Mountain Biking - Eyewear

I'm know this has been discussed several times before and I have searched the forum, However! Today I got a big bug in my eye on a downhill and it was not fun at all. I was wondering if someone out there could help me find a pair of sunglasses/safteyglasses, preferebly with interchangeable lenses so I may choose between clear and tinted. Price range: free - $150. I mostly ride at dusk after work but will also ride during the afternoon on the weekends (thats why I want tinted as well).

Thanks ahead for any help. :D

I'm know this has been discussed several times before and I have searched the forum, However! Today I got a big bug in my eye on a downhill and it was not fun at all. I was wondering if someone out there could help me find a pair of sunglasses/safteyglasses, preferebly with interchangeable lenses so I may choose between clear and tinted. Price range: free - $150. I mostly ride at dusk after work but will also ride during the afternoon on the weekends (thats why I want tinted as well).

Thanks ahead for any help. :D
i use smith toasters...

They come with 3 lenses, and i actually just picked up a set of clear lenses about an hour ago. Going to use them for night riding.


http://www.g-t.co.jp/Touring/I_921_Glass_smith-toaster-L.jpg

i use smith toasters...

They come with 3 lenses, and i actually just picked up a set of clear lenses about an hour ago. Going to use them for night riding.


http://www.g-t.co.jp/Touring/I_921_Glass_smith-toaster-L.jpg

can you buy those anywhere in-store? I live in MN

I use the Performance "Orion" glasses. Came w/three lenses: clear, amber, and dark w/mirror finish. Usually goes on sale for $25-$30. I'm saving up for some Bolle Vigilante glasses w/the rx insert. It'd be nice to see where I'm going, heh.

can you buy those anywhere in-store? I live in MN
yep, smith are a pretty big brand name. Any sunglasses hut, or major sunglasses store should have them. I wouldnt reccomend buying them online, as they are pretty compact and might not fit if you have a big noggin

hey, i bet clyde can show you some nice ryders sunglasses.
just kidding
i use smith axls, which have been discontinued, so if you find some you could get them cheap.
Occasionally i'll use smith spawns or costa del mar triple tails, which are both good sunglasses too. the costas are really light for a glass polarized lens but the spawns are all around light, sometimes i forget they are even on.

I am a BIG Oakley fan and coming out soon they will be offering TRANSITION (R) lenses so you only need one to go from Bright to dark conditions. The lense will be expensive (I think around $200) but worth it. The regular frames (M Frames) and lenses will run you around $100 - 150. I love hte fact if the lenses gets stratch you just replace the lense. The frames stay the same.

can you please post some pictures of your 07 rockhopper?

i have Oakley Half-Jacket transitions, and i love them - the plastic is light, and it clamps on my head just right - firm enough to stay on going over hard bumps... and not so much pressure as to give me a headache, which i'm sensitive to.

oakley lenses are special because they are much clearer than most other sunglass lens - try one on and see for yourself. they may have too many hyperbolic marketing-speak like "high definition optics" and stuff like that, but just try them out - you won't be disappointed.

170 u.s.d for the half jacket transitions... and 50 or so for just the lens (price of those lens is for non-transitions, transitions lenses aren't available for sale just yet last time I checked).

http://oakley.com/o/o3688d

my glasses:

http://mi.oakley.com/site/media/cache/443d2f9d99840.png_0_0_0.jpg

Well, if you wish to have a lense for a variety of conditions, I have the perfect solution.

1) A clear lense pair of safety glasses from the hardware store
2) Safety glasses with a slightly tinted lense from the hardware store (or the shooter section of the hunter/outdoor store).
3) A dark pair of safety glasses from the hardware store.

The only really negative thing about safety glasses is there is not a lot of ventilation in them. They need to be treated with anti-fog coating (I use the wipes from the auto parts department) otherwise your body heat and moisture builds up behind the lense. I've gone as far as drilling holes through the periphery of cheap clear shooter sunglasses to provide a little ventilation.

