Persimmon or clear lens for night riding?

graeme_s-2
graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
edited August 2013 in Road buying advice
I've just recently bought the TdF centenary edition Oakley Radarlock XLs, which came with an iridium lens for bright sunshine and a less heavily tinted lens for less bright conditions. With my old M Frames I had an iridium lens and a clear lens which I used when it was overcast or at night.

I'm looking at buying a new lens for my radarlocks and I'm considering a persimmon lens instead of clear. Are these suitable for riding at night, or would I still need a clear lens for riding in the dark?

Comments

  • sharky1029
    sharky1029 Posts: 188
    Personally, I would say clear is for night use as you want as much light reaching your eyes as possible.
    That said, I suppose it could be alright at night so if you are definitely going to buy the persimmon lens then get it first and try it out at night and if it is too dark then buy a clear one.
    If you only want to buy one lens then try out the lenses on your old ones and test out the different combinations of conditions and lenses
  • I use persimmon for night riding on the road, it is ok but obviously does cut out some light and detail of the road ahead. What really hits me when i take them off is how white my front light is and i think i will be going clear or reactalight this winter, it seems daft that i am running a bright light to light the road then using coloured lenses to cut some of it back out.
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    Thanks both for your thoughts. I've had a proper look at the less tinted lens that I got with my Radarlocks now (I bought them just before I went on holiday for 2 weeks so only needed the iridium lens in the heat wave before my holiday - back to commuting to work tomorrow and it's going to rain). It's a rose tinted G40 that let's through 40% of light. The persimmon lens transmits 61% (for the clear it's 93% and my iridium lens is 15%).

    So I think the rose tinted G40 is probably a suitable alternative to a persimmon lens, and I'll get a clear lens nearer the autumn when I'll be riding at night more.