Vinnems

What prescription glasses are folks wearing for cycling? Curious to know what is out there and folks experience. Searching online I see Oakleys are recommended, and they look like they have a big field of view, but what are some first hand accounts of whatever you are using?

Branko D

I just went to a local shop and got a pair of prescription shades which look passably like cycling glasses.

indyfabz

Rudy Project. They have Rx inserts. If your Rx changes, you can get new inserts instead of buying new lenses.

staehpj1

I owned some Rudy Project glasses with inserts in the distant past and they worked out well. It was nice that you could replace the inserts. I had different colored lenses for different conditions. You could replace parts that were worn out or damaged. Eventually I destroyed them in a crash badly enough that the inserts and required parts would have cost more than repairing them.

These days I just wear regular glasses, but I have considered buying something like the Rudys again.

Back in 2009 I bought mine from SportRx. Since they were on the opposite coast we did the whole deal via email. Rob Tavakoli was super helpful. I corresponded with him on all my fit issues and previous issues with my previous glasses. He suggested what he thought would work based on all of that and my prescription. He sent out frames to try on before making the prescription inserts. Everything worked out really well and I wound up with exactly what I wanted.

I had also at one point used a pair of Optic Nerve Red Hawks with an insert with my distance prescription. That was a more "bargain basemant" solution, but it did work. That was maybe 15 years ago so I don't know if they make the Red Hawks any more. There are other inexpensive glasses with inserts if you are into cheap sunglasses. A search for sunglasses with inserts will turn up a few. Something like this is one option:
https://opticalfactor.com/collection...sunglasses-set

Edited to add that I am at the age (71) where I am probably about due for cataract surgery and may be able to ride with no presctiption again after that. I am overdue for an eye exam so I ought to make an appt.

Milton Keynes

I just wear my regular prescription glasses with sunglasses which clip on to them.

BobbyG

My crazy, astigmatic eyes have always made glasses expensive, so I have always just worn a previous pair of glasses for cycling. My distance and mid-distance vision is fine with them, and they work well enough for reading the closer up speedo. Another old pair goes in the car in case something happens to the pair I'm wearing. And another old pair goes in the shed by the bikes in case I go for a very casual ride to the grocery store or something close.

I used to carry clip-on, flip-up sunglasses for the sun, but a previous hobby with photography had me wishing to see everything "unfiltered" and I realized I don't really need sunglasses like I used to.

Because I have the extra pair in the car, and carry my "everyday" pair to the office with me while commuting in my main "bike" pair, I always have a back-up, should something happen to the pair I'm wearing...although now that I think about it, I haven't broken a pair of glasses since college, 40 years ago.

I'll also mention that I wear old-fashioned tri-focals with the small insert at the bottom, rather than transitional multi-focus. When I got my first pair of transitions I realized that the multi-focus extended out to the sides as well limiting the area of distance focus in the periphery, which was a problem biking and driving. I am much happier with all-distance on the sides where traffic comes at you fast, especially on the bike.

I will say that transitional lenses do offer a focus for every distance, but from what people I know say, that area is thin and requires a lot of head-tilting to find it, although sometimes I think that would be nice to have, but over-all I'm happy with what I do.

Just sharing.

scottfsmith

I can confirm Oakleys work very well and have a very wide field of view. I have progressive lenses in them which is very handy to both see ahead and to read my computer. The main downside is cost.

prj71

There are so many choices out there. Oakley is only one.

I wear the P-17 glasses.

https://www.wileyx.com/prescription

2old

I use Zenni (inexpensive, but rated at the top in a Consumer's Report test if that means anything) prescription glasses. I like them since they provide an excellent field of view and allow lots of air flow between the lenses so they don't fog up.

10 Wheels

Tri Focals from Sears.

Bob Ross

fwiw I've tