Eye protection ?

GeorgeCCole

Hi guys,

I have recently started cycling and is all fun and games but going fast, without proper eye protection can be quite annoying (at least I found it so). Now, since I wear prescription glasses all the time, I thought the wind, rain and so on, will be blocked, but it doesn't really work as planned.. So what options do I have for this matter ? Not going to get myself a pair of sky goggles by the way


Any advice ?

THANKS !

the_cyclist_of_catan

Prescription cycling glasses (from somewhere like Optilabs). I've stopped endless numbers of flies (and one stone) with mine, so even if I didn't need to wear prescription lenses I'd still wear some eye protection.

GeorgeCCole

The Cyclist of Catan wrote:

Prescription cycling glasses (from somewhere like Optilabs). I've stopped endless numbers of flies (and one stone) with mine, so even if I didn't need to wear prescription lenses I'd still wear some eye protection.

Thanks for that, will be looking into it.

lincolndave

I have bought these. 5 different lenses and I must admit very good value for money, I saw the advert in cycling weekly,
http://www.cyclingspectacles.com

motogull

I need bins to drive/wear full time and different ones to read with but am fine on the bike. I bought a safety pair with a wrap around style thinking they'd be god for stones.

peat

I have some Puma glasses with a prescription insert, bought from Specsavers.

I think there are probably alot better options out there though. The insert is shaped in a way that it messes with my depth perception. It's alright for solo road rides, but useless in a group or off-roading.

paul_onabike

Beware of glasses with inserts. I bought a pair as I thought it was a good idea - turned out they were worse than useless as when riding my bike. The angle that the inserts were positioned in the glasses gave a very distorted vision in anything other than a sat upright, straight forward viewing angle.

Matthewfalle

How about some contact lenses and then you wear normal sunnies/don't have all the glasses associated issues.

M.J.E

I normally wear glasses as I don't get on great with contacts all day every day. My eyes end up dry.

For a bike ride, I wear contacts and "normal" cycling glasses and have no issues as it's only for a few hours. I'd never wear no physical eye protection, even insects can feel like stones at 40mph and anything in the eye has the potential to cause a serious crash.

mercia_man

Thought I'd bump this thread as I've just bought a pair of Optilab Rascal direct glazed prescription cycling specs and am really impressed.

I have previously used Rudy Project Rydons very happily with a clip-on prescription insert. But the lenses were a bit scratched after years of use and one of the arms had gone floppy after constant bending to get them to fit with my Kask Mojito helmet - a fairly common problem due to the secure but bulky double-hinged cradle at the back of the head.

I had been put off buying Optilabs specs, despite glowing reviews, because of the frog-eyed goggle appearance of their designs. The Rascal is a new design and looks much more modern and stylish. The frames are matt black or white plastic with blue anti-slip detailing and lens choices include photochromic and mirror finish polarised. I went for black frames and blue mirror polarised. I paid £151 including postage for single vision prescription specs with a Cycling UK (CTC) 10 per cent discount - just use coupon code CUKMEM10 at checkout. I ordered online using my most recent prescription and phoning up Specsavers for my PD measurement - opticians are obliged to give you this figure. They arrived within seven working days (Optilabs quote 10 days) and you get a padded case, soft bag, lens wipe and elastic strap to hold glasses on the back of your head.

In use, the Rascals are a revelation. The shorter arms fit my Mojito helmet without interference and vision is pin sharp with no distortion - unlike the Rudy Projects which give a sort of "ghosting" effect due to looking through two lenses and distortion due to the curvature of insert and outer lens being different. The sharper vision is particularly noticeable when looking behind over my shoulder through the peripheral edge of the lens. The glasses fit closer to my face than the Rudy Projects and watering eyes are not a problem.

My new Optilabs specs are a significant improvement over my old Rudy Projects and considerably cheaper. The main disadvantage, for those who care about branding, is that they don't have the cachet of, say, Oakleys. That doesn't bother me. Overall, my new specs are among the best kit I've ever bought for cycling.

crescent

I got a pair of prescription UVEX safety glasses for work. They would not look out of place on a bike, although I use them for close work and reading so don't actually need them for riding. Top notch bit of kit though. For riding I use safety glasses from Screwfix. Just bought a pair of Bolles for about a tenner. I wouldn't buy anything very expensive as it I tend to drop them regularly.

vpnikolov

I wear contact lenses and have not bothered with prescription cycling glasses. It is much more flexible for glass lens changing, etc.

popularname

Have used Optilabs in the past and use contacts now. Optilabs were great but my only problem with them was that I often go out in the gloaming (dusk to you people down south...) and then if it gets dark you're a bit scr3w3d. Now use contacts plus normal sunnies for everything other than short rides and overall it's a more flexible option meaning I can change lenses according to conditions.

But all that said, Optilabs were great.

Tiesetrotter

If you just want to see your Garmin these are also on the bbargain end:

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/dual_bifoc ... sunglasses

I do quite a bit of fly fishing. So bifocals are a must (need to see to tie knots) along with polarised lenses. What I find when cycling is the polarised lenses help to some degree during those autumn and winter days when the sun is low and dazzling off the wet roads. Not tried chromatics, so no idea of the speed of colour change.

A few years back I used to get free top end sun glasses, Mau Jim, Oakleys etc. The lenses are no better for vision, they are better made and they scratch less. But as long as you don't go right down the bottom end of the market and realise that one careless drop will probably mean a new set you'll be fine.

bbrap

Paul Onabike wrote:

Beware of glasses with inserts. I bought a pair as I thought it was a good idea - turned out they were worse than useless as when riding my bike. The angle that the inserts were positioned in the glasses gave a very distorted vision in anything other than a sat upright, straight forward viewing angle.

Ditto: Inserts were a complete waste of time for me. My normal specs are varifocal, So I thought an insert with the long vision prescription would work OK, it didn't. Got a highstreet retailer to do me a set of varifocals in a wrap around style which work perfectly. They also moved the prescription so that when viewed at a slight angle (I also do not crank my head upright when cycling) everything is clear, looking down at the Garmin is also clear. Only drawback is price (bit over £250 if I remember correctly).