Glasses
 

I can legally drive without glasses, I don't need reading glasses either, but (1) I wear prescription glasses when I drive; (2) I wear (different) prescription glasses at the computer; (3) I sometimes want protection from the sun when riding

So... Last year I carried my distance glasses doubled with clip-on shades depending on the circumstances. Not ideal : my distance glasses (1) do not wrap like most cycling glasses; (2) are not photochromic; (3) take a fair amount of space in my handlebar bag; (4) are at risk of being crushed in my tent, or scratched by debris. So I am considering options.

What are you using? Prescription sunglasses, prescription cycling glasses (i.e. curved, photochromatic), prescription inserts in modular frames?

Large photochromic wrap around Oakleys with prescription lenses. They were expensive but by far the best glasses option I've tried. I feel they've improved my cycling and sports experiences by a country mile so worth every cent.

Since they're photochromic I only need one set of glasses on tour. I used to carry at least two pairs depending on what I had on hand before I set out.

elcruxio Would you happen to have a link? I land on a page describing fairly large sunglasses but they wouldn't be compatible with my prescription glasses

Contact lenses with regular sunglasses over top.

I wear contact lenses with general sunglasses. But the hassle I'm facing is that I also need to carry reading glasses.
And I can't see the directions from the little gps on my handlebar. I tried bifocals, but found them disorienting.

How about wearing two different contacts, one in each eye. Dominant eye distance, other eye near. Works for most people.

I got my eyes lasered nine years ago to correct far sightedness to 20/20 at distance. I need close up lenses for reading my GPS or looking at maps, etc. My eyes have drifted away from 20/20, but when riding a bike I do not need correction for distance. I am still legal to drive, but now wear prescription for car driving so I can read the signs at a distance better. But cycling at slower speeds, I am content with no correction for distance

If you want correction for distance for riding your bike, stop reading here. My comments below are for no correction for distance.

I bought some safety glasses that had no distance correction, but have bifocal close up lenses. They are wrap around. Initially used those for a few years, but was shopping for something nicer that fit better. If you have a good hardware store that is big enough that they have a selection of safety glasses, you might find something you like.

Later I got some non-safety sunglasses that are also wrap around, these are the ones I like the most. This model is no longer sold, but they kept it on their website.
https://www.readers.com/bridgewater-...l?showid=41954

For rain or fog, I want wrap around in yellow or clear, the ones in the photo below have no correction at distance, but have bifocal inserts for reading my GPS, these are safety glasses in yellow.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d1ff68f3bc.jpg

Interesting. IIRC I had looked into in years ago but, back then, laser surgery was not able to correct these problems. Given the prices of progressive lenses, surgery might be a money saver...

It was a few thousand per eye. But my eyesight had gotten more and more farsighted over time so that I really wanted to change that. There were two methods, PRK and Lasik, I asked for PRK. I have no idea about current pricing and I certainly have no clue about costs in another country.

My ophthalmologist was one of the two people running the machine to do the lasering. I had been seeing her for years, so I felt I was in good hands.

My eyesight was terrible for the first week or so. But I was already retired so it was not a problem for me to not read much for a while. If you got PRK, you might need to take a week off of work. And I could not drive for a few weeks.

Back in the 1990s, my boss got Lasik and she was back in the office a couple days later.

I specifically wanted good distance vision, I knew that I would still need reading glasses for close up work like reading or computer. At my age, my eyes will not change focus for different distances at all. And I knew that it would not fix that.

Although my eyes have since changed a bit and are no longer 20/20, I am still really happy I did it, my eyesight was pretty bad before I had it done.

I never had progressives, I had tri-focal for work, upper was distance, middle for computer, lower for closer reading. But work covered cost of glasses every other year.

My health care now does not cover cost of glasses, and did not cover the cost of lasering. The glasses I am using as I type this are only used for my computer, my screen is about 1 meter from my eyes so the lenses were cut for that distance. I think I paid less than $50 for the glasses I am wearing for computer use. Got them here, but I do not know if they ship to Canada.
eyebuydirect.com

I wear my prescription glasses, which transitional and multi-focal. The last time I looked into wrap sunglasses I could not get my prescription in that type of lens. That was probably 10 years ago so may ask about the options available now.

From my 2016 post! I still have these glasses and insert. I now have newer photochromic lenses for this frame -- they transition from completely clear to very dark.
Since that post, I got the insert prescription updated with new distance-only lenses, and use the trimmed down stick-on bifocals. I asked the optometrist: "what reading strength would work with this distance prescription?" He said: "that would be +2"

