General Cycling Discussion - Advice on Glasses

I will be shopping for glasses later this week after I visit my ophthalmologist. I am debating whether to look for regular glasses, regular sunglasses, and cycling glasses with a prescription insert for progressive bifocals or to save money and find a pair of sunglasses I can wear for every day use and cycling (some wrap-around Oakleys, for instance). I am not sure if my prescription will work in wrap-arounds, so this may be a moot discussion, but I'd appreciate any thoughts forum members who wear glasses may have on this issue.

By the way, contact lenses are not an option for me.

I find I can't do without contacts when it rains.

I have a good pair of (regular type) prescription sunglasses and they are easily as good as any $200 pair of Oakleys I've had.

My regular sunglasses are ok, but they don't protect my eyes well enough from the side. My eyes need all the protection I can give them, but with regular sunglasses I've gotten a few bugs and pieces of road grit in them.

The wrap around (M-Frames?) are good for side coverage and the fog up factor is pretty good too. I think you can get them with a prescription.

I have regular glasses with magnetic clip sunglasses. For riding I have wrap arounds with prescription inset plus I can change lenses (grey, yellow clear etc).

I highly recommend this method. The glasses I have are small lenses so when riding I have to keep my head tilted back more to see through them. Plus they are not very....rugged for exercise. Plus the sweat will ruin normal glasses, I find. get the wrap arounds for eye protecttion, the insert will cause them to sit out further from your face but are worht it.

Digger

I find that regular presciption glasses, with and without tinting, work fine. Some shapes are better than others, so I look for a large area of optics (plastic not glass), and a close fit at the eyebrow, to avoid air spilling in behind.
In high altitude and desert conditions, you may need side protection, but not under "normal" conditions.
A peak on your helmet will keep rain off the lenses quite well.

I wear contacts, I just go to the local welding supply and buy some of those stylish safety glasses, they come in smoke, dark tint, blue and clear. I wear the cheap glasses because they give great protection and look ok, I have had road cyclist ask where I got the cool glasses. The real reason I wear them is because I go on long relaxing rides through the countryside and stop at all the little general stores and bike shops, I tend to ride away without my glasses, I doesn't bother me much because I don't pay much for them. I loose about 3 or 4 pair a month, I'm old and have a lot on my mind.

I find that regular presciption glasses, with and without tinting, work fine. Some shapes are better than others, so I look for a large area of optics (plastic not glass), and a close fit at the eyebrow, to avoid air spilling in behind. I agree. I had trouble with my prescription glasses in the winter with a balaclava. When going slow on a climb my breath would fog the glasses. I have since learnt to pull the balaclava down off my mouth on climbs.

In the summer I use my prescription glasses with plastic sunglasses insert. Has anyone tried these? They’re all plastic and fit inside (not outside)your glasses. The nice thing is that they are shaped like this [ (when viewed from above) so the ends bend around and cover the sides of your eyes. They really help keep the wind out.

I bought the Addidas Evil Eye (http://www.fogdog.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1218023) with prescription clip-in for riding. They work very well and both the nose and ear pieces are adjustable. The curved prescription insert takes some getting used to, though, they are somewhat unusual looking and rather expensive. The lenses are replaceable in a variety of tints.

Originally posted by closetbiker
The wrap around (M-Frames?) are good for side coverage and the fog up factor is pretty good too. I think you can get them with a prescription.

I know people who swear by Oakley M-frames and I do like how they handle perscriptions... they cut the wrap and seal the Rx lens directly in... pretty slick. However, the Oakleys didn't fit nicely on my face. I tried different styles besides the M-frames too. I had issues with the nosepiece mainly. I eventually went with Rudy Project Kerosenes with the Rx inserts. It's not as neat looking as the Oakleys but they fit wonderfully. I really like the adjustable nosepiece. The other reason I rather like having inserts instead of permanent Rx lenses is that I'll use a combination of contacts and sunglasses when I'm road biking (I keep a contact case and the Rx insert in my jersey just in case) however, I don't dare wear contacts when mountain biking.

These days I wear contacts. However; before I wore contacts, I had the problem of juggling perscription sunglasses and clear lenses. I solved this problem by choosing photogrey lenses (Transitions are a popular brand of these).

These combine sunglasses and normal use glasses in one package. The only disadvantages to these are that they will "yellow" over time. After a few years they will not return to the clear state. Another disadvantage is "photogrey lag". Imagine walking into a dimly lit bar. You have to stand still for a few minutes while the lenses adjust otherwise you trip over furniture and you won't get served. Going through tunnels is pretty scary as well.

Dan

Originally posted by DanFromDetroit
Another disadvantage is "photogrey lag". Imagine walking into a dimly lit bar. You have to stand still for a few minutes while the lenses adjust otherwise you trip over furniture and you won't get served.

Is this another one of those "a man walks into a bar" jokes? :D

By the way, I've seen Oakley's break innumerable times. Their warranty is no-fuss, but it takes time and it sucks not to have your glasses (I've seen a few Oakley devotees switch). I had a pair of Smith's for years and they were superb, but, I sat on them and they - finally -broke.

One more thing to consider.
If you use a helmet mounted mirror, make sure the glass frame does not obscure your view. It took me a long time to find the "perfect" position for the mirror and to find out my new glasses blocked my view was frustrating.

My experience with wraparounds is they only fog when I stop. Then I just pull them down off my nose until I start again. Just one of the little things to deal with.
Steve

Does any one know any manufacturers apart from Oakley that do prescription lenses?
Im going to buy some sunglasses this weekend and am just wondering. I dont wont inserts.