Take two out with you, put the other one in your pack. It only gets dark one time per day. It's not exactly an item one needs to "whip out". Of course if you want something a bit "smoother" the transition lenses from Oakley or Tifosi. They should be able to hook you up for 5 to 8 times the cost. At the end of the day, remember it's just plastic.

I swear by Optic Nerve Banshees. They come with four sets of lenses and they stay put very well. On top of that they only cost $59, which is cheap compared to most "name brand" companies.

Only ever worn Oakleys. Only ever will wear Oakleys. They've saved my sight twice that I can remember clearly, and hundreds of times where I've only noticed afterwards from a new scratch in the iridium.

I'm tall and have a broad face and am very sensitive to bright natural light - although, bizarrely, very bright artificial light doesn't bother me (I can look straight into a torch with no probs.....), so only Heaters tend to be wide enough to block out enough sun for me.

I have three pairs of lenses, depending on what i use them for. Black Irid for riding, Gold Irid for pedestrian, Smoke Irid for winter - even overcast is too bright for me sometimes.

There's an e-bay shop I get lenses from. I import them from Tenessee to the UK and they cost me half what I would pay over here for them, so you can get a whole new irid lenses m-frmae for much less than $140. He tends to have limited numbers, so you have to wait a bit to see what he's got, but.....

I have a set of Specialized halftimes. The adaptalite lenses work pretty well, very similar to Transitions lenses. They're pretty light, they look good, and they work very, very well. They've saved me from many spider webs, bugs and low branches.

They may fog depending on the optics / helmet combo if you come to a stop on a humid midwestern morning, but that's about the only bad thing I can say.

and hundreds of times where I've only noticed afterwards from a new scratch in the iridium.

Ive never seen or heard of anyone losing their eyesight from cleaning their lenses :)

Ive never seen or heard of anyone losing their eyesight from cleaning their lenses :)


You won't scratch Irids cleaning them. Only stones do that :) Big-assed stones.

12 Euros from french sports chain Decathlon and they come with sets of clear and tinted glasses.
http://www.decathlon.fr/FR/images/assets/gd-asset_1677570.jpg

I've used Smith's, Native Eyewear, Oakleys, and generics.

I like the ease of interchangeability with the Smith's and the Native's. The Native's were a bit small for my face, but I liked that out on the trail.

With my Oakley's, I always ended up with pressure on my temples.

The only really negative thing about safety glasses is there is not a lot of ventilation in them.

At the end of the day, remember it's just plastic.

Wrong.

The optics of the lenses are the biggest, most important difference. I can appreciate someone's desire to save money. Your prerogative. But it's completely inaccurate to say $5 safety glasses are basically the same as an $80 pair of Smiths.

I use the MEC Espresso glasses. $25 with uv lense. $10 for other lenses, 6 to choose from. I use the brown, yellow, and clear. I like the fuller wrap they give, more protection. I find they don't fog up like a lot of other riding glasses I've used, especially when night riding in moist conditions.

I was looking for a comparable product on REI's site since most people here are american, and unfortunately I can find nothing :(

I have a pair of Oakley Straight Jackets, and XX's.

Love em.

Well I just purchased a pair of Smith Factors, the Toasters were too small for my noggin. I'm not sure I'll keep them, but I like the price and the fact that they come with 4 sets of lenses. Thanks for all the opinions.

check these out. http://www.tifosioptics.com/interchangeable/slip.html. optically correct, very fog resistent, very comfortable and go from almost clear to very dark , or back or somewhere in between in under 10 seconds. also under $60 and scratch resistant. no need to change lenses at all no matter the condition.
I also have a pair of these http://www.tifosioptics.com/interchangeable/pave.html for the same reasons.
available at a lot of bike shops or online at www.firstshades.com

Several generations of Harley Riders can't be wrong. KD's, or "Kool Daddy's" have been used by hard core motorcyclists since the 50's. They keep the wind and debris out of your eyes really well, and many people such as myself like the way they look. At 8 dollars each at www.originalkds.com, and with every lense color I could want being available, I bought a bunch and switch between them depending on conditions. The best part is that unlike fancy 150 dollar sunglasses, its no biggie when you lose or break them.

check these out. http://www.tifosioptics.com/interchangeable/slip.html. optically correct, very fog resistent, very comfortable and go from almost clear to very dark , or back or somewhere in between in under 10 seconds. also under $60 and scratch resistant. no need to change lenses at all no matter the condition.
I also have a pair of these http://www.tifosioptics.com/interchangeable/pave.html for the same reasons.
available at a lot of bike shops or online at www.firstshades.com

Which would be better, swapping out lenses (because you get yellow lenses) or transitional or where you don't get yellow lenses but you don't have to worry about swapping out lenses?

