Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - eye protection in wind

this thread is mainly an excuse for me to post a stupid ass picture of myself in totally ridiculous ski goggles, but i actually have a question -- do many of you have problems with eye wind burn? do you kids wear eye cover? for me, the wind burn on my eyes is the worst part about riding in the arctic-ass winter.

i wear contacts and my eyes dry out pretty easily, so by the time i get to work (or anywhere) i generally look like i have smoked an entire kilo of weed due to the blazing redness and dryness of my eyes (hell, i often have cottonmouth, too). i often wear sunglasses for purposes of, well, dimming the sun, and i've found that they do absolutely nothing for the wind -- the **** just goes around the sides and into my eyes.

so, being a slave for really bad fashion, i picked up a pair of totally dumb-as-**** ski goggles on ebay. they are the ultrajam. i seriously cannot imagine winter riding again without some sort of full eye cover. other than going with ski goggles, as i did, does anyone have suggestions for eyewear?

oh, and here is the totally dumb picture of me. let the mocking commence:

http://www.chemicalwarfare.net/~apratt/goggles.jpeg

i do the same thing, or plan to, when the temp in CT dips further. add some more ugly colors, shants, and they'll match the ugly hat in your avatar.

my question for you is gloves. is there anything as warm as, but less bulky, than ski gloves? the degrees this morning (low-20) penetrated my fleece mittens (actually glittens).

I wore ski goggles this morning. My eyes water like crazy if I don't have eye protection, so I usually ride with stylish clear-lensed glasses. It's too cold today though (5F).

For gloves, I use Outdoor Research brand "Windstopper" gloves. As long as I'm active, my hands stay warm. They make several types of gloves. www.orgear.com

New av.


edit:

That said, yes, ultrajam. Except they don't work well with my mirror, personally, and I am perilously attached to the little guy.


All about the yellow lenses, too.

New av.

Agreed.

Also. I just ordered those Nashbar clear no-frame sunglasses for this purpose. Others have attested to their wonders. Thanks for making me feel like they're not going to work. Doosh.

I have heard that another bomb hookup is the $ 5 Home Depot Glasses. I wear Smith glasses with prescription inserts. I had multiple instances of contacts going indy from my eyes while riding, gave up on contacts as a result. My hands and feet were cold this am, too. But not so cold that I'm going to change anything. I asked for the Wool Cycling Socks for Christmas.

Shantz, that picture says more than my words ever could.

Also. I just ordered those Nashbar clear no-frame sunglasses for this purpose. Others have attested to their wonders. Thanks for making me feel like they're not going to work. Doosh.

haha, sorry. granted that i was wearing some garbage-ass plastic sunglasses, but the wind just hit the front and swept around the back right into my eyes. if you have glasses with lenses that curve to the side a bit, i suspect that it might direct the wind differently (that is, away from your eyes). i wasn't willing to risk it, so i went with 90s-retro full-cover ski goggles.

as for gloves, i wear a pair of pretty intense mittens. but, as is your experience, they don't really hold up to 20mph winds in sub-20degree weather. i think i'm going to knit (once i figure it out.. the ladyfriend is supposed to teach me) some very thin tight-fitting mittens to wear under the mittens that i currently use. or, for the short-term, i might buy a couple pairs of those cheap form-fitting gloves and rock those. i think it would go a long way to keep my damn fingers warm (or less cold).

I saw some really cool looking clear glasses at a truckstop on the way to DC. They were just a clear plastic shaped like a google but glasses size with foam around the edges with a elastic band to hold it tight to the face. Didn't know how well they worked... now I regret not buying them.

this morning was pretty brutal.

i'm also quite happy about these particular goggles, because it means that i now get called a "***" even more frequently than before. my current record is 5 times in 3 blocks. totally unassociated people (other than that they were all ******bags).

Last time I got called that I was pushing my baby in a carriage with my wife next to me. That made sense.

Get wrap-around sport glasses. Clear lenses. It's what I use. No back-flow around the edges. You can't really see them but I have them on in my avatar.

It's just that when it gets this cold out, I had them freeze to the bridge of my nose once last year, and there's not enough facial wind protection in general. Otherwise, I use them all year. In the summer they're great for keeping bugs out of the eyes on night rides.

Last time I got called that I was pushing my baby in a carriage with my wife next to me. That made sense.

best ******bag jock voice: "well, of course, dude. i mean, only a *** would take care of his wife and kid. dude, c'mon -- only **** have kids."

generally speaking, "***," albeit a term that ultimately refers to homosexuality, it has become pretty distanced from that and is just a standard pejorative/invective for large portions of the ******bag population. of course, when i get called it while wearing my stupid goggles on my pink and black bike, i think they intend to be calling me a homosexual. i love it.

I picked up a pair of racketball goggles for real cheap at a sporting goods store. They are similar to ski goggles, but instead of the square profile they are a little bubbly. The lenses are clear and they keep the wind & debris out. They will keep you rolling in the height of fashion for sure.