If you do go Oakley be prepared to pay a lot for the lenses, about $280 dollars from what i can find. And then the cost of the frames.

Any

Originally posted by Any

If you do go Oakley be prepared to pay a lot for the lenses, about $280 dollars from what i can find. And then the cost of the frames.

Yeah... that kinda put me off to. FWIW, Oakley claims they can use the same process they use for their wraps/lenses with most anybody else's so technically you're not just restricted to their frames. Still gonna be pricey though...

Stuff to think about. Thanks all for the comments.

Originally posted by khuon
Yeah... that kinda put me off to. FWIW, Oakley claims they can use the same process they use for their wraps/lenses with most anybody else's so technically you're not just restricted to their frames. Still gonna be pricey though...

Yeah. But i like how Oakleys look :p and if you take away the cost of the lenses then the frames cost the same as any other frames.
Expensive but a nice pair of glasses.

Rudy has some glasses that are similar to what baseball players use..Where they can flip the tinted part up or down. If you get something where there is a RX insert, they will fog up when it's humid/rainy outside..My friend(an optometrist) is using the Rudy's I speak of, even though I don't know the model..The only problemo he has is when he's riding low on his road bike, so it is hard to see.

Originally posted by fubar5
Rudy has some glasses that are similar to what baseball players use..Where they can flip the tinted part up or down. If you get something where there is a RX insert, they will fog up when it's humid/rainy outside..My friend(an optometrist) is using the Rudy's I speak of, even though I don't know the model..The only problemo he has is when he's riding low on his road bike, so it is hard to see.

My Rudy Project Kerosenes (regular type... not the baseball or golf model) has some "fog control vents". They work pretty well when you're moving (even in high humidity) and as long as you're not using Rx inserts. With the inserts, in the rain or humid weather, it's nearly impossible to keep them from fogging no matter what you do.

I cant stand wearing my glasses while riding, they always slide down my nose when I get sweaty. So I got disposable contacts and lightweight tinted safety glasses from Home Depot. Great combination for me anyway.

Since my prescription won't allow me to wear contacts I wear glasses daily. To solve the "glasses for cycling" problem I went with Bolle Paroles with the optical insert. The glasses are a bit over $100 (cheaper than Oakleys although not as totally trick technology, but still very nice) and they come with clear, orange, brown and dark gray-green with a mirror finish. They also have a nifty semi-soft case that all the interchangeable lenses fit it. Simple swap when the weather or light changes.

The insert frame is an extra $40 or so. I had the lenses ground at WalMart optical dept. (Sears, or Lenscrafters. etc. would all do it I think). The lenses cost another $50-60. I need bifocals and they (WalMart) said that the lens was not tall enough to do that so I went with single vision for distance since I don't read much while riding;) I have a friend that said she managed to get another store to grind bifocals on her identical Bolle insert frames so I suppose it matters who you ask. So far I'm very pleased with the glasses and I'm going on 3 years with this pair (I had another pair that I wore out). The only weakness as far as I can tell is the rubber nose pieces have come loose (peeled up a bit) and I just superglue them back in place.

Good luck on your search. BTW I think Performance and Nashbar both will grind your lenses if you order the frames and inserts.

I think the RB3 is the Rudy model I'm thinking of.

Thanks again for all the comments. I found an optician willing to spend some time with me, and I settled on a pair of sunglasses--can't remember the brand--with some wrap to them. Since I don't ride much in the dark, I ought to be ok with the tinted lenses, but my regular glasses will do in very low light. I should be picking them up near the end of next week. No decent pair of glasses with a progressive bifocal lens is cheap.:(

It looks like I'm too late to the party, but check out www.spyoptic.com. They do rx lenses direct (as of April) or you can go anywhere and have someone make a rx lens set for you. With the interchangable lenses, life is grand.

Originally posted by closetbiker
I find I can't do without contacts when it rains.



I wear contacts too and hate cycling with glasses but I find that when I am cycling into the wind or in traffic, I get alot of stuff flying up into my eyes. I would like to get some clear type wrap around glasses for cycling to stop my contacts from drying out and to protect my eyes.

Any suggestions ?

I hate sunglasses but Vancouver weather has not exactly been too sunny lately so I am not too worried about that right now.

Justen

Try one of the aformentioned products with the interchangeable lenses, they usually include clear as well as coloured. I've also got the Bolle Paroles, with inserts, and like them, although there is the fogging problem.

Justen,
I wasn't going to post to this thread since it specifically addressed prescription issues, but since you ask I will through in my 2 cents.

The best clear and sun glasses I have found for cycling are Smith & Wesson Magnum 3G safety glasses. They are nice wraparounds that remind me of Oakleys. The frames are set high so when you look back over your shoulder there is nothing in the way. There is no fram across the top of the lenses so when you are low on the bike there is nothing to obstruct your vision there either. The ear pieces are adjustable for length and the nose piece is very slip resistant. All models provide 100% UV protection, meet the ANSI and OSHA standards for safety glasses, and are highly fog resistant. There is no visual distortion from the curvature of the lenses. I have them in clear, red mirror and blue mirror. At about $6 for the clear and $10-12 for the mirrored colors, I don't worry about replacement lenses. The #3 filter, #5 filter, and teal blue lenses specifically say not to use for sunglasses or driving. The teal, for instance, can confuse the colors of traffic lights.

You can check them out at mscdirect.com or tasco-safety.com if you are interested. Tasco-safety actually seems a little cheaper and has a better selection of lens/frame color combos.