Hey there - I commute about 10 miles each way to work Monday-Friday. It's typically a decent ride, with only a couple sections with hairy traffic.

Anyways - on Thursday on the way home the skies decided to open up on me. My glasses got covered in water and, to make it worse, the insides of them fogged up. It was late enough that everybody had their headlights on, so their headlights made a zillion little reflections in all the water in my glasses, essentially blinding me. There were times when I could only see a parked car when it was 10 feet in front of me. Not the best conditions!

Anyways - is there anything I can do about this? I need to wear glasses (I'm legally blind without them, see 20/15 with them) - but they also are causing a pretty serious problem for me...

Thanks!

Baseball cap?

Howdy neighbor,

I commute 14 miles from Kenmore Square to Norwood. I avoid rain and rumors of rain at all times, most of all to avoid messing up my pristine road bike, though I might ride in drizzle on my mountain bike, as I did this morning. Furthermore, it's pretty unpleasant and can be dangerous due to poor vision that also affects my eyeglasses. Fortunately, I can leave my bike at work and take a commuter rail home, and vice versa.

I bike rain, snow, or shine. So I need to find something that'll work in less than ideal conditions.

I don't have an answer, but I feel your pain. Water beaded on glasses + darkness + a million car tail lights = can't see a damn thing.

Next year I'm getting contact lenses.

Agree that it's a big problem. Things I've learned:

1. Wiping the lens with a fabric-gloved hand just makes it foggier
2. Wiping the lens with a bare finger can help
3. Get the lenses really clean before you start will make them less likely to fog up.

As far as fogging there are products for that. I used to use a little bar (basically pure glycerine soap as I recall) with mountaineering glasses as fogging at near/below freezing temps with side shields and no ventilation was definitely a problem. Just rubbed a coating on the inside of the glasses.

Anyone ever try Rain X on their glasses?

couldn't you just try spitting on 'em?

Contacts are not a perfect solution, either. I wore gas-permeable contacts for quite a few years. Vision was fine, but wind was a problem, so I'd wind up wearing sunglasses when I was outside in the daytime. I wasn't into cycling, but I can see that being a problem at night. Soft lenses have fewer wind problems, but I wasn't able to wear them.

I wear a cycling cap under my helmet. I usually keep the brim up, but when I flip it down, it does a good job shielding my eyes. I haven't tried in the rain yet. I've had pretty good luck with something called Cat Crap. You can also try Rain-X.

I have worn just a ball cap when bicycling in the rain here in the neighborhood. It wasn't a hard rain, and I wasn't going to fast, but it did work fine. That was on a bike trail, so I didn't have any spray from traffic.

I use rain-x wipes and they work pretty good but I buy my glasses with glass lenses and I don't know if rain-x would hurt plastic lenses or not.

I wear contacts in case it rains, and very cheap sunglasses. sometimes i switch with an extra pair I keep in my bag. I have rode with it raining so hard I thought it washed the contacts out of my eye more than once. At that point nothing seems to help. I think I will try a baseball cap under my helmet next time. I think rain is just going to be a pain. the thing I hate is the big drop of water that comes off the front tire and blows up in my face, hate that.

Not that it's any help, but I commute daily and wear glasses. I know exactly where you are with the vision, as Wed and Thursday night myself I was about riding blind.

To answer your question, no, I haven't found anything that works. Both rain-X and rain-x's anti-fog products are useless. My next try is going to be a set of lightweight Scott Ski goggles.

-R

depending on how hard its raining, the the drops hitting your eyes hurt, so its a lessor of two evils.

I dont think there is any really great answer. Sometimes I like riding in a light rain on a warm day, but at speed in the rain is not easy. Glasses are bad, contacts too have problems, but I really like the hat with a bill on it for protection under my helmet. I am gonna try that.

Rain-X is supposedly a no-no on plastic windshields and lenses. It'll eventually scratch up the surface.

It doesn't rain here often, but on the occasion that it does, I've had good luck with wearing something with a deep hood that will fit under my helmet and still stick out a bit in the front. If I keep my head down, that keeps most of the water off of the top half of my face. Not the best plan visibility-wise, of course.

Try to keep the inside of the glass dry by using a billed cap or a helmet visor (usually seen on MTB helmets). Better to look dorky than to look dead. Use a fabric pad on your glove to wipe the outside periodically. Most bike gloves have them.

Try FogTech for the other problem. It works for me in winter in Seattle.

The last pair of glasses I bought at LensCrafters had an option for a new coating -- instead of the standard scratch-resistant coating. The salesperson gave me a demo. Water on the lens was cleared by a simple breath of air.

It was expensive -- IIRC, about $60 -- but it works and was worth the money. I was hiking in the mountains in heavy rain today for nine hours, with and without a brimmed hat, and never had to wipe my glasses once. Water beads away like the lenses have been treated with Rain-X. It's not perfect, but it's the best solution I've found.

I assume it works better riding a bike due to the air flow, though I've only worn them riding in light rain -- and it worked well.

I believe the name of the coating is Nikon HCC ICE, but I'm not sure. If it's not that, it's something like that. It's a combination scratch-resistant and hydrophobic coating. Ask your local eyeglass store for a demo.

https://www.shadesoffun.com/Nov-CP/wiper_sunglasses.html

I just read this posting from a discussion thread entitled, "Thanks again BF"

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/484738-thanks-again-bf.html

All these Bahstahn commutahs.........wickud pissuh......

I used to commute from the Bedford side of Lexington to Cambridge-10mile commute one way.......I do miss wheelworks........

Kenmore Sq to Norwood-why?
Cambridge to where?

Ahhh, the memories.......

Kenmore Sq to Norwood is a nearly perfect commute IMHO:

-good distance for a daily commute (14 miles one way)
-nice terrain and neighborhoods
-reverse commute direction
-plenty of different alternative routes with relatively low traffic volumes
-bike paths available for the congested urban portion of the routes
-convenient commuter rail stations to take the bike home and avoid the evening commute
-populous area with easily available cabs in disaster situations (e.g. my pedal once fell off)
-good restaurants to pick up food to go
-plenty of Dunkin Donuts to make bathroom stops
-at least three bike shops along the way
-routes can be extended to include such bicycling paradises as Dover, Westwood, Sherborn
-I have a great job there

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink; say no more, say no more.

I just moved to Allston - so now I'm going from Allston to Northwest Waltham. Oddly my commute is the same distance within about 1% or so. It's not a great ride - I have to spend some time on Arsenal which is less than fun.

Arsenal-I feel your pain. Be careful