Rides4Beer

Has anyone tried anything like this? Did a wet/muddy gravel race yesterday and had to repeatedly spray my glasses with my water bottle so I could see! (I wear contacts, so taking my glasses off was def not an option).

Just not sure if it's advertising hype, or if these sprays/coatings actually work, and whether or not they interfere with the clarity of the lenses. But if they help mud/water slide off, then might be worth a try.

For those wondering, no, the kit did not come clean. Thankfully our new kits are black, and should be here soon! lol

10 Wheels

Yuck

Rides4Beer

Pretty much

Koyote

My experience: In those conditions, those coatings are only minimally helpful.

tdilf

More than dirt or mud, sweat always becomes a problem on my glasses when it is hot. I don't really have a good way of cleaning them while riding so this is a good question that I guess i have been wondering about too.

dsaul

Rain-X should work for rain, but I doubt it will help with mud. I've found that glasses don't even protect my eyes in those situations. The mud always seems to find its way under the glasses and into my eyes anyway.

chas58

Yeah and no.

Yeah, I have it on my glasses.
No, it doesn't do what you are asking.

I have it on because I clean the glasses with water, and never towel them dry. Water rolls off them rather like Rain-X (shout out to dsaul )
Doesn't work in mud. In the rain I usually get those tiny little specks from misting that don't roll off either. I guess I should try it in a heavy downpour, but I'm fine just riding without my glasses in those conditions.

Rides4Beer

Thanks guys, might try some RainX, but won't expect miracles. Guess it's just a hazard of muddy racing.

This race is also now known as "how to kill your chain in one ride".

blacknbluebikes 

it would be cool if you could find a peel-off film like they use in cameras on indy cars.

dcee604

Might have to use goggles to completely seal out the mud!

Rides4Beer

My glasses did a great job of keeping the mud out of my eyes, my problem was mud/water on the glasses and then I couldn't see through them.

chaadster

I can suggest an automotive product called Gyeon Q2 View, which I tested on the plastic lens/visor of my Giro. I use it on my car, and have been impressed by its hydophobicity and ability to keep the windows clean. I’ve not given the visor the mud test yet, but I think the great benefit will be that a blast of water from a bottle will do a good job of cleaning them off. That’s my guess, anyway, based on its vehicle performance, and once I get a group ride in on wet dirt roads this winter, I’ll report back with findings.

One note: I wouldn’t advise using the Cleanse included with Q2 View, because it’s an abrasive polish. Just clean your glasses with those single use wipes and then apply Q2 View.

mack_turtle

this is a good solution as well. I would not recommend a conventional "wheel eyebrow" fender you find on most urban bikes because that would clog up with mud. I somehow acquired this Bontrager fender from a kids' bike years ago and it works well. under the downtube and right above the front wheel means it blocks most fo the mud spray that would go directly toward my face. it's not 100% effective, but it certainly helps.

chaadster

Q2 View is a quartz coating, and has self-cleaning properties which I’ve experienced on the car, so it’s quite a bit different from a hydrophobic like RainX, notability in terms of durability. The molecular tightness and bonding makes it harder for dirt to stick and easier to remove than either bare glass or RainX treated

So it’s not that I disagree— I did not intend to imply it’s like properly cleaning glasses— I just want to emphasize that not all hydrophobic coatings perform in the same way.

Rides4Beer

Thanks, I'll check it out! During this particular race, the mud was really wet, so it might have helped.


Most of the spray I was getting was from riders in front of me.


Doesn't look very aero.

jfranci3

I used the Oakley / Zeiss stuff. It didn't perform miracles. It was good at getting all the hard to remove stuff off you lenses. It's probably best for getting misty rain to turn little beads into big beads so it'll run off your lens. If anything, that coating would make drying dirt harder to remove as it'd provide a better suction cup for the goop - this happens with ceramic car waxes.

As for the dirty kit..... I heard the belgian CX secret is to hit your white uniform with the powerwasher, then throw it in the laundry. You want that high pressure water to move the fibers around rather than sliding over it.

chaadster

What? No...that’s not right. Ceramic coating is not wax, nor does it not make removing dirt harder, it’s totally the opposite case that ceramics make
cleaning easier.

Any reading at all, but certainly legitimate sources, will confirm that.

jfranci3

Fresh stuff and dust.... yeah easier to remove..... Stuff you let baste, harder.

The ceramic stuff isn't thick enough to fill in all pore, so things can still grab onto the surface. Bugs, tree sap, eye gunk (glasses)... anything that has moisture will bond better to the smoother surface as it dries. It's harder than the paint underneath it, so that dried up stuff doesn't form any gap in the bond or surface; water&soap will have a much tougher time getting 'under'/into the dried up gunk, the surface isn't flexible enough to release the gunk.

chaadster

That’s a unique perspective not shared by any other source I’ve ever come across nor reflected in my experience using ceramic coatings, so it’s it’s probably also something more than unique.

jfranci3

I hear you. I haven't tried it myself. It's hard to get past the thousands of bits of BS sales sites out there to get real information. I've seen it in a few of the more non-sales bits of info I found out there when I was looking at it for the car I bought just a bit ago. 99% of the 'information' out there is clearly sales BS, so it's hard to know what's good information. I know they've changed quite a bit in the past few years (making it much harder -which sounds stupid on a flexible surface) and there's a thousand different variations of it. Common themes were "any imperfections in the prep are there forever", "doesn't do anything for rock chips or scratches", "car looks amazing all the time", "gotta wash it in some special way", "consumer versions only last 6mo", "retailer stuff is expensive, lasts years, and only as good as the prep"

Anyway for specs...... the Oakley stuff is good for fog and mist, not for mud and allergy eye gunk.

chaadster

Yeah, for sure that’s true, and definitely sometimes
ceramics are touted like some kind of miracle, which they certainly are not, in the sense that a car will get dirty and need washed. Someone in Vegas will have a totally different experience than someone in Detroit because of the weather, too, which is another variable to sift through and one rarely mentioned by anyone.

The Oakley AFR, if that’s the stuff you’re referring to, isn’t at all like a ceramic coating, so no surprise it’s only good for anti-misting.

I’m struggling with arthritis in my knees right now, and I’ve fallen off pace with my gravel gang, but if I can fight back to some reasonable fitness by spring, I’ll be able—hopefully— to provide the kind of feedback on the Gyeon Q2 View as you have on the Oakley stuff, rather than just extrapolating from car experience.

freeranger

Jockeys (horse racing) use peel-offs on their goggles, as there can be quite a bit of mud/dirt thrown during a race. Would think that you could find some that would fit over glasses, and have ventilation (sure they get hot riding too). Goggles going over temple pieces seems that it could be a problem, but might be worth looking into. Might also check a motorcycle shop for goggles used for moto-cross--should have tear-off capability, again, fitting over glasses, and ventilation, may limit what will work.

tdilf

Out on the trail this would just be littering unless you are going to stop and pocket a layer each time you peel it off.

freeranger

Don't want anyone to think I'm advocating with littering up a trail. I am very "leave no trace"-usually carry out more than I carried in when riding trails. My recommendation was in response to the OP's post-which was racing oriented. Any race course could, and should, be cleaned up after a race, so anything discarded, or broken off a bike, would be cleaned up. Don't think you'd need a tear-off when just trail riding, as you most likely wouldn't have anyone close in front of you throwing up mud, and if just trail riding, not a big deal to stop and clean off lenses, as opposed to losing time or place when racing.