sun over the course of the day.

+1

I love mine. I used to race mtbs cross country and found I used to overheat in glasses but 20yrs later when I took up road riding I wore them from the start and seem to have adjusted to them. I have the clear to tinted lens and haven't had a day they couldn't cope with. Only issue I have with any glasses is rain, the just don't clear and especially on club runs in the wet I find them a hindrance.

msawyer110

I wear Oakley fastjackets. I have the clear lenses in my pack under my seat for quick changes. Love them

ilm_zero7

always try to - the sun is so powerful, and at night clear lenses protect your eyes from stuff getting thrown up off the road

Pross

QuarterPounder wrote:

These are the glasses I use. Free supply from work and the tinted ones will come in handy in the summer. Also use them for driving in summer (the tinted ones!)

I use the clear version of those on dull days (same reason - free work safety kit!). I don't find them very comfortable to be honest but they do the job. On sunny days I wear my fixed lens Oakleys (present a good few years back and I think they were about £100), they also get used as my general sunglasses. The Oakleys are better by a mile (whether they are worth the massive price difference is another matter and a personal choice). You can argue cheaper glasses do the same job and it is true to an extent although the quality isn't anywhere near as good in my experience. What used to make Oakley worth the extra was the lifetime warranty. I benefitted from this with a new frame for mine even though the originals were broken by my own clumsiness (sat on them!). However, this appears to no longer exist and therefore in my opinion, despite the vastly superior quality over cheap glasses, Oakleys are now over-priced and I wouldn't buy myself another pair.