Prescription Glasses V Contact Lenses

Schellpel

I am looking at getting new eye wear. At the moment I have a pair of Oakley's with prescription lenses which are fine out in the sun but a bit dark in the woods or in our British weather. The price of another set of lenses for the Oakleys is a little :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: so I have been looking at cheaper alternatives. I would really like a set if light reactive lenses.

It seems I have two choices

1)Glasses with an insert

2)Contact lenses + which ever glasses I like.

Now I have never tried contacts but I was thinking of using disposable ones as they will only be used for the bike trips. But how do contacts and MTB get along ? what experiences have people had ?

Any insert glasses that work well ?

bazza333

I use disposable contacts (strictly speaking just one currently) and never had an issue while on a bike from dirt etc. I do wear glasses that wraparound as I found the wind could cause the eye/lens to dry out but other than that no complaints.
I can also recommend complete lens replacement but I'm guessing you don't want to go down that route!

Schellpel

bazza333 wrote:

I can also recommend complete lens replacement but I'm guessing you don't want to go down that route!

Lol yes, a new set of prescription lenses for the my Flak Jackets start at £220 for clear and top out at £270 for reactions :roll:

I have about £80 to spend

trooperk

Just pop in your local optician and pay for contact lens eye test and you normally get a free pair to try and see how you get on,you wont look back.

simonh49

Contact lenses for me too. Never had any issues but usually wear wrap arounds as find wind can dry the eyes.

Angus Young

Very much depends if you get on with contacts (I'm assuming from your post that you've not tried them before). Some people can just throw them in and off they go. I was not so lucky. I didn't get on with them until I discovered 1 Day Acuvue Moist. Almost gave up on contacts before I tried those. They suit me fine, though, and I actually forget I've got them in. I use them for MTBing, climbing, paragliding and, although you're not supposed to, diving.

If you can get on with them, contacts are the way to go.

monkimark

Contact lenses every time. If the sun goes in or the woods turn a bit dark, take off your sunglasses and you can still see.

JackPozzi

I've been wearing contact for 20 year now and they are generally fine for all types of cycling. I use monthly disposables, did briefly try dailies in the past for the convenience but they never seemed as comfortable...

And when you first use them it can take a while to get used to poking a foreign object in your eye but after a while it becomes 2nd nature.

bartimaeus

+1 Acuvue Moist daily disposable... and then some sort of glasses over the top - clear, sunnies, whatever you want. I've been using these for many, many years now.

lbalony

I wear bloc wrap arounds, came with 3 lenses and an insert. I sent the insert to regalze my glasses and cost £20.00, whole lot cost me £60 quid. Sonetimes I do wonder about buying sone oakleys or something and getting contacts as I look like one of the xmen with the inserts in a wrap around. Generally really good and can change the lense with out losing the prescription side.

bazza333

I use Bolle's from Screwfix or eBay.....usually about £8 and they can withstand stones etc. I would never pay Oakley prices as they only end up getting lost/broken or stolen.
Acuvue's for me too, after the initial shock you don't even know they are in there. In fact I have forgotten to take them out sometimes.

risky

I used to wear contacts. Gave up as they never gave me as good vision as my glasses, although this could have been remedied if I'd bought far more expensive contact lenses.

Luckily I require safety glasses for my work, which means I've ended up with a spare pair. They aren't tinted but that's never really caused a problem unless I was riding in very bright sunlight, which is almost never in Scotland.

As others have pointed out, if you get on alright with contacts they probably work out far cheaper in overall cost vs. prescription glasses, and there is far more flexibility in terms of lenses/tints etc. at a lower cost too.

mattham

Schellpel wrote:

Lol yes, a new set of prescription lenses for the my Flak Jackets start at £220 for clear and top out at £270 for reactions :roll:

I have about £80 to spend

You can get Oakley lenses for Flak Jackets a bit cheaper than that at rxsprt:

http://www.rxsport.co.uk/products/Oakle ... at%29.html

This is £220 for black iridium transitions. Its more than you wanted to pay of course though.....

I've used rxsport for about 5 years, they are genuinely excellent. I get both my Flak Jackets with Oakley lenses sunglasses and my everyday Oakley glasses with Essilor lenses with transition and Crizal Forte treatment from them and they have been first class every time.

For about £80 though I've seen good reports of these with an insert:

http://www.rapideyewear.co.uk/product.p ... sunglasses

The only thing I would say about transitions for riding is that in my experience they don't go dark enough in bright sunshine, and don't go light enough quickly enough when you bomb into a forest. That isn't with Oakley lenses though, so maybe they react more quickly.

Matt

stubs

Bartimaeus wrote:

+1 Acuvue Moist daily disposable... and then some sort of glasses over the top - clear, sunnies, whatever you want.

Accuvue moist are brilliant soooo comfy.