I'm even running Answer winter boots and my feet still get cold. Heavy Pearl Izumi gloves. Two pairs of wool socks. You just can't stay warm when it is this cold.

oh, and here is the totally dumb picture of me. let the mocking commence:



Don't take this the wrong way cause I don't know you but those goggles don't look half as dumb as the hat in your avatar.

I'm even running Answer winter boots and my feet still get cold. Heavy Pearl Izumi gloves. Two pairs of wool socks. You just can't stay warm when it is this cold.

yeah, at a certain point, i definitely agree. i just ride quickly to shorten my exposure to the damn winter apocalypse.

Don't take this the wrong way cause I don't know you but those goggles don't look half as dumb as the hat in your avatar.

hahaha, you might be right. i will have to take a picture of me with BOTH.

best ******bag jock voice: "well, of course, dude. i mean, only a *** would take care of his wife and kid. dude, c'mon -- only **** have kids."

generally speaking, "***," albeit a term that ultimately refers to homosexuality, it has become pretty distanced from that and is just a standard pejorative/invective for large portions of the ******bag population. of course, when i get called it while wearing my stupid goggles on my pink and black bike, i think they intend to be calling me a homosexual. i love it.

i don't think it's distanced from stigmatizing homosexuality, so much as it applies the apparent stigma of homosexuality to anything that fails to appropriately exhibit and exert socially sanctioned dominant masculinity.

socially sanctioned dominant masculinity.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

as for gloves, i wear a pair of pretty intense mittens. but, as is your experience, they don't really hold up to 20mph winds in sub-20degree weather. i think i'm going to knit (once i figure it out.. the ladyfriend is supposed to teach me) some very thin tight-fitting mittens to wear under the mittens that i currently use. or, for the short-term, i might buy a couple pairs of those cheap form-fitting gloves and rock those. i think it would go a long way to keep my damn fingers warm (or less cold).

A friend out in portland had these crazy thick wool versions of lobster gloves.

They were awesome.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

i think it's been problematized before.

i think it's been problematized before.

Yeah, that was supposed to be a joke. You know, an ironic play on the Seinfeld episode?

Clearly, dunderheads prancing about with shoulders thrown back and calling people ******s, whatever their sexual behavior may be, is misguided.

i don't think it's distanced from stigmatizing homosexuality, so much as it applies the apparent stigma of homosexuality to anything that fails to appropriately exhibit and exert socially sanctioned dominant masculinity.

aye. i think that the sting of being called a "***" is indeed supposed to originate from the supposition that homosexuality is bad, but i think that its use has become so normalized that many users of the term skip the cognitive association that "***" means homosexual (so like, **** are homosexual, homosexual is bad, so **** are bad) and instead just have the brute association of the term "***" with things that are not good. evidence of this is that people often employ the term in situations that have nothing to do with masculinity or homosexuality. the other day, i heard someone talking about how their friend was failing his math class, and some other guy said, "god, what a ****ing ***. how in the hell do you fail that class?" in any case, i concede your point to a large degree.

yeah. i think we're saying the same thing, but we're doing it in different ways.

haha, i think so, too. i am extremely bored at work, so i will prattle on if allowed.

i am extremely bored at work, so i will prattle on if allowed.

after i fold, label, and stamp 500 newsletters, i get to do the same thing to 500 annual appeals.

jackpot!

I get to go in to work from 5pm-12am today. YAY! Stupid pseudo day off ...

http://www.botac.com/paulbubgog.html

cheap and screams '***' marginally less.

[although i've seen them tinted pink from other places.]

fsnl
sparky

I guess you could always try skydiving goggles as well.

http://www.botac.com/paulbubgog.html

cheap and screams '***' marginally less.

[although i've seen them tinted pink from other places.]

fsnl
sparky

those look like something out of spaceballs.

those look like something out of spaceballs.

Speaking of ironic portrayals of socially sanctioned dominant masculinity. In case you didn't know, Rick Moranis just cut a country album. What a genius.

I wear expensive glasses, for seeing, and they offer no wind protection.
Year round, warm or cold, I wear the Global Vision Over The Glasses Goggles to which I've linked below.

http://www.globalvision.us/menupages/goggles/styles/bigbencl.php

This morning I rode 14 miles to work in nine degree F darkness.
I could not have done it without goggles.

I use an anti-fog cloth called Clarity Fog Eliminator.

http://www.visioncareproducts.com/34/acc_fog.html

It works.

For gloves, I've tried everything.
Presently I wear Pearl Izumi's Inferno Glove:

http://highgearbike.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=819&Catalog=39&sort=3rdcharacter

I wear a very light polypropyline liner underneath the Infernos and I wear one size larger (XL) than I need, which keeps the gloves from restricting blood flow to my finger tips.
I have learned to periodically swing my relaxed hand downward, in order to force more blood into my fingertips, and if I do that these gloves keep my hands warm.
Nothing else comes close.
I got mine on sale at a Pearl Izumi outlet for half price.

