Sunglasses
 

Few rides already and I have learned that sunglasses may be a deffinate must, how much does a decent pair go for at a LBS?

www.performancebike.com around $50
At the lbs, expect to pay between that and $100, as always, try it in front of a fan to see how it blocks wind and vents.
Anything over $100 and its mostly vanity you're paying for.

Depends if your a brand freak or not. I use a $30 pair of glasses from supergo and they work fine plus I don't have to worry about wrecking them as they cost a good deal less than my Oakleys.

I would recommend a pair of sunglasses that have interchangeable lenses - that is to say smoke/red/yellow/clear or something like that. I bought a pair like this for about £15 sterling, and find the different lenses very useful in different lighting conditions; the clear or yellow being great for really dark days or at night. Or maybe you live somewhere that is always sunny, unlike me!
I see a pair like this with four lenses is available in the US for $20 from www.probikekit.co.uk
I have found them to be excellent at keeping the wind out of my eyes, and for this money it doesn't matter when I drop them under my wheels trying to put them on whilst cycling.

Look for a sale at the lbs but any good pair from anywhere will work.

For most situations, I find that dark and clear will work.
Having yellow or orange is nice for overcast days but not really necessary. And at night, yellow I find also makes the glare from car lights worse.

I purchased mine at Walmart in the Hunting section. $10. I refuse to drop $50+ on sunglasses.

i got a nice pair of bolle`s at a store that was selling out and closing shop i think i payed 25bucks for them

Some refuse to pay for expensive sunglasses, I refuse to waste my money on cheap ones. It's a matter of where you place your values. I will destroy ten pair of cheap sunglasses and spend the same amount of money in a quarter the useful lifespan of a pair of good sunglasses like Oakley's. I'm a photographer, so I'm big on protecting my eyes to begin with. I simply will not wear cheap sunglasses that might shatter in a crash.

Many people, like me, believe in Murphy's Law regarding sunglasses: the more expensive the shades, the quicker they will get broken or lost.

Yeah, hard to imagine any shades being more fragile than Oakleys. So I can't agree w dave's durability argument, except that you will be much less likely to put them where they might get sat or stepped on after paying 3 figures!

The protection of complete UV blocking (and IF and near blue spectrum preferably) and reduced eyestrain from optical quality lens are important IMO. "worth protecting, worth Bollé" was a good slogan. Bollé used to make a big deal about the absorption spectrum, the IREX lens filtered all UV and IF radiation, now their literature doesnt say what % visible, etc. are transmitted, I guess they are still good.

When I worked in a lab, I put a lens from my Bollés in a spectrometer and it showed a beautiful bell shaped curve around the visible spectrum. The transmission spectrum of a cheap sunglasses' lens looked more like OJ's polygraph!

I just received a pair of Performance Radial II Multi-lens from Performance Bike. Has 3 interchangeable lens (Grey, Orange and Clear) also available with an Rx Adapter (extra). It's listed in their Summer 2004 Catalouge for $44.99, on sale for $39.99. I ordered them online from their web site and paid $22.48.

I wear a pair of mako fatboys i got about 5 years ago for AUS$90. Love 'em (mainly cause their polarised) but could go a pair of clear/yellow ones for nighttime riding to keep the bugs and wind out.

I have to pay a little more because I need prescription inserts...For a birthday, I went all out and bought some Rudies..Lens clarity is incredible..Rarely do you find them on sale and they are expensive..One downside, my mirror that mounts to the side of the glasses doesn't work on the Ruddies..Have to use a handlebar mounted mirror.
So often, I wear my Performance sunglasses...Seems they are like $59 but they go for $39 on sale. The model I bought I like because they allow for inserts,but have air vents to help with defogging. Wider coverage than Ruddies even, to help keep out the insects.

You could also look at local optical shops or camping stores to compare prices. For sunglasses, just as with shoes, and bikes, try them on before you buy. Everybody's head and face shape is different. Different styles fit differently, and look different. For protection from UV, wind, and foreign objects, you don't have to spend much to get a pair that works.

However, you really do get what you pay for in sunglasses. When you spend more cash, you'll see the build quality increase, such as better materials used to make the frames, and better lens coatings. Also, some of the more spendy brands, like Bolle, Rudy Project, Oakely, Native, and Smith have breakage replacement policies of some sort, meaning that if you break your high dollar frames, they charge you only a fraction for replacements. I went through 3 pairs of $30 Performance brand sunglasses ($90) before I realized Natives were much higher quality, and had a replacement policy when they break.

Those brands you talked about also will give you extra colored lens somewtimes. Also with the ones you get,make sure they have a rubber nose peice and rubber on the part that goes on your ears as they wont move around when you sweat. They are always on sale. I think performance and SG have pretty good sales going on right now and performance is double points weekend.

Being a eyeglass wearer, are any that "go on top" of your glasses any good? Anyone have experience with this?

$10 pair of sunglasses = $10 dollar lenses. What's a $100 dollars or so when you're talking about your eyes. Bad lenses can't be good for your eyes so why risk it? Drop the change and get quality sunglasses.

See Lasik thread.

Performance is having a great sale on some of their sunglasses with the interchangeable lenses, like the Orion lenses. I got mine with the three interchangeable lenses for $22.95, and that includes a carrying case and a cloth for cleaning the glasses. With the double points weekend, you can't lose!

Koffee

Don't lnow where you live but in my area Big-5 always has discontinued, last years model sunglasses for cheap.

BTW, clip on sunglasses suck....and not suck like a hoover...more like suck like a black hole. I had glare coming form the outside of the glasses lens, and from the inside of the sunglass clip-on lens....basically a giant glare loop...I could not see anyhting until I took em off.

So basically, if you have scrips, get a pair of prescription sunglasses, spend the dinero, it's bettter than clip on garbage that will leave you unable to see.