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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Lens Color Advice

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Old 09-27-10, 03:16 PM
  #1  
BudFox
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Lens Color Advice

What's the best lens color (Oakley preferred) for high speed descents through heavily wooded areas. I tend to brake more when I can't see potential hazards (gravel, potholes) in the road. I'm looking for a lens tint that will give the best contrast/resolution of a shade covered road while not blinding me when I hit a clearing.
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Old 09-27-10, 03:46 PM
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I use Jawbone transitions Black Persimmon as my all-rounder that had some descent with shade.
I also like VR28 polarized.

I avoid grey and can't do yellow or straight persimmon in the daytime (too bright).... so normally stick with pink or darker orange which *I* personally think increases contrast and lesses my chances of hitting tree-root bumps in the pavement that can knock my hands off the bars.
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Old 09-28-10, 06:40 AM
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I prefer yellow for the woods and for riding at dusk.
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Old 09-28-10, 12:02 PM
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I think VR28 Black Iridium (non-polarized) is the best Oakley all-rounder for a road cyclist. l also ride in SoCal, so that might factor into my opinion. It is by far my favorite Oakley lens for almost all daytime riding conditions.
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Old 09-28-10, 12:25 PM
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I prefer yellows.
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Old 09-28-10, 12:38 PM
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It's like asking for your favorite ice cream flavor. I like chocolate.

For lenses, I always prefer clear.
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Old 09-28-10, 01:30 PM
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I prefer yellow/amber lenses in heavily tree lined routes (MTB'ing), dusk/dawn and overcast days.

I prefer clear for night/dark.

I prefer smoke/gray or whatever "color" reduces light and especially polarized for sunny/bright conditions.
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Old 09-28-10, 01:46 PM
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Yellow & polarized are very helpful. They block the reflections off the pebbles in the asphalt and make the real surface easier to see. Yellow also blocks blue light, which is caused by diffraction through water vapour in the air (which decreases contrast).
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Old 09-28-10, 01:47 PM
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I prefer the VR28 Blue Iridium for those conditions. That's my lens of choice for cyclocross and trail riding.
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Old 09-28-10, 02:04 PM
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Those glasses are cool! The dichroic film reflects blue and passes yellow. So they look blue on the front side and yellow on the back. Pretty neat trick.
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Old 09-28-10, 02:45 PM
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Originally Posted by BudFox
What's the best lens color (Oakley preferred) for high speed descents through heavily wooded areas. I tend to brake more when I can't see potential hazards (gravel, potholes) in the road. I'm looking for a lens tint that will give the best contrast/resolution of a shade covered road while not blinding me when I hit a clearing.
Try the Amber (Yellow) for this condition.
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Old 09-28-10, 03:06 PM
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This is the exact reason I went with yellow lens when on the mountain bike. With regular tinted sunglasses the shadows were really messing with my depth perception and just vision in general. I switched to clear for awhile, they were just everyday safety glasses and worked great. New sunglasses came with extra lens, one pair being yellow and they're even better than clear. I use them in pretty much all low light situations now.
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Old 09-28-10, 05:18 PM
  #13  
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I've never tried yellow for trail or shadowy riding. Will have to try that.
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