yellow/orange lenses = better visibility in low light?

pastryboy
pastryboy Posts: 1,385
edited November 2009 in Commuting chat
Currently wearing clear lenses. Have seen glasses saying that their coloured lenses improve visibility

Any truth to this - worth swapping the clear ones?

Comments

  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    I wear yellow in winter. Tonight it was raining, so (as I do in the rain) I took them off.

    Pretty obvious that yellow is better than nothing/colourless.

    Orange I tend to use in spring/summer. Too dark for winter.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
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  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    The theory is that you "trick" the eye into letting in more light by filtering out some colours you don't really need (at the edges of the visible spectrum) thereby letting in more light of the frequencies your eye is, in any case, more sensitive to (the yellows).

    I have no idea if it works or not, but I don't personally like using tints at night.
  • Jay dubbleU
    Jay dubbleU Posts: 3,159
    Yellow/orange will tend to increase the efficiency of yellow (sodium) street lights which operate on a very narrow band of the spectrum
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Oh, and first time you go out at night with yellow lenses, you'll think "WTF? Why am I riding around Paris all of a sudden?"

    Cars with yellow headlights takes some getting used to. Weird thing is, once you are used to it, ditcht the yellow and car headlights seem painfully white.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • hodsgod
    hodsgod Posts: 226
    I prefer to use the yellow lenses in dull light. I have no idea if it really does anything.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    real men prefer a blind fold
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    itboffin wrote:
    real men prefer a blind fold

    Around you, so do real women. The blow-up ones don't really care :wink:
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Greg66 wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    real men prefer a blind fold

    Around you, so do real women. The blow-up ones don't really care :wink:

    Weak old man weak, is that the best you can do? I realise it long past your bedtime, be sure now to take a comfort break before you hit the sack, after all getting up what 3-4 times a night must be taking its toll :twisted:

    ssssshhhhh! now or nurse will have to sedate you AGAIN :twisted:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • vitesse169
    vitesse169 Posts: 422
    I use yellow glasses most of the time as I do shifts and commute at night (which is most of the time at this time of year). They work really well at night...
  • PBo
    PBo Posts: 2,493
    I have often shocked myself at dusk when taking yellow lenses off because it goes so dark! So they really work. Used them skiing to, when the light goes flat.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I've beem using yellow lenses for dull rides for years. Bolle did some really bright lenses and made winter rides look like summer. My oakleys aren't quite as bright but still make things seem brighter.

    I'm not sure they actually let you see things you wouldn't have spotted in plain lenses - but just that they trick you into thinking its sunny is enough for me !
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    I like yellow in the dark, it seems to brighten things up. Much better than clear.
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • tebbit
    tebbit Posts: 604
    Yellow/orange lenses are now mandatory kit for rail maintenance contractors on the West Coast main line, the were introducing them a couple of years ago, they are considered effective. That's were I got mine from a night shift last year :D
  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    im going to give yellow a go this week as i keep getting blinded by cars.
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
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  • DanielCoffey
    DanielCoffey Posts: 142
    I believe the Oakley advice was to wear yellow in the low light conditions but clear when it was fully dark
  • andy83
    andy83 Posts: 1,558
    i like my light blue ones in low lighting, although got caught out the other day when didnt have lights on as thought it was brighter than it actually was
  • Zephr
    Zephr Posts: 60
    oakley doesnt actually do "yelow" lenses, their lenses for flat light are "persimmon", and are meant to be used in flat, or, twighlight- as mentioned earlier in the thread, they recommend clear lenses for when it gets really dark.

    (not just any clear glasses though... has to be Oakley glasses....)

    (there were also another lens maker that were doing specific glasses for driving... they made them for Le Mans, I THINK it could have been Tag Heur or someone of that ilk...)
    FCN 11. When you hear the buzz of the nobblies, you know youve been scalped.
  • the_village_idiot
    the_village_idiot Posts: 150
    IME orange lenses are excellent for a dull grey day to liven things up- enhances contrast so stones/potholes easier to spot and the scenery is more pleasant

    i have some nice addidas ones
  • rich_e
    rich_e Posts: 389
    Zephr wrote:
    oakley doesnt actually do "yelow" lenses, their lenses for flat light are "persimmon", and are meant to be used in flat, or, twighlight- as mentioned earlier in the thread, they recommend clear lenses for when it gets really dark.

    (not just any clear glasses though... has to be Oakley glasses....)

    They definatly do on their Snow Goggle tints though.
    Yellow is the best for flat light conditions, as it enhances the definition of everything.

    Orange is usually a bit more inbetween flat light and a bit of sunlight.
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    and i also thought that green lenses help to see through fog or smoke
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

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