Prescription photochromatic lenses for road cycling?

KingCustard
KingCustard Posts: 49
edited September 2010 in Road buying advice
I need to get some glasses for road cycling, but I don't want to have to be using a pair of contact lenses every single time i go out on the bike. I think prescription photochromatic lenses are the only option really, so that I don't have to worry about it being too dark or light to wear the shades.

How do you go about getting the lenses/glasses? I appreciate that the glasses will be more expensive than standard pairs, but as my contacts cost £35 for a month's supply it'd be worth it in the long run. I wear my standard glasses during the day, so it seems a bit of a waste to just be using contacts for an hour or two to go out for a ride.

I was looking for frames like the BBB Impact range, so not too expensive, so that I could afford the lenses.

Cheers :)

Comments

  • Try Optilabs

    [urlhttp://www.optilabs.com/site/prods.php?pfid=0,8,11,17[/url]

    I've had no problems with mine.

    Otherwise your optician should do sports glasses - just ask for cycling specific ones
  • Am I right that the £35 a month is for daily desposables?

    If so then is it possible to use monthly disposables? They are alot cheaper and not any more hassle really as they dont really involve any cleaning.

    I used to have monthly ones bought from D+A for £15 a month but I no buy them myself from lenstore.co.uk for about £40 for 6 months worth and the fluid is bought from tesco's for about £3 for 6 weeks supply.
    FCN 7

    FCN 4

    if you use irrational measures to measure me, expect me to behave irrationally to measure up
  • I know it's not cheap, but I got some Oakley Jawbones with prescription transition lenses, and they have been fantastic so far. They did cost £270 however.

    Think they also do the Radars as prescription also, but they didn't fit too well round the bridge of my nose.

    The Transition lens in the Jawbone is fine for all types of light. I've done a sportive in bright sunlight and they've been dark enough (maybe could've done with being a bit darker, but I never squinted at any point), and then I've been MTB'ing in the forest at Llandegla in low light conditions, and been able to see everything.

    The test will be if I use them for skiing, with regard to the brightness.

    One thing I will say, and I've got used to it now, is that there is some loss of peripheral vision with Jawbones (previously commented on other posts on the forum), so maybe go and try at your opticians first.

    Another alternative I thought about was the Rudy Project Rydons. I believe you can either get them with prescription lenses OR what they call an RX insert.
    "There are no hills, there is no wind, I feel no pain !"

    "A bad day on the bike is always better than a good day in the office !"
  • chunkytfg wrote:
    Am I right that the £35 a month is for daily desposables?

    If so then is it possible to use monthly disposables? They are alot cheaper and not any more hassle really as they dont really involve any cleaning.

    I used to have monthly ones bought from D+A for £15 a month but I no buy them myself from lenstore.co.uk for about £40 for 6 months worth and the fluid is bought from tesco's for about £3 for 6 weeks supply.

    I pay for daily disposables, but wear them once in a blue moon - a month's worth could last me 6 months until I started cycling. Prefer dailies as when I do wear them I haven't got to worry about carting them around, I just throw them away & pop my glasses on.

    As for Jawbones & Rydons, I don't really want to be spending that kind of money on frames if possible.
  • I chose some wrap-round Ray Bans at my opticians and they then put prescription photochromics in them.

    Keith
  • Mr_M
    Mr_M Posts: 98
    Another recommendation for Optilabs here :D

    Got some glasses with their Ultra 2000 (photochromatic & polarised) lenses over the summer. I use them for on and off-road and very pleased with them indeed. They react very quickly to changes in light (a must for off-road) and the underlying "tint" is such that they can still be used in fading light.

    Worth giving them a call and chatting through what you need - they're very helpful. They'll even send you (free of charge) a sample box of frames for you to try on to check the style/fit.
  • If you want to continue using daily disposable contact lenses then try
    www.daysoftcontactlenses.com
    They are incredibly cheap and the service is excellent.

    Unfortunately I find that contacts tend to blow out of my eyes when cycling, so I use Rudy Project glasses with clip-on prescription lenses.
    Tearfund Tour of Scotland 26th May to 1st June 2013
    http://www.justgiving.com/phil-godley
  • flyingbanana
    flyingbanana Posts: 57
    edited September 2010
    I need to get some glasses for road cycling, but I don't want to have to be using a pair of contact lenses every single time i go out on the bike. I think prescription photochromatic lenses are the only option really, so that I don't have to worry about it being too dark or light to wear the shades.

    How do you go about getting the lenses/glasses? I appreciate that the glasses will be more expensive than standard pairs, but as my contacts cost £35 for a month's supply it'd be worth it in the long run. I wear my standard glasses during the day, so it seems a bit of a waste to just be using contacts for an hour or two to go out for a ride.