I messed about for years with prescription sunnies (expensive and one scratch and they are knackered) Inserts (narrow field of view and when they steam up they stay steamed) and my normal precsription sunglasses (uncomfortable, expensive and make your eyes stream when your going quick). I finally took the plunge with contacts and wondered why I waited so long.

swod1

i've worn contacts for years too but while out riding i've had a lense dry up and fall out but this was on way to work and i had spares in work though.

Make sure you wear some wrap around glasses as i've had issues with glasses still letting wind through and a lense dry up.

but do give them a try and see how you get on, it is a bit weird at first, you can usually get a free month trial and the opticians will say if your not suitable to wear them.

Qui3tman

I'm about to have my "teach you to put them in session" on Wednesday. Apparently I've been told that they won't ever be as good as my glasses are because they simply don't make contact lenses in the exact prescription I need. I'm hoping they'll be good enough.

To be honest I can get away with not wearing them but it makes life so much easier when you can tell if something is a root or a shadow before it's more than 4 feet ahead of you!

bazza333

I've always been told your vision will be better because the lens is closer to the eye.

Angus Young

bazza333 wrote:

I've always been told your vision will be better because the lens is closer to the eye.

You've been lied to.

Thewaylander

Contacts all the way!

Also it helps with a wider field of vision.

monkimark

Yeah, check your actual prescription from the optician and then check the numbers on the box of your contact lenses - they won't quite match up, you just get the nearest available strength/orientation.

Personally, I've never noticed the difference between my glasses & my contacts in the real world and not having frames etc top contend with makes a bigger difference.

Angus Young wrote:

bazza333 wrote:

I've always been told your vision will be better because the lens is closer to the eye.

You've been lied to.

oldbazza

I've been using contacts on the road bike since March and I've now getting used to them,at first it was a pain getting them in but it's reasonably straightforward now.I've got different strengths in each eye as I usually wear varifocals and the optometrist at Cambridge Vision Express was really good in getting the combination right for distance and being able to check the Garmin;i wouldn't wear them for too long off the bike and I don't always bother for some commutes but it's certainly better on long rides.

Schellpel

Thanks for the replies,

I have booked an appointment with the optician and am going to see if I get on with them.

Thanks for the link for the slightly cheaper Oakleys. The ones I have ATM are better than my prescription glasses. I have a pair of rapid eye wear glasses for flying my model planes (non prescription) and I have gone through 3 frames as they don't fit me that well, the pit fall of buying online.

I shall report back how I get on :-)

Angus Young

For most any difference that there is will be marginal. For me the only issue is, being short sighted means that the lenses are no good for close up stuff. Of course, that's not a problem on the bike.

stubs

I have astigmatism in both eyes which means I have to use specialist and expensive contacts which unfortunately cant be bought cheap off the web. The long vision is perfect but the optician had to compromise with close up vision which means I need quite long arms to use my mobile.

Always carry a small bottle of eye drops a dry windy day can dry out the lense and make it uncomfortable and difficult to remove, put a couple of drops in leave for a minute and the lense will float off a lot easier.

Persevere with them it takes a couple of weeks to get the technique right I found a vid on youtube that was helpful but there are lots of techniques one of them will suit you.

risky

In my case the difference comes from daily disposable contact lenses not being able to correct my astigmatism. If I wanted to pay £££ then there are contacts that will do it. My vision is good enough with the daily disposables but I'm too use to the vision I get with my glasses.

sabretalon

I pay just over £300 for my lenses and the treatments. But they are variable focus (not with the line through as in bifocal)

So I have never been sure if contacts would work for me or not. I don't fancy paying for contacts just for the bike and then having to pay out for decent lenses when needed as well. If it was one or the other then it would not be an issue.

Looking via the top of my glasses, I view the tv ok. Then, looking at close up items, books, I look via the bottom of the lens and that works well for that, the middle of the lens is for arms length. I don't want the hassle of cleaning contacts and I also suffer with hayfeaver so not sure they would settle well if my eyes itch just from hayfever?

Will probably go in and discuss with optician now though...

jonnyashworth

I vote for glasses! I find contacts a bit of a pain in the rse!
I bought a pair of Oakley jawbones with black iridium and yellow lenses for about £320 over 3 years ago and I wouldn't be without them! I look after them and they are still like new! I'm even considering investing in a pair of clear lenses so I can wear them at work as I'm a carpenter and they protect my eyes from flying debris far better than my normal specs! The downside is I will look a bit of a plonker but the upside is I wont have to remove sh1t from my eyes all the time!

YIMan

I wear my normal glasses a lot of the time road biking and mountain biking.

If it's particularly sunny I wear contacts with sunglasses. If it's wet/muddy I wear the biking glasses with the changeable lenses - clear, yellow etc.

Never saw the need for prescription sunglasses when contacts work so well with normal ones.

peat

+1 contacts & sunnies

I even wear contacts and clear cycling glasses if i'm going on a 'serious' ride. The wind whistles round the lenses of my normal glasses and makes my eyes water too much.

I have a mild astigmatism but dailies are fine. Vision is not quite as good as glasses but is more than adequate. Not enough choice with prescription sunglasses and very pricey.