nayr497

I have a pair of Oakley sunglasses that I wear daily. The current lenses I have are the polarized VR28, which is a reddish/brown color. I can wear them in everything from bright sun to near dusk. But, with fall coming, I'm looking for some lenses for days without sun, rainy days, and flat light days. I'd like to get an all-around lens for these days. Trying to decide between a few...

- clear
- yellow
- HI yellow iridium

The current lenses I have work well in a really wide range of light conditions. I do like wearing glasses in all conditions (wear contacts, bugs, wind shielding, etc.) The clear seems like the obvious choice, but if the yellow doesn't interfere with vision in low light, I thought some color might be nice.

Experience? Opinions?

kimconyc

I have the Oakley Radars with VR28 Black Iridium polarized for normal riding as well.

Now that fall/winter is coming, I will eventually switch to plain yellow since I will be leaving when it's dark and the days will most likely be gray when I'm coming home in the morning.

I like yellow because it allows enough light for me to see in the dark while it's really great on cloudy/overcast days.

fatdad

If Oakley makes a persimmon lense for your style of sunglasses, consider them. I use the G30 lense on my M-frame Oakleys for daytime riding and switch over to persimmon lenses for cloudy days or evening rides.

I believe they let in about 60% of the light.

khatfull

I went the cheap route. Went to the local big box hardware store and got two pairs of safety glasses, one tinted for sun, one clear for overcast/dusk/dark. $20. And, presumably very shatterproof

nayr497

Thanks, kimconyc. Okay, that is what I was after. If the yellow is good on cloudy days, seems to be a better option than the clear. Do you have the plain yellow of the HI yellow?

Fatdad, thanks for the reply. Okay, I'll check out the numbers of each lens. Hmm, mine are pretty close in color to the persimmon, so maybe not quite light enough. Mine are pretty darn good even when I get caught out as it is getting dark. But yeah, I should check out the actual numbers of light transmission.

Yellow seems to be what might be best for me.

kimconyc

I just have regular yellow.

Mose

I'd second the yellow color for overcast days as well. When I ski around dawn or dusk in really flat light, yellow I find does the best at increasing contrast while not blocking too much light overall, which is a pretty tough thing to do when you're looking at evenly lit snow.

Nachoman

Yellow for dawn and dusk and darks for everything else.

Flatballer

yellow here for those days.

Bonus: they put you in a better mood because everything looks bright.

Hunt-man

Get some light sensitive / photo chromatic glasses. Clear when it is dark and dark when it is light. I wear mine all the time. I would recommend the CAT-1 brand at performance but they have been discontinued and replace with an identical product for twice the cost.

kaNUK

This. Seriously.

kaNUK

Kai Winters

For overcast I like the persimmon lens. They do make a persimmon lens, or at least did.

nayr497

Thanks for all of the replies! I'm trying to get by with just two lenses. I'd like to use these in no-sun fall day conditions, early morning without sun, cloudy days, etc. I like to ride with some sort of eye protection at all times. As stated, the current lenses are good for slight sun to bright sun, and even down to pretty low light conditions.

For those of you using yellow lenses - do you use them only on really low-light days or in some sun (like overcast, but bright out)?

For those of you using persimmon - again, do you use them in no-sun, early morning, cloudy, etc?

-- I'd like to pick the lenses that are best in these conditions and that I can use in no-sun as well as early morning and cloudy conditions.

Some numbers:
VR 28 polarized (what I have now): 16% light transmission
Clear: 93%
Yellow: 90%
HI Yellow: 86%
Persimmon:61%
HI Persimmon: 59%

I'm wondering if the persimmon will be good in low light, dusk, early morning and cloudy conditions, or if it stops too much light. I'm also wondering if the yellow provides enough shade on no-sun days that are still somewhat bright.

There is just a big jump from the HI Yellow to the HI Persimmon, the two lenses I'm leaning towards. Trying to decide between them.

navyasw02

I have a pair of Rudy's with a Racing Red (I think) color lens insert which is great for cloudy days. It's almost more of a pink than red, but it makes it look like a sunny day out.

stonecrd

Did this as well, got mine from Tifosi. Works well since when I leave in the morning it is dark but by my second loop the sun is up and in my face.

nayr497

- They don't have the photochromatic lenses for my frames.

