I use multifocal contact lenses. They're a vast improvement over any sort of glasses! You get perfectly seamless vision correction at all distances.

Same here. Gave progressive lenses (trifocals) a 6 month tryout and absolutely hated them, because I had to turn my head every time I wanted something in focus. I went back to lined trifocals and now I'm happy again.

I enjoy my progressives for everything but riding at night. When looking side to side at an intersection and watching for traffic, the progressives make up to 4 different focal points. It confuses me. I just wear regular glasses at night for protection against bugs and debris.

Had glasses since I was 17, went to bifocals in 1996 at 40. I have always had my daily glasses and a pair of Rx sunglasses. I tried the Bole' wrap around sunglasses in the 90's for riding but not an Rx lens. No problems with standard lined Bifocals or trifocals and seeing my computer on the bars. A Topeak with a large readout, pretty simple unit that I like.

I do think about getting the Oakley Rx shades for the wraparound protection, maybe this time I'll ask the optometrist about them. Anyone here used the Oakleys in an Rx format lens?

Bill

I'm not sure about Oakley's...I've mostly just seen Plano( no RX) glasses but I know you can Rx Rudy Project's in a ton of lens options.

I have seen an ad in the back of magazines for a company, I'll look for, that do Rx Oakleys and perhaps others. What is Project Rudy?

Bill

Here's a question:

I'm a long-time glasses wearer with bad astigmatism. I wear variable focus glasses. For riding, up to now, I wear Toric contacts/monovision (one eye for close focus, one for distance) which causes all sorts of problems. I'd like to try my hand at long distance riding and suspect my contacts wouldn't be good for that. I also sweat like a pig.

So the question is this: anyone have any clever solutions to cycle wear with glasses other than prohibitively expensive prescription lenses?

Most of the time it's as simple as switching out your "near" lens to your regular distance power. You will of course lose some of the clarity at your near distance, so you might not be able to see your maps, instruments etc. but it will most likely improve your distance vision, thus allowing you to just buy a pair of good quality sunglasses without throwing in the added expense of prescription Rx spectacle lenses. When the Doc writes your Monovision RX, he writes it for one eye to be focused at the "near" and one eye at the "distance" as you mentioned. You would just need to go back and inquire on getting a new set of lenses for the eye you want to convert bk to distance.

I hope I didn't totally confuse you. LOL

Rudy Project is a line of sunglasses geared specifically towards cyclist and avid sports enthusiasts. They come in many options and make your life a lot easier on your bike. -- I love mine, it was the best thing I have ever done for my eyes!

Check them out: http://www.rudyproject.com/
The only advise I would give you is to go to a good optical shop and check them out. Sometimes it's hard to know what your options are over the internet, and if they optician is knowledgeable it will make your life a heck of a lot easier!

Thanks 3 circles I will ask about them and research them, thanks for the link, headed there shortly.

Bill

Really appreciate all the good responses to my original post. I'm looking at the initial purchase of normal glasses and sunglasses as "data collection". I'll have to figure out what works best for riding, computer, driving. FWIW, I wear safety glasses with 2.0 diopter inset for riding and they generally work well, but my uncorrected vision is somewhere between 20/40 and 20/80 so reading certain types of signs can be difficult and of course the stoker can't see a darn thing form the back of the bus. I'll try the prescription sunglasses for riding, but I may need something more specific to cycling.

Here's the beautiful thing: There are Opticians out there that help you figure out what your eyewear needs are. I think often there is a mis-conception that they're going to pressure you into buying an expensive pair of specs that you don't need when in fact, if they are doing their job correctly it should be more of a dialog session to figure out what the best solution for your eyes are! I can't tell you how many times I've talked people out of buying glasses they didn't need just because they were not educated. -- I would strongly encourage you to go into a reputable shop rdtompki, and spend a little time talking to them(optician) and just getting a few ideas. And usually if the Doc prescribes an Add Power( Bifocal) I usually tell bikers to also get it in their sunglasses so they can still see their instruments and wheels if they have a flat...However, everyone's needs and preferences are going to be different so it's good to get a few ideas. Half the time my patients don't even know the technology that is available to them unless we spend a little time talking about it. -- It's my job to help my clients see better so if I'm not asking the right questions odds are likely that they are going to get the same lenses they have had for years just because that is all they know. Truth be told, there generally isn't one lens that will perform in all arenas... depending on what you are doing, and how you are using your eyes, there are going to be different lens options that work. I hope this helps! :)

Well, here is my 2 cents. For biking I had a pair of bifocals made specifically for bicycling. I measured the distance between my Head and my Garmin when I was riding and also paid attention to where the Garmin is in my field of vision so I could place the near part in the correct place. When I need sunglasses I just use polarized clipons over my glasses. They work quite well and are a lot less expensive than having to buy a pair of prescription sunglasses. I've never been an fan of progressive lenses especially for riding a bicycle. I got the bifocals for when I was touring so I could read the Garmin map easily. I don't really need them to read the cycle computer.

Well said 3 Circles! I was beginning to think our Optometrist was one in a million from others descriptions in life. I suspect much of the pushy sell aspect comes from the big chain glasses shops in malls.

Bill

Like with many things (my LBS comes to mind) there must be expertise and a relationship to get the most from the expertise.

Depends on what the reason is. Mostly if someone is farsighted and their eyes turn in, you can have success "straightening" the eyes with glasses. Other wandering eye problems.....not so much.