As time goes by, I find myself wearing more and more Pearl Izumi clothes.
My other stuff winds up in the closet or a drawer, and the Pearl Izumi gets worn and it works.
I wait for sales.

glad this thread came up... I'm in my first week of attempting to wear contacts and I just used an old pair of ski goggles that I had (used to teach skiing at UofWyo) to head over to Williamsburg... pretty good!

I always ride around with a some cheap wrap around safety glasses I picked up at Home Depot. Cost me all of 5 bucks. I'd be careful about ordering stuff from Botac. Their reputation isn't really good online. There are some horror stories about them.

I'm going to offer another vote for the safety glasses from hardware stores. I have an orange pair that really works pretty good. I don't use them too often during the winter, because they fog up. I could probably use the anti fog stuff on them and that would help a lot. A word of warning on that stuff - I used some automotive version on a pair of prescription lenses a couple years back. There was some sort of coating (UV maybe?) on the lenses that kind of disintegrated afterwards. It made looking out of those lenses kind of bad after that.

I'd just wear my normal glasses when riding, but I have really bad eyesight, so I have to go with small lenses or they'd weigh a ton. That means almost no peripheral vision. So it has to be contacts. Typically I don't wear anything over my eyes unless it's below 10F.

When it's below 0F, I do have a set of ski goggles remarkably similar to shants'. I also have a more, um, normal looking pair that I got from a bike shop. The bike shop ones do nothing, except for fog up. The ski ones are better, 2 panes and vents. The only problem is that they are tinted a fairly dark orange, so riding at night (when it's coldest) can be a little interesting. Also, when it's that cold, I rock a silver snowboarding helmet. It has earflaps and a little buckle thing on the back for the strap of the goggles. That's a lot more comfortable than putting the strap under your helmet.

This morning was cold as a welldigger's a$$ here (8F, feels like -2). My eyes managed to deal with no goggles. However, it was by no means a comfortable ride. I'm gonna need some wool socks, wool glove liners, and a balaclava next time it gets chilly like this.

i don't think it's distanced from stigmatizing homosexuality, so much as it applies the apparent stigma of homosexuality to anything that fails to appropriately exhibit and exert socially sanctioned dominant masculinity.

huh? again, in english maybe? you may have read too much french critical theory. really.

kencox, thanks for the great links for us visually challenged folk. i can't wear/stand contacts cuz i can't touch my eyeball. what's up with that anyways. great thread.. i cry like a baby in any weather when i ride.

http://www.botac.com/paulbubgog.html

cheap and screams '***' marginally less.

[although i've seen them tinted pink from other places.]

fsnl
sparky
"Lightweight goggle worn by many of the top drivers in auto racing. "
Maybe in the '70's or earlier..
http://www.pitstopbooks.com/books-misc/tribute-earnhardt.jpg

huh? again, in english maybe? you may have read too much french critical theory. really.

excuse me, you seem to have mistaken my really-not-all-that-remarkable english vocabulary for french.

When it's cold out, I tear up like a guest on Dr. Phil, so I bought some motorcycle goggles. I had some cheap woodshop goggles, but I scratched them and broke them. I like the motorcycle goggles, though they take some of my peripheral vision away.

Squint. Actually, one eye froze shut, so get some decent shades. I rock the Smith Sequels and yellow lenses.

Squint. Actually, one eye froze shut, so get some decent shades. I rock the Smith Sequels and yellow lenses.

That happened to my brother once. His wife made sure he didn't ride to work for a few days until the weather warmed up, and he ended up getting a pair of goggles...

The way I understood it is "the word '***' is used widely to describe men that do not look manly enough for the person offering up the insult. so '***' gets used to describe things that aren't necessarily 'gay' but it still *means* gay"

IOW, more things are now gay.

Skiers *might* be gay because they wear the same goggles.

Anyway...shants...do you lose much periph. vision from those things?

I wear clear "safety" wraparoundish glasses that I found in my toolbox. But my ride to work is short (20 min) and so far it hasn't gotten down below 23-25F.

actually, not true. I wear sunglasses in the AM and the clear ones at night. Unless I am just going to the bar in which case I arrive in similar state to the one you described (i.e. kilo of weed effect)






huh? again, in english maybe? you may have read too much french critical theory. really.

and those bubble things are ridiculous. cheers to anyone who is willing to rock them tho

just use some swimming goggles. they block out wind and water and protect your eyeballs. would that make you more of a '***' than ski goggles? who cares... but it'll definately be dorky though.

I prefer a welders mask, keeps my entire face wind free and scare off would be pedestians crossing my path.

about peripheral vision in the goggles, i actually made a point of checking this and i lose no more than 2 degrees on either side. i definitely didn't notice any loss while riding.

excuse me, you seem to have mistaken my really-not-all-that-remarkable english vocabulary for french.

<--------the french are "gay" anyway.