Cycling glasses

[dplant45]

Very interested in buying cycling glasses. Have been looking at prescription glasses that changeable colour lens with smallish prescription behind the colour lens. How do these work in practice & do they mist up when cycling hard. Any info will be gladly accepted. Thanks Dave P

[tatanab]

Until about 15 years ago I used cycling/sports specs with an optical insert behind, as you have described. I found it simply gave an extra surface to mist up, and one you could not easily reach at that. Since those days I have been using prescription cycling sunglasses, Reactoliye sort of thing, from Optilabs. Well worth the money. https://www.optilabs.com/product-catego ... unglasses/

[Mick F]

Hi Dave,
I didn't use anything up until I was hit in the face by a large leaf one winter. I was coming down our local hill at more than 30mph and it hit me square in the face and nearly had me off. I felt blinded by the hit.

From then on, I wore eye-ware.

I have the eyesight of the mid 60's bloke. Basically fine, but need reading glasses, and the older I've become, the more the prescription.
By buying basic glasses with interchangeable lenses for different conditions was fine at first, but I still needed to take my reading glasses in my back pocket for using a phone or reading a map .......... and latterly for seeing my bike computer.

I found that many folk on here recommended Optilabs, and I looked at their website.
https://www.optilabs.com/product-catego ... unglasses/
You can pick three frames and they send them out. You pick the one you want, and send them back. They'll send out as many set of three as you want.

Eventually, I settled on one frame, and then picked the lenses. I emailed them my new prescription from the opticians and also my inter-optical distance. Within a few days, my new glasses arrived.

They are absolutely excellent. Solid and strong, secure and comfortable.
Not cheap ............... but photochromic, tinted, scratch resistant, rain repellant, varifocals seldom are.

[Mick F]

PS:
These are mine.
https://www.optilabs.com/product/eclipse/

[TrevA]

I had a pair of sunglasses with a prescription insert behind. Yes, they do steam up and you can get moisture between the insert one the sunglasses, but they are fine most of the time. However, I did give up on them after my last pair broke and went for some Optilabs glasses with prescription lenses. Mine are photochromatic so go dark in the sun, but can still be used in low light conditions and at night, when the lenses go clear.

I have the Blaze model, and my wife has recently bought a pair of the Magma ones, also with prescription photochromatic lenses.

Not cheap, about £160, but less than half the price of Oakley sunglasses with prescription lenses (£360).

[dplant45]

Many thanks to all who replied to my query. Think I will forget about the glasses with prescription inserts behind the tinted lens

[arnsider]

I work in Civil Engineering and many sites I go on use Bolle Safety Glasses.
I have clear and dark glasses by Bolle.
They are very well made and inexpensive, costing a fraction of designer labels
They also come in a variety of styles and are available with prescription lenses.

[georgew]

Another vote for Optilabs.

Mine have curved prescription lenses and Optilabs said at the time that they were the only company offering prescription lenses in the curved form. Something to do with a bit of clever software as I remember.

[anniesboy]

For cheap bi focals,this are good value.

http://www.straightlines.com/BiFocalSaf ... ty-glasses

[NUKe]

AS some one who needs glasses all the time. Last year I went to spec savers and got a new pair cycling Glasses with my own varifocal prescription and different coloured interchangeable lens, made by Puma sold by spec savers. Only time there is any real problem with misting is going into the warmth once the ride has finished. And of course in heavy fog but all glasses suffer this.

[shadwellrhino]

I've worn Oakley prescription cycling specs purchased from local optician for the past 18 months. They are photochromic so suitable for all weather / light conditions. The cost is similar to normal specs but they do a great job, and only mist up when I stop pedaling.

[bohrsatom]

I have some glasses from Rudy Project - Rydon I think - with an insert made up to my prescription then interchangeable lenses outside. At the moment my lens selection is dark, racing red (good for grey days/low light) and yellow which I wear at night.

I've had them for more than two years and overall they're good. I like being able to change lenses and I have no trouble with my vision whilst wearing them. The outer lenses are cheap so if you damage them they can be replaced for much less than getting a new lens made up with your prescription. I rarely have problems with them fogging up - it happens on really miserable days where it's throwing it down with rain, and only when stopped at traffic lights. Once I move off the airflow de-mists the glasses and they go back to normal.

The biggest problem I have is that the inner lens rubs where it meets the interchangeable lens and after 6 months of heavy use my first set of outers had some quite serious scratches and I had to replace them. This wasn't great, and I didn't get good service from the optician afterwards, but I bought cheaper replacements and they appear to be stronger than the original photo-chromatic ones.

Also they are harder to clean as you have 4 surfaces to maintain instead of two but it's not a big deal.

Overall I don't think they would be as good as having a single lens with your RX, but given how expensive this would be for 3 or4 different tints I find it's worth the compromise.

[Ray]

For cheap bi focals,this are good value.

http://www.straightlines.com/BiFocalSaf ... ty-glasses

I have a pair of the VoltX bifocals, which allow me to read the small figures on my Garmin while riding, and protect my eyes from flies and debris. Do the job well, and very cheap to replace if necessary.

[Cagger]

I use OPTX 20/20 Stick on Bi-Focal Reading Lens and I've been using them for several years now. They are fairly expensive but amazingly I found the cheapest way to buy them was from this seller on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/oneshot7?_trksid=p2047675.l2559%20time%20what who sells these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pair-OPTX-20-20-Stick-on-Bi-Focal-Reading-Lens-1-25-1-50-1-75-2-00-2-50-3-00-/291803148755?var=&hash=item43f0d2b1d3:m:mOpFIgUyOSaQ-WFScVvgAbw

You get two packs so that even with the postage from the United States, it is still cheaper than I found on Amazon. However, since the Brexit devaluation it might be better to buy from a UK supplier – but you will have to investigate the prices.

Anyway, they are excellent. Not only that, you can simply peel them off and put them onto a different pair of glasses. Amazingly all you do is put a couple of drops of water on the inside lens of your classes and then press these stick-on lenses down onto them and they are there – almost permanently (not quite)

[TrevA]

Reviving an old thread.

I've previously bought 2 pairs of cycling specs from Optilabs and been very happy. My wife has recently bought a pair and the lenses don't properly fit in the frames. They sometimes pop out whilst you are cleaning them, or even just handling them. You can actually flex the frames around the lenses so they are not a good fit. I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, given my previous experience with them.

We are not the only ones either. I was talking to my mate on yesterday's club ride and he has the same problem - lenses popping out of his Optilabs specs.