Gadfly

Part of my commute includes a 25-30mph descent -- perhaps more if i wasn't fond of the brakes.
On this descent with my prescription glasses, my eyes tear up something fierce. By the time i get to the bottom, they are definitely compromising my vision -- in particular my ability to note/respond to things in the road, etc.

Will cycle-oriented sunglasses w/prescription address this problem? Any particular style in particular?

thanks
Adam

<would like to see where i'm going when going there rapidly>

khuon

Cycling sunglasses that are of the "wrap" style will offer enough side-wind protection to help keep your eyes from tearing up at 30MPH. My Rudy Project Kerosenes are good till around 50MPH before there's enough leakage to start effecting my eyes. Since you wear prescription, you'll want to get glasses that are Rx-compatible. This is usually done with inserts which are basically small prescription frames attached to the inside of sunglasses. Note that this requires you to go to an optical shop to essentially get a new set of prescription lenses specifically for the inserts. The sunglasses come with the templates for the insert sub-frame so an optical lab should be able to cut the lens to fit. Oakley goes one step further and will embed the actual lenses in the wraps. This is however fairly costly... especially if you want different colour wraps for different light conditions. I ride with contact lenses for road rides and use inserts for MTB rides.

sorebutt

YES! it will.. I have this problem with my optical glasses, but when I use a good wrap around glasses that actually touch your forehead (almost seals the wind), it really helps..

oxologic

Is there any other way other than using contact lenses if you are short-sighted? I'm considering to get a pair of sunglasses as well. I'm have no idea about tearing, but does eye drops help?

khuon

You can use the inserts but there are several things I don't like about them.

1. If you adjust them to sit close to the face without the inserts then when the inserts are used, they can be touching which might be annoying
   
2. Heavier
   
3. Multiple optical surfaces can cause distortion due to differences in index of refraction
   
4. They fog up easier in cold humid weather and are hard to clear when that happens. The Rudy Project Kerosenes I use have a "vent control" feature which helps keep things from fogging.
   
5. sweat can run between the two optical surfaces and be hard to wipe away

Again, Oakley solves many of these problems by embedding the prescription lens into the wrap but as I mentioned previously that's an expensive process and if you ever want to use an alternative coloured lens (for different light conditions) then you will need to have this process repeated N-number of times which can get REALLY expensive.