I have worn bifocals for over 30 years and have no problem seeing both near and far, except on windy or cold days my eyes will water. This makes seeing in both cases difficult. I have tried wearing goggles over my glasses, no help. I just ride slower and wipe my eyes a lot with a handerchief.

for the casual readers of this thread who only need reading glasses for seeing the speedo/computer, reading maps, and fixing flats and such, you might want to check out www.safetyglassesusa.com They have a great selection of bifocal reading/null sunglasses in lots of styles and colors.

I have 6 pair of dark glasses for day riding/driving, 2 pr of amber for overcast days, and 2 pr of clear for nights. I love them, and they were only $6 ea.( the amber were a bit more.) If you scratch or loose them you don't feel bad.

I have several pair with bifocal inserts from that outfit - good prices and fast delivery. I may stick with these for cycling, but my distant vision really requires a correction and I suspect once I try riding with prescription sunglasses I'll want something cycling-specific with the Rx. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks to all for the great responses to my original post!

I got a similar cheap single vision pair for home repair projects. I had to tilt my head way back to see anything over my head, like a light fixture. Now everything at arm's length is in focus. They work great. But it's weird walking around with these glasses, since everything farther away is out of focus, even the ground under my feet.

I have progressive bifocal (Maui Jim Ti framed) sunglasses, and wear them for all purposes, including cycling. If I'm outside and it's not night, I have my sunglasses on. I can look below them to read my computer, which is more a brightness issue than a focus issue.

I'd love a pair of nifty cycling specific wraparound Rx sunglasses, but I'm not too keen on having lenses glued onto the back of the sunglasses, which seems to be the only way to get the overall coverage you want for cycling, while also having correction. You'd think it would be possible to engineer glasses that provided proper correction while allowing more curvature...

TSL, I'm search-challenged, so it seems... can't find this discussion in BF. Would you please post the link? I'm very interested in learning more about different "corridor" sizes, since I've been wearing progressives since I was 40 and do both fine close work at my job, ride, and use my glasses with binoculars too. Only ever had one type, the german ones. Thanks!

Progressive lenses and cycling is the thread. That's where I learned that there differences between lenses. My optician taught me what those differences are and how they can optimize different usages.

"Corridor" is optician jargon for the intermediate section of the lens that progresses from distance to near vision. Corridor lengths are primarily to fit smaller or larger frames, but can also be used to fine-tune for intended use.

At work I spend most of my day in the intermediate zone, so we concentrated on that region when selecting the lenses. My lenses have a longer corridor than you would typically put in a frame the size I bought, and the lenses we chose have one of the widest corridors available.

I'm not sure if I've linked to them, but I ended up with Seiko Surmounts in my everyday glasses, and Zeiss GT2s in my polarized sunglasses.

The Seikos are a "soft" design and have a wider corridor, the GT2s have features of both "soft" and "hard" designs. I have to say I prefer the off-axis astigmatism control in the Zeiss lenses, but for work, I like the Seikos for their intermediate zone, even if the off-axis astigmatism control isn't as nice.

Up this thread a ways, 3 circles sounds like she could be helpful in explaining things, and making corrections to anything I've gotten wrong. Other 50+ opticians replied in the thread I linked above.

Hope this helps!

I've been wearing glasses for about the last 18 years or so - Reading lenses at first and then bifocals later. As my eyes changed over the years, what were once reading glasses became pretty decent distance glasses a few years later. :)

I've tried progressives twice over the past five years and won't try them again. If I could get progressives that varied in focal distance vertically but not horizontally, they might be OK. However, I don't like reading a phone book where the name is somewhat clear, but the number is unreadably blurry. Having the focal distance vary horizontally is maddening to me. I also end up with headaches - Not from my eyes, but from unconciously tightening my neck muscles as I try in vain to find *that* sweet spot for whatever I'm viewing. Both times I tried them, the area of clear vision was little (if any) larger than a half-dollar at arm's length.

Plus, they're always skewed to the distance end of the spectrum. The last pair required me to look through the bottom 1/8" of the lens to read a book in my lap. While my vision can be improved at any distance, I don't need glasses to drive and prefer to just wear normal sunglasses instead. About the only practical side effect I have from driving while not wearing distance vision glasses is that on Interstate Hwy signs, "B", "3" and "8" tend to look alike from a distance and street signs require some closeness to read. Other than that, I'm good. But I HAVE to have correction for reading (+2 diopter and astigmatism in both eyes).

Next eye Dr. visit (early Feb.), I'll go back to bifocals corrected for near and intermediate vision only. Working on computers as I do, that's all I need. Progressives sound like a good idea, but I've never been able to make them work despite repeated attempts. :twitchy:

It was anecdotes like these that kept me from trying progressives for many years. Reading comfortably is important to me. See my sig line for my occupation, and that importance will become clear. Typical novels in the 300 page range, I go thorough one a day.

Working with an optician who understands my needs, knows the options well enough to make a recommendation based on those needs (rather than on which lenses they can get the best deal on), who takes the right measurements to get the different portions of the lens in the right places, and my willingness to part with a little extra coin, made all the difference for me. I needed all four things in place. Any three wouldn't work for me.

The wider corridor of my Seiko lenses makes it possible for me to have the entire 20½" width of my computer screen in focus at a bit more than arm's length. (Well, only one screen at a time, but even with my old lined glasses I had to move my head from the left screen to the right one.)