I like the Rudy frames, since they have separate nose pieces that can be bent to fit my narrow nose bridge.
The metal rimmed inserts are small, and their prescription lenses are quite flat, so that could accommodate strong prescriptions.

~~~~~ The 2016 post ~~~~~

I use progressive lenses on my regular glasses, but I have bifocals on my riding glasses. I want all far vision, except for a small portion, the width of my handlebars.

Here's my Rudy Rydon glasses. I like the insert, so I can swap between clear and tinted lenses.
I'll be getting new inserts soon, since my prescription has changed. These were single vision distance, from before I required bifocals. And I added the stick-on bifocals a few years ago. You can see how small the close vision bifocals are. (I trimmed them down until I had just the small area in focus.)

The bifocals were a little annoying for a ride or two, until I tuned out the line in my vision. Now I can swap between my progressives and my riding glasses, and instantly adapt to the difference.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/UX...w587-h259-p-no


Stick-on bifocals
These have worked great. I used Optx brand. I think they are stocked at many drug stores, too.

This is actually one stick-on, cut in half with a razor blade and then trimmed even more. My eye doctor told me that "+2" bifocals would work with my distance prescription to focus at arm's length.

These don't come off, even when rinsing under the tap. You'd have to use your fingernail to pry them off.

I need +2.0 for distance and +3.5 for reading. I use readers and rather than having 2 different pairs of glasses I just split the difference and I can see both with 2.5. When I drive though I keep a good pair of 2.0 clear and sunglasses in the car and I can see very clearly with these. When I use the sunglasses on the beach I'm always astounded that I see so much better in them. Now, all that said, I recently bought a pair of 2.0 full lens wrap sunglasses for cycling because I didn't like riding with my regular sunglasses. They were inexpensive. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TTFF1T7...roduct_details I did two rides with them so far and they work pretty well. The wrap sides are NOT prescription, only the main part of the lens. I can see distance clearly, I can see my Wahoo Bolt computer OK but sometimes the glasses are too dark for it. I've gotten used to the sides being off, which is the main complaint about them in reviews. I had bifocal wrap glasses but the non corrective main part was getting fuzzier for me over the years.

As for driving, for the last NYSDMV vision test I memorized the chart before I took the test while sitting during the endless wait to be called. It helps to have that kind of memory sometimes. I am legal without glasses but I always wear them. It isn't as if I can't see without them, just not as sharp.

I got these for reading and riding. Pretty easy to get used to the insert.

https://www.amazon.com/Polarized-fis...iABEgKeKPD_BwE

https://www.oakley.com/en-us/product...92&rxcnav=Type

The ones I have are apparently fishing glasses. Work great for cycling/running/climbing trees, though. I went with prescription compatibility first and everything else second. Having two separate lenses allows for a lot of flexibility for shaping the corrections.

I’ve used Rudy Project glasses for most of 20 years. I’ve used direct in frame lenses and optical inserts. Either one works but I do prefer the direct in frame lenses but they are more expensive as you need multiple (expensive) prescription lenses if you want glasses for different applications. The optical inserts are cheaper because you only buy one prescription lens set and multiple (much cheaper) lenses for different applications. The problem (for me) with the insert is my lashes are really long and would brush up against the inner lens which smudged them constantly. I also had two sets of lenses I needed to keep clean. Right now I have two sets of riding glasses which are dark polarized and no tint for day and night riding, respectively.

I was looking at Rudy Project glasses last night but I am not that keen on the look of the optical inserts. I was not aware of the alternatives. Must check to see if they are available here.

I've looked at their store a few times and get a major sticker shock. Other sources propose what appears to be equivalent, for a fraction of the price. The problem is that, obviously, no one wants to be cheap with this kind of product, but since we are unable to appreciate the quality by looking at the product, producers have an incentive to increase prices in order to signal quality....

I am farsighted and the glasses I use are not wrap around which would be better for wind and rain but work well for me. They are progressives with 2.00 diopter near vision in the bottom and nothing on the top, progressive in the middle. They also are photochromic. Got them on Amazon for less than $30.:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/..._AC_SX679_.jpg

I checked them out here (online) and the price of the frames is reasonable and well the lens for me are comparable in price to what I pay for my 'normal' glasses so I guess I have to harden up and pay or try and find an alternative. That said the costly part the lens, are going to be expensive which ever way I jump.

For prescription lenses, I don’t find them any less nor any more expensive than my regular glasses. My eyes haven’t changed in years so the ones I have now are several seasons old but still very useable.

For reference:
o Optical Factor (wrap + photochromic Rx inserts) 147 CAD
o Zenni (folding transition Rx) 366 CAD
o NewLook (physical store nearby - transition Rx Polaroid frame) 373 CAD
o Ombraz (armless frame + Transition Rx) 745 CAD
o Rudy Project (Rx transition inserts) 350 CAD / Full frame 900 CAD)

I was tempted by the Ombraz (excellent reviews, supposedly very durable, packs small / but impossible to remove one-handed and quite expensive). Will either settle for the Zenni (good review for the seller as a whole, folding frames are the most compact system) or cheap non-prescription photochromic

I’ve probably got at least a dozen pair of polarized prescription sunglasses lying around…….. doesn’t everyone? : )
Having a lab for over 30 years does have its perks

Great! Then can you help me understand price differences (and/or the material differences of various transitional techs? For instance, I've purchased dirt cheap (25$) polychromatic glasses on AliExpress. Why do I get a quote for 300$ (above the cost of distance prescription) from other stores? Quality? Gouging? A bit of both?))

I also have Rudy Project glasses with the Rx insert. The good thing about the insert is that if your Rx changes, you don’t need to buy new lenses. Only new inserts.

For off the bike, I have a knock around pair from CVS and a nicer pair of bifocals that are kept in a case. How much space can a pair of glasses possibly take up?

$300 above and beyond a standard Rx lens price for a simple photo chromatic lens is wildly excessive here in the states. Is it possible it comes as part of a "lens package" ? meaning it also includes an anti-reflective coating and/or a secondary scratch resistant coating which includes the posterior surface of the lens ? Mirrored coatings will also run more because they can't be done " in house" but always require sending out to a specialty lab which is what drives up costs. You can't compare anything to AliExpress here in the US because they don't play by most patent and infringement laws. Essilor is the 800 lb gorilla in the field and has increased costs for their lens blanks dramatically in the last few years.