    I was looking for frames like the BBB Impact range, so not too expensive, so that I could afford the lenses.

    Cheers :)

    Hi Kingcustard.

    You won't get a prescription lens in a wraparound sunglass (I think) the laws of physics and light prevent it. However, what you will get is an prescription insert for such eyewear.

    I've got Adidas Evil Eyes insert (see the avatar above left) which are available for nearly all eye "defects". I've got crap eyes with a particularly short right and they could do me a pair. As standard you get mirrored high light and low-light lenses (orange tint) with them and it's a sinch to pop one out and replace with the other. Other lenses are available too (clear, different sun protection etc.) The frames and lenses (sans insert) cost exactly the same as the list price for Adidas sports eyewear. You pay about an extra £30-40 for the insert (which looks like a transparent pins nez) that clips onto a little peg on the inside of the bridge. Nobody has ever noticed I'm not just wearing sunnies regular or sports glasses and are genuinely surprised when I show them the fine details at how discrete they are.

    The frame is very flexible in terms of the legs and nose clamp have multiple positions they click to. The legs can be replaced by a band to retain them for higher impact sports use. There's a clip on sponge thing which is for dealing with the sweat I think but I've never used that. I've never had the insert fall out on me and they've survived regular drops off my head when I've propped them on my helmet, forgotten about it, then taken the helmet off.

    One of the best investments I ever made for cycling and never looked back (no pun intended) since I got them. I got them from Go Sports Spex online, it seems the vast majority of high street opticians have no interest in catering for sports or performance eyewear. Theres a couple of online specialists who supply them and the insert.

    Set me back about £140 notes in total.
    The Stable '04 Trek 1000 | '09 Giant Bowery '72 | '10 Ridgeback Panorma | '10 Cannondale CAAD9 105 Compact
  • dawebbo
    dawebbo Posts: 456
    +1 for the Oakley Jawbone prescriptions, though as stated above will set you back around £300.

    I previously used Bolle Traverse (which were inserts), not a big fan of those.
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    +1 for Oakley Jawbone with Photochromic lenses.

    My prescription was just outside the range for genuine Oakley Lenses so I had Bollé lenses put in mine. I got a set of totally clear lenses for night time/winter too.

    http://extreme-eyewear.co.uk/eyewear/oakley_sunglasses/oakley_jawbone/view/371/

    After an eye infection and being advised not to wear contact lenses for 'a few months'. I ended up rushing into buying wraprounds with an insert as that was what my local optician sold. I never got on with them and almost went back to lenses. Instead, I went for the Jawbones last December. I've used them for skiing and cycling all spring, summer and now autumn and I'm really happy with them.
  • schweiz wrote:
    +1 for Oakley Jawbone with Photochromic lenses.

    Those look very awesome. I can appreciate that inserts aren't to everyone's taste and their performance in misty / drizzly conditions can mean it's sometimes better to ride without as despite ample applications of "fog buster" they will still mist up whenever you slow down for lights and the air flow through them stops. I guess though that any eye glasswear would be affected in similar conditions.

    +1 in favour of inserts though is that if either the tinted lens or the insert should be damaged they are (relatively) cheap to replace and any optician should be able to re-glaze the insert if your prescription changes.
    The Stable '04 Trek 1000 | '09 Giant Bowery '72 | '10 Ridgeback Panorma | '10 Cannondale CAAD9 105 Compact
  • Dammit, now I want some Jawbones! Always had a soft spot for Oakleys, thought I'd got over it when I had my custom ones made!
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    schweiz wrote:
    +1 for Oakley Jawbone with Photochromic lenses.

    Those look very awesome. I can appreciate that inserts aren't to everyone's taste and their performance in misty / drizzly conditions can mean it's sometimes better to ride without as despite ample applications of "fog buster" they will still mist up whenever you slow down for lights and the air flow through them stops. I guess though that any eye glasswear would be affected in similar conditions.

    +1 in favour of inserts though is that if either the tinted lens or the insert should be damaged they are (relatively) cheap to replace and any optician should be able to re-glaze the insert if your prescription changes.

    My issue with the insert was more with multiple refractions/reflections of headlights especially in low light e.g. dark clouds/dawn/dusk. The problem was always there but just not all that noticable in normal daylight conditions but when it was noticable it drove me crazy.
  • garryc
    garryc Posts: 203
    I bought a pair of prescription photo-chromatic Oakley Flak Jacket XLJ.

    Totally brilliant. If kept out of the sun they will go completely clear so I can wear them all the time.

    I did try the Jawbones and although they look nice they cut down too much of my peripheral vision.

    All prescription Oakleys are expensive, mine were £300, but they are good.
  • @CumbrianMan

    Where did you get your Oakleys Jawbones? I already have a pair of these with standard lenses but if I can get prescription for them it would be great.