Unexpected benefit of wearing sports sunglasses.
 

I just bought a pair of Rudy Project Horus and they're such an improvement over my normal glasses.

What surprised me, is I'm faster. My neck isn't very flexible, and I have to strain to keep my head up when tucking. I'd have to squint to push my glasses further up to look through the lenses at the top of my field of vision. But now with the sunglasses, I can tuck lower, for longer, with more confidence. My lower back was even hurting for 15 mins after my ride because I was in the drops for longer, which didn't happen on previous rides. So therefore, I got faster because I bought sunglasses.

and I highly recommend anyone with glasses to get some quality sports [sun]glasses

My Oakley Jawbones changed my life. Not only can I see more and much clearer but the fact that I NEVER have to worry about water beading on them or sweat staining them is AWESOME! I didn't realize how often I had to take off my old glasses or stop at the side of the road and clean them. The lenses would have all these streaks and stains and it sucked.

First ride with the Jawbones and I was amazed. I just completed a four hour ride yesterday with them and never took them off, never wiped them down, never cleaned them, etc. I just rode and they did their job.

They were $180 with two lenses and it's some of the best money I have spent so far on my cycling gear.

You need to feed this sunglasses' data into analytical cycling.

omg....

My jawbones with vented lenses are caked in salt after an hour or hard riding and I can't see through them anymore. There are no sunglasses that stay clean when I wear them. I sweat more salt than just about anybody I know.

Do you wear a HALO Headband? I used to go sans headband until I discovered the HALO. It channels all the sweat away from face and down the sides. Some will still splash on your shades and when I do a massive long climb on extremely hot days it will streak down your glasses.

If you are wearing a headband and still have that much sweat well then you're just out of luck.

My experience with the Jawbones is similar. And they dont have great peripheral vision either. The Jawbones were my first pair of Oakleys that I have purchased in several years, and IMO, they are still the same over-priced, over-hyped product that had led me stop buying them in the first place.

V.

Lame. So I guess to hydrophobic coating isn't all its made out to be? I was seriously considering a set of cycling specific sunglasses because I'm so tired of not being able to see out of my current pair. Its literally dangerous during group rides when I don't have time to wipe them down properly and I end up having to ride without them.

Oakleys are somewhat overpriced (paid over $300 for mine - I get sales tax in California:twitchy:), but I plan on using my Jawbones for the rest of my life (until they die in a tragic accident or something).

For me, The hydrophobic coating works flawlessly. I did get mine for skiing though, so they are polarized also :thumb:. I think they were worth the money. I also have a nice range of vision, but that may be because the Jawbones are big for my face...

I'll stick to my script sunglasses I've had since before I started riding. They protect my eyes from the sun, they are prescription, and I've already paid for them. Who cares if I look like a fool and have salt lines running down 'em, I can still see through 'em and they don't cost an extra couple hundred $$

I ride with Oakley Radar Paths and there a great pair of sunglasses. Ebay is a lot cheaper than a sunglass shop.

I need to get a pair of cycling-specific sunglasses. I had random flotsam fly into my eyes riding.

Unless it's cold enough to prevent normal sweating, the only time my sunglasses are clean is when I put them on. Cycling with sweaty glasses has always been a part of cycling for me and I have had zillions of different sunglasses.

I just purchased a pair of Oakley Flak Jackets off of ebay for $107 shipped, they retail for $155. They are awesome glasses. They are replacing my Oakley Half Jackets and I am amazed at how much better the lenses are on the flak jackets. The hydrophobic coating is awesome! I was a little skeptical about it until my first ride, it was only two hours but my glasses were still streak free.

To be fair, the few times I have sweated on my Oakleys, the water has gone right off. The lenses do get stained, but not as much as others. And they also dont fog much - although mine have fogged a few times recently on my trip to Bhutan. I'd be happier with the Jawbones if they had better vision at the edges and also if the lenses were less prone to scratching.

Whoa whoa whoa.....hold on there....I can't let this one squeak by without a comment...

In my experience the Hydrophobic Coating DOES work and works to perfection. Granted, my previous sunglasses were the $39 Performance ones with the three interchangeable lenses. They served their purpose but it was God-awful to replace the lenses (I ride a lot at night and would would switch to the clear lenses for that) and the frame started having a lot more give and was getting loose on my big head. I was seriously stopping to wipe these things down every 30 minutes in the summer. In fact I even brought a lens cloth with me on rides for this specific purpose.

