Guest

Tonight, I'm riding home from work in the pitch dark, and there is someone approaching from the opposite directions with light so bright I could not see a thing. Then I'm riding alongside the highway and the glare of the car lights are so bad I could only go about 6 miles per hour. Is there something I can do to reduce the glare?

Koffee

scottmorrison99

Other than trying a visor on your helmet and trying to use that to block the glare I really have no really good suggestion. I'd like the answer to this one too.

Walkafire

a nice wide visor works ...

Then you can tilt your head down a little...

This time of year (till Spring) I commute in total darkness. (To and From Work)

MyPC8MyBrain

I use the yellow lenses in my glasses after dark.. Seems to brighten things up and reduce the glare at the same time.

Worth a try

Guest

Ok a full helmet with visor will not work. I have limited funds right now. I think contacting the company where I have my current glasses to see if they make yellow lenses sounds like a good idea.

Koffee

Joe Dog

Try wearing a close-fitting ball cap or anything with a brim that will fit under your helmet. You won't make the cover of Bicyling magazine, but you won't ride into the ditch, either. Quick, cheap, easy, effective... but a little dorky.

Bekologist

I've got at least a half dozen pairs of prescription yellow, vermillion, and amber lens RayBan sports glasses- made at Lenscrafters for about 100 bucks - that all work well for cutting headlight glare... but they aren't be all, end all better.

... getting actual polarizing filters on a mid-tint vermillion or yellow lens will get you some of the best anti glare performance for nighttime.

Guest

Okaaaaaaayyyy... about 90% of that post is not english. I'm sure of it. Can you dumb it down for me a bit?

Koffee

Bekologist

get some tinted polarizing perscription 'sunglasses' in yellow or a nice orangey vermillion. At Lenscrafters they have Ray Ban sports frames you can get with your Rx for about a hunnert, maybe a hunnert and a half. I like them so much i have seven pair in my Rx.

Guest

I don't wear glasses. I've got 20/20 vision.

I know I sound ungrateful, but I am really REALLY working with a budget. That is a bit out of my price range.

I guess if it's expensive to reduce glare, I'll deal with what I've got and keep on squinting and slowing down. It's not a big deal... I just hoped there was a reasonable alternative to what I'm doing right now.

Koffee

Dchiefransom

What you need is cycling glasses with the prescription piece that goes behind them. You can change the colored lens that way and still have your prescription.
DOH !!! From your post, I assumed you wear prescription glasses**********????
If not, then just find a sale at Performance and get some glases with multiple lenses for less than $40. Otherwise, some of the companies make prescription inserts for your glasses, like Smith, Rudy Project, etc., for about $60.

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_id=2511

Some of the people in my club have these. They just snap onto your frames so the prescription lenses sit behind the protective lens.

Oops, I see the post above. Try a Performance shop for three colored glasses, or maybe try some shooting glasses at WalMart. Some come with rose and amber interchangeable lenses. For me, the amber lenses make lights WAAAAAY too bright.

Bekologist

Sorry, I thougt you needed an Rx. If you don't need 'scrips, just buy yeller or 'swap out' sunglasses with a yellow or orangey tint and wear them. nashbar always has about eighty different pairs of last years sunglasses and a lot of those give you multiple tints of lenses you swap out.

I have to wear glasses, so I choose to wear these Rayban sports frames as my regular, all the time glasses, inside or outside. I dig the different colors and styles of frame and tints to suit my whim. Never liked those perscription behind the sunglass glasses, those are dorky as well as problematic.

curt in denver

try some yellow lens ski goggles, Wal mart $18.00

Guest

Ok, no amber.... I'll check with performance. Rose might be a good color to work with? What if I just wore my sunglasses at night instead? Would that be too much? I know riding in the dark is hard, but I might be able to figure it out.

Koffee

Az B

Close your eyes and use the force.

Az

marcelinyc

blinking works for me

Bekologist

'steal the porsche, Luke, steal the porsche'

A dark sunglass might be too dark, a mid dark is probably just right. Rose is great but not as good as yellow or orangey, there's something to the light wavelength transmission thru those colors that make them better for cutting glare.

Polarizing is an actual directional anti glare coating, unfortunately, to get a real polarizing coat on glasses is not cheap and usually means you wear bass fishing glasses, super dark sailing glasses, or pay for a specific polarized sports glass with the tint you want.

I'd really suggest you hit up a friendly dispensing optitian that doesn't look wet behind the ears, and ask about 'sunglass' options to cut nightime driving glare. That'll get you the best info, i'm just a nearsighted hack with a penchant for funky shades.

*edited to add* go ahead and try the dark glasses, you certainly can ride wearing sunglasses at night and it cuts the glare pretty well. the problem is the perception of the stuff that ISN'T emmiting light.

Dchiefransom

Okay, Koffee, I just went out and stared at my headlights with different lenses. The amber lenses were too bright for me, but did change the glare just a little. I noticed a difference with the "orange" colored lenses of my Performance "Vega" glasses. They cut the brightness a bit more than the amber, but weren't bad when I walked out and looked around in my "urban" night light. I'm near a street light, but the headlights of cars going by weren't quite as bright. I could still see okay away from the street light area. Performance sells glasses with multi-lenses. The Performance "Quattro" lens is "brown", but works similar to the orange lenses of the other glasses.

https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/smitcod4plat1.html

https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/smitwescod4c1.html

https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/dusb2840stcs3.html

https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/t40-n.html

https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/t60-n.html

On multi-lens glasses where the nosepiece has to be removed to changes a one piece lens, I've snapped the nosepiece when it was cold (40s).

Joe Dog

Here's a quick little summary for those that don't read before they post:

- Glare is the problem.

- She does not need Rx glasses.

- She does not want to pay much at all.

- She may not even want glasses for that matter.

- She just wants less glare.

Guest

Ok, thanks for the test. I hadn't thought of trying that one.

I think I have the Vega, but they don't have orange. Or maybe I'm thinking I have the wrong ones. The Vegas are wraparounds, right?

Koffee

Dchiefransom

My Vega has a lens that looks red to me. They are separate lens glasses.


https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=2510

Try a ballcap or visor as suggested above. When I did, I didn't like losing track of what's ahead when I dipped my head lower to shield, but it might work for you (I'm in heavy traffic).Others in my club do it for riding at sundown.

MaxBender

Minimum budget: look down.

With oncoming glare, if you look down at the white road stripe to your right (If there is one) it's not so bad. The stripe is kind of a guide, and when you look back up, you can see a little better than by taking those bright lights head on.

Not quite as dangerous as riding with your eyes closed, but close.

Guest

I've been looking down... problem is, the glare mostly happens at bends and blind spots. So that's an option, but just not safe.

I may get another pair of the Vegas. I had a pair, but the lenses kept popping off. Finally, I just threw those bad boys away and got a different pair of Performance glasses. But maybe if I just got some to wear at night, they wouldn't be as irritating to have.

Koffee

Dchiefransom

I never use mine, want them? If you only use them with one set of lenses, a dab of Superglue gel in a couple of spots will keep the lens in place.

Bekologist

oh, and there's the 'one eyed' trick too...