thestoutdog

Okay, I'm 39+ years old and found out today that I'm in need of bifocals. I'm getting the ones with no distinct line (transitions?) and I'm wondering if any of you kind folks have any bicycle related advice for the newly blind. I've never needed glasses and am a bit freaked out by the thought of it. I know I shouldn't be, but I am.

10 Wheels

I have Tri Focals.

Neil_B

I suggest getting glasses that fit your face. Take your wife with you when you select frames, and let her pick.

As for bike advice, you'll need to clean them more frequently, since they'll get dirtier the more you have them outdoors.

You'd look good with glasses, Stoutie. Why worry about it? Embrace it.

exile

Are you worried you will be called "four eyes", or will it actually be "six eyes"? I'm confused ;-)

Shimagnolo

For riding, or any other outdoor sport, I use these: https://www.coopervision.com/us/patie...earmultifocal/

CraigB

I've tried three or four different brands and types of multi-focal contacts, including those Coopervision ones, and none of them have worked for me. I end up having to wear drugstore magnifiers with them, so I don't even bother.

kansastdi

i am just trying out some bifocal contact lenses and they work well for me.

Mr Danw

I have bifocal lenses on both my glasses, and sunglasses. On my sunglasses the optician raised the transition on the sunglasses a millimeter or so since riding a bike isn't a true upright position. This allows a quick glance to check my speedometer or queue sheet(should I need one). Avoid tiny "John Lennon granny glasses". They do not have much room for the transition. Avoid lenses less than 52 mm. for a new bifocal user.

retnav94

I can't do the progressive bifocals. I am an Air Traffic controller and I told the doc I need to have glasses to see mostly arms length to see the radar scope. He gave me a script and off i went. This happened two years in a row. I just can't use them. So I have readers from Wally world. I buy 3 or 4 pair every few months and scatter them around the house, car and at work. It is not normally a problem on the bike, or driving for that matter during the day. However, at night it is a problem. So I am going to have to have the doc give me two scripts, one for reading and one for driving. I also wish there was a way for them to put prescription lens on the style of Oakleys I like to wear. WHEELS I don't know how you can get use to the trifocals.

Rhodabike

Keep trying with the arms-length - see a different optometrist if you haven't already. I had a number of prescriptions that didn't work, until I found an optometrist that was accustomed to computer workers. He recommended the Nikon Online lenses and I've been very happy with them. Pricey but worth it.

I actually have two pairs of glasses, one with reading and arms-length for work, and one with distance and arms-length for driving. I couldn't get on with three prescriptions on one lens, especially since most lenses now are narrow and squinty.

For cycling, distance alone should be enough, unless you're going somewhere new and need to keep looking at a map.

Nightshade

No line bifocals take a good while to adjust to and some people never do. My first bifocals caused me to look down at my feet so I wouldn't trip and I still to that. I tried no line and they made me stumble bum falling all over the place so beware! As to regular bifocals & trifocals.......they are a snap to get used to.

Neil_B

I think the moderators should move this to 50+. :-)

RonE

Be careful if you consider progressive lenses. Once your brain gets used to them, they work fine in the office where the continuous focus is important. But, because of the way the progressive lenses are made, the lower outside portion of the lens is essentially uncorrected glass/plastic, which makes it nearly impossible for me to look back over my shoulders and focus on anything. Focusing on the roadway in front of you (near or far) is essentially all "long" distance, so I got bifocal lenses with a very small bifocal portion (so that I can read if I have to do so).

Peter_C

FYI - have needed and used 'progressive' lenses for4 or 5 years now...

It was quite hard to get used to them. A bigger lense *WILL* help you! Like the post above me stated - your vision out of the corners of your eyes will only be good to detect motion. So, you might do what I do, I have a mirror that clips onto my glasses so I can see behind me - as "shoulder checks" are worthless to me now.

You will need to stick with it, and try wearing them every waking minute (to get used to them faster) - and be very careful riding or driving until you are used to them as your depth perception may be off.

"Transitions" = name of lense coating to make them darken in sunlight - used to be called "photo-grey" or "photo-sun".

Wogster

It's unusual though to go from no glasses to bifocals right away... Usually you go through a progression....

When I was 39 and younger, I didn't need glasses, turned 40 and all of a sudden my arms were too short. So I got some reading glasses and used them only when reading, which I found over about a 5 year period I needed more and more. Now I really need 2 pair, one for reading and one for seeing. So Bifocals are the next logical step, but I suspect that they will be expensive and I don't have a benefits plan at the moment.... I have to read a passage in church this morning and printed up the words in a 16 point font, so that I can read it.

CraigB

I was wondering about that, too. If thestoutdog never needed glasses of any kind, and is now discovering the "joys" of presbyopia, I would think simple drugstore magnifiers would be all he would need, or at worst maybe a pair of prescription reading glasses. I've never known anyone who used bifocals that didn't have some degree of needed correction in the upper part of the lenses.

thestoutdog

I had not thought of looking over my shoulder, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

thestoutdog

I also have something called "convergence", where the eyes don't work great together. I've always had a small second of delay when seeing far then switching to near, basically, my eyeballs don't "relax" when shifting near and far, so I hadn't really given it much thought until I started getting headaches when reading or on the computer for any length of time and my Mrs. Stoutdog kept commenting on how I was squinting when reading street sighs and such. She's cool like that, always looking out for me.

thestoutdog

Some days I feel like it.

Neil_B

I post there, even though I'm just a kid compared to some of them.

bradtx

I tried to ride with bifocals, I can't seem to go straight so it's either single 'script glasses or none at all.

Brad

hwycruiser

+ 1 on ProClear bifocal contacts, but I had to try 5 different brands until I found these to work

If you just need to see up close (i.e. read your bike computer while riding), you may want to try these bifocals from LL Bean. They would be a lot less expensive than buying a custom pair of sport sunglasses for riding. You would just need to figure out what magnification you need to see up close.

steve0257

The transition lenses are a no go for because the gradual change gives me a headache. I have two pair. regular bifocals for routine wear and pair with the near prescription for computer work and reading.

damnable

They're called progressive lenses. Transitions are the lenses that turn dark in sunlight and are clear indoors.

Did your optician tell you why you needed the bifocals as opposed to a single vision lens?

I would have a careful think about what you need glasses for and when you need them. I started with the progressive lenses but they didn't work for me. The reason was that I work in front of a computer screen most of the day. The setup for any computer setup has the screen at a level where you look through the higher powered part of the progressive lens (the upper part). To have the screen properly positioned required the screen to be recessed into the desk. I've seen this done, but it isn't a feasible thing to do in workplaces. So I was using too high a powered lens and my eyes kept getting worse.

My issues have been solved by getting two sets of glasses. One for close work, which is also fine to wear around the place (I can still see fine and I don't walk into things) and I found are still legal to drive in. And other pair for far away work, things such as sitting in seminars, watching movies, driving and of course riding.

It also depends on your riding style. If you look down at your computer often then progressive lenses may help if you have trouble refocusing changing distances. But if you don't look at your computer much, a single vision lens may do you - at least for riding.

engstrom

I'll be talking to my eye doctor. I've worn glasses for distance vision since I was 14. Now that I'm in my early to mid fourties and my distance vision has gotten worse over the years I cannot read up-close to mid vision (books to computer screens) with my distance glasses on. I have to take off my glasses to see up close and mid-range.