I have never had to wipe my Jawbones down. I don't get the peripheral vision thing either. Seems to have just as much to me as my Performance glasses which had no frame at all. I have the vented lenses and on one cold (for SoCal) morning they fogged up on me at a stoplight but cleared immediately when I started rolling again. Outside of that I've had no problems.

Two companies have changed my cycling life - Oakley and Lezyne. The Lezyne pumps are just phenomenal and I love them to death. The Jawbones changed the way I look at the world when I ride and made it so my sunglasses became a negligible part of my ride - no maintenance whatsoever.

And this is coming from a guy who wears only Revo in his regular life. I always thought of Oakley as kind of a hip, over-priced, juice-head weightlifter type of company. To me these cycling-specific glasses make as much sense as wearing bike shorts versus jean shorts on a ride. They've had that kind of impact on me.

My bi focal jawbones are supposed to arrive Friday. dark lenses and yellow, both in bi-focal config. Thank goodness I have a good vision plan, and am double covered or I'd never be able to afford them.

I have a pair of the Flak Jackets as well, as a gift. I too thought they were overpriced and not worth it until I rode with them. My lenses are sometimes a bit dark for overcast days (I have a lot of trees by me and it can get pretty dark) - they are the blue ones by the way. But otherwise they are 100% worth the money paid, and probably saved my eye when a truck kicked up a pebble into them. Didn't crack, chip, etc. I saw a demo by Oakley that showed how when a rock shoots into the glasses, it is virtually impossible for them to break INTO your eye. Somehow they design it so it breaks away & out. This might be the same deal for all sports glasses though, may not be Oakley specific. You might be able to get a better deal, but I'm sold on them.

EDIT - Completely agree with the cheeze factor with these, as Accordian mentioned. I felt that I should cut my sleeves off and grow a mullet when I first got em. Then again, I never thought I'd be wearing Bike shorts & arm warmers....

Oakley lense clarity is awesome. I used to ride with the $20 cheapies for years then I got some Radars and riding was much more fun. They do collect sweat on the bottom where my cheeks will rub against them but I can't see it until I take them off for which I promptly wipe them down, put them back in the bag and case. There are two nicks in them from I guess rocks that flew up but better the glasses than my eyes.

I wear these and never have any issues. they are insanely comfortable, never fog, and I don't get any sweat on them. I also have an extra $100+ in my pocket. So, have you guys with your oakley's ever tried quality shooting glasses?

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/safetyglassesusa_2126_329363234

I doubt it.

I shoot a lot and have shooting glasses, although they're rather generic and probably not quality shooting glasses.

I guess you could take any glasses from any specific sport and they'd translate reasonably well to another sport. My money is on cycling-specific glasses because I cycle around 200 miles a week and need them. Can you swap out lenses easily with those Smith and Wessons? Do they have Hydrophobic lenses? I don't sweat when I shoot so I wouldn't care in that aspect.

To each his own. Wear what is comfortable and allows you to enjoy your cycling to it's utmost. For me that decision was Oakley Jawbones and I don't regret it for a second.

With a price of $7, I don't need to swap out lenses. I just grab a different pair. Hydrophobic lenses? I have no idea if they have the same marketing department as Oakley, but I can tell you that water runs right off the lenses. Because of the shape they don't fog and I have never gotten a single drop of sweat on them. I just wonder if the people have tried safety glasses before making the expensive plunge into Oakley's. I ride over 100 miles a week which for me at my slow speed translates into 9-12 hours of riding and I sweat plenty.

I have tried plenty of cheap glasses and plenty of expensive glasses. I currently have several pairs of Optic Nerve (used to be sponsored by them) and two pairs of Oakleys. I can even tell a huge difference between my Oakley Half Jackets and my new Flak Jackets. It amazes me at how well water and sweat run off of the Flak Jackets.

Ahhhhhhh okay. This is apples to oranges in my estimation. I had glasses like those from Performance. Unless you've put on a pair of Oakleys and ridden your bike for two hours with them you'll never know the difference - which might be just fine. Trying on a friend's pair or putting some on in the store and looking in the mirror won't cut it. And lastly some detractors will simply state for that price they're gimmicky and have to be a scam.

I'm a 20mph average guy and these changed my riding, although I was a 20mph average guy with my cheap Performance glasses as well. This is just much more comfortable.

Good luck!