- Still trying to decide between the HI persimmon and the HI yellow.

- For those using the persimmon...can you use them in really low light, like early morning or overcast days? If they work down to really low light, seem better than the yellow.

- For those using the yellow...do you wish you had darker lenses or are they good for cloudy/early morning conditions?

- Current lenses have 16% transmission.
- HI Yellow = 86%
- HI Persimmon = 59%

- If the 16% allows me to see in most conditions, I'm leaning towards the persimmon. Seems like it would be good in low to mid light and the 86% transmission almost sounds too high, like not enough shading when it gets brighter.

Hmm, new lenses for $80...or new glasses for $130...might be worth it to avoid the switching of lenses hassle to just get a new pair for a bit more. With how often I wear them (daily) and now much I like them, might be worth it to just get another pair.

Hunt-man

Nahbar has some photochromatic glasses for under $40. Just saw them in the current catalog I got yesterday. FYI.

andrace

i have many lenses for my mframes, my back round was clay target shooting where lens selection tends to be a bit more critical.
just like what your thinking i use yellow for overcast/rainy. i use a dark root beer color i dont remember what the lens is called for sunny days. i have a few lenses with iridium coatings and whatnot but i dont wear them just because i would be pissed at myself for damaging a pair of shooting lenses while cycling.
in cycling all you are really aiming for is to relax your eyes, color shift, and contrast are not critical while riding.

sstorkel

I own an older pair of Smith Voodoo Slider glasses and have four lenses: dark gray, clear, yellow, and orange.

Yellow is good for overcast days where there's little chance of the sun coming out. They increase contrast and make everything look cheery, but don't block much light. If the sun does appear you'll be wishing for a darker lens; the yellow lenses just don't block much light at all.

The orange lenses are good for mixed sunny/overcast days. They transmit enough light that you can still see well in overcast conditions, but block just enough light that you're not hating life when the sun appears (though you might well wish for a darker lens).

At dawn/dusk, I switch to clear lenses.

staehpj1

I am very happy with my Rudy Project Horus with Transitions (photochromic) lenses ground with my prescription.

carpediemracing 

I had contacts for a few months, tried all the lenses, and liked the yellow ones for night, dusk, etc, and since I did a lot of night riding, I used them a lot. I like the yellow lenses so much I wore them permanently for a number of years as my main (prescription) glasses.

In fact, when I got clear lenses, my nephews cried when they saw me. They didn't know what was wrong with me. lol.

I still have the yellow lens glasses but I think they're a bit much for all the time. I use them whenever I can think of an excuse to use them.

Ultimately I'd like to get a set of yellow for one of my more modern frames, to supplement my clear and black iridium.

cdr

nayr497

Well, the days continue to get more and more cloudy as fall rolls in...

I can still see in almost all conditions with my VR28s.

I think I'm going to start with the persimmon and see how those do. If I still need more light, I'll get some yellow lenses to switch out with. However, I think the jump from 16% to 60% is going to be enough for me; the 86% might be too much.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Salmosebago

paralysis by analysis. Go to a store that has all the options on cloudy day, try them all on, walk outside, buy the pair you like. I like yellow for cloudy.

Shouldn't that be "da hui"?

Eclectus

I got a pair of custom-made amber glasses in 63 fabricated by a glider pilot. Enhanced contrast.

Later got some Serengetti rosies for skiing. Super contrast. Weird colored landscape, but interesting (one pair photocrhomic).

I've got Oakley blue iridium and gray. Also Revo gray polarized (the company that pioneered NASA coatings before Oakley showed up, now both owned by Luxxotica).

For these lower-light months, I got Oakley clears (M frame snap ins). They're perfect if you don't want weirdup color vision, and your eyes aren't ubersensitive to day light. Plus they work great if you ride into post-sunset and don't want to change lenses and glasses.

For deep, really cold winter riding, when glasses get fogged with my nose-over balaclava I have Scott photochromic goggles going from light gray to colorlesss.

This is one of those things you have to play with and decide what you like. I like neutral gray, polarized preferably but not is fine when I'm riding, and clear colorless in flatter light, but other people like colors, and I'm not going to say they're wrong. Vision is a personal thing.

Geoff326

yellow for me