I usually wear Oakley M-Frames with interchangeable lenses.

I also wear a pair of Oakley half jackets if there won't be too much brush.

Wrong.

The optics of the lenses are the biggest, most important difference. I can appreciate someone's desire to save money. Your prerogative. But it's completely inaccurate to say $5 safety glasses are basically the same as an $80 pair of Smiths.


Spot on. A brand new pair of high-quality lenses is like no cheap eyewear on earth. I'm not gonna keep bleating about Oakley, but the first time I put a pair on, I didn't know how to describe how clear the picture was.... I shoudl imagine the high end stuff by other manufacturers is close or similar.

But I buy based on knowing those lenses will save me again and again if I need them to.

I am yet to find a good pair of sunglasses like my red wrap around ones. I think they were optic nerve, and they had foam so I couldn't see the sun in my peripheral. The problem is they'd fog up super easily.

I also have nashbar 3 interchangeable lens sunglasses.

I use my OSHA spec government issue prescription glasses with the side shields cliped in and the blue string to keep them on. They're not fancy, but they keep all sorts of crud out of my eyes and they are nearly indestructable(I use them at work everyday).

Wrong.

The optics of the lenses are the biggest, most important difference. I can appreciate someone's desire to save money. Your prerogative. But it's completely inaccurate to say $5 safety glasses are basically the same as an $80 pair of Smiths.
I completely agree with this too. I was looking for some glasses and heard about wearing safety glasses so off to The Home Depot for glasses. Tried a couple of pairs on and couldn't believe anyone would wear them for ANY reason. Not very good for optics and when I'm out there, I like/count on my peripheral vision.

You might want to check out Pro Bike Kit (http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?cat=Sunglasses&START=0&LIMIT=25). It's primarily a road bike store from the UK but free shipping and some excellent prices. A bunch of different styles too. As a matter of fact, I've been waiting to order some but now that I type this, I think I'll go ahead and do it...

I cannot find a pair of glasses that doesn't fog up on me. Anybody got any ideas?

Anybody got any ideas?
Ride faster :D

I wear safety glasses on my motorcycle all the time. Can't beat the quality for $8 and I don't mind repalcing them every couple months.

On the fogging I've heard firefighters say they use rain-x, though I have no personal experience with it.

Spot on. A brand new pair of high-quality lenses is like no cheap eyewear on earth. I'm not gonna keep bleating about Oakley, but the first time I put a pair on, I didn't know how to describe how clear the picture was....

You sound like the guy in the Blue Blocker commercial.

...
"Wow, it's like ... everything is in 3D".

Scientists have conducted experiments that actually invert vision in both the vertical and horizontal with optical apparatus. What they found is after a period of time people got used to them. If the brain can handle this, it can handle a little distortion.

But believe me, I know the difference and I have discarded a few safety glasses because they producing noticable distortion. Most have worked great though. There is a simple way to tell the difference. Put on a pair of safety glasses, if you do not like it ... put it back.



The optics of the lenses are the biggest, most important difference. I can appreciate someone's desire to save money. Your prerogative. But it's completely inaccurate to say $5 safety glasses are basically the same as an $80 pair of Smiths.


I can certainly appreciate someone's wish to satisfy their conspicuous consumption needs. By all means if you wish to waste money ... go ahead. But I think you will find that the safety glasses industry does pay attention to correct optical clarity. No doubt Oakleys or Smiths look cooler ... at the end of the day they do the same job. They keep crap out of your eyes like dirt, UV Rays and excessive sunlight.

I cannot find a pair of glasses that doesn't fog up on me. Anybody got any ideas?

There are packs of anti-fog wipes in the Auto department of pretty much any department store. Use these ... wipe gently.

How about goggles? What's a good pair of googles to have for freeriding?

Hey - how well do those photochromic (?); I mean, the lenses that adapt to light conditions by darkening, work? Anybody use them regularly?

Also, how good are the Nashbar Zurich (cheapest!) ones?

I had no idea willtsmith subscribed to the Tyler Durdan school of thought with his expensive bike, computer, and numerous other products one could easily write off as illogical using his train of thought.

Oakley produces a premium product at a premium price. Some of us have decided that the opportunity cost is worth it, other haven't. Please don't sit there and spout phrases like "waste of money" considering the other different unnecessary luxury items im sure you surround yourself with. It makes you sound like a hypocritical ****** bag, especially when you preface your judgement with "I can certainly appreciate someone's wish to satisfy their conspicuous consumption needs."

I had no idea willtsmith subscribed to the Tyler Durdan school of thought with his expensive bike, computer, and numerous other products one could easily write off as illogical using his train of thought.

Oakley produces a premium product at a premium price. Some of us have decided that the opportunity cost is worth it, other haven't. Please don't sit there and spout phrases like "waste of money" considering the other different unnecessary luxury items im sure you surround yourself with. It makes you sound like a hypocritical ****** bag, especially when you preface your judgement with "I can certainly appreciate someone's wish to satisfy their conspicuous consumption needs."

Well, it's a matter of whether there is a real need there with real requirements ... vs ... being pumped full of a bunch of BS from advertising. By the standards of the MTB world I'm cheaper than snot. Expensive computer ??? I use the cheapest notebook I could find and pumped it full of cheap RAM (CPUs are in general over-powered). I do not own a SINGLE jersey ... they're too expensive compared to the cheapo micro-fiber polyester shirts you can buy at Wal-Mart or Target.


On the other hand, I wear nothing but wool socks. There is a reason for that and it has nothing to do with advertising. You have to realize that those safety glasses are used by people using power tools or mixing chemicals. They are not eager to get into situations where their depth perception is compromised. The other group are shooters and I gaurantee you that they want glasses without optical effects. Do doubt Rudy Project, etc... looks cooler. But similar results can be bought for under $10.

BTW, we're making soap tomorrow. Would you like to help. Wear black jeans, black t-shirt and a black ski mask. - TD

So you own nothing nice that you don't need? I don't believe you.

Besides, moneys primary function is to be spent. Once bills are paid, and savings are paid into, the rest is there to be wasted on things we don't need. That's how a market economy works.

So you own nothing nice that you don't need? I don't believe you.

Besides, moneys primary function is to be spent. Once bills are paid, and savings are paid into, the rest is there to be wasted on things we don't need. That's how a market economy works.

I have plenty of stuff that I do not need. But more and more, I try NOT to buy things I do not simply because I do not have very much money anymore.

Money is a very ironic thing. If you could double your income based on your living standard, you would have more than you ever need. But every time you get more money ... you just spend more of it (unless you're a REAL penny-pincher, I don't even come close). You can never get enough of the stuff. There's always something that you do not need that can be purchased.

In the mean time, I just say that my purpose was never to tell you that you're wasting your money. My purpose is to tell people who read this stuff that they don't have to spend $80 on sunglasses to get decent eye protection.

Just remember that there is a little Tyler Durden in all of us ;-)

Like I said in my post, buying safety googles sounded great, until I actually tried on every pair The Home Depot had. Nothing good there. I went to various sporting good stores too, the same bad optics were observed. Heck, $5-10 drug store ones were much better (and yes, I have some of these too).

If you found some that worked for you, great. I have yet to try on any that don't distort my vision terribly (yes, even the "shooters" at the local sporting goods store). If you have found some, please share the information because I'm sure we'd all like to know where we could find some. Oh, BTW, the woods I ride in pretty much require either yellow or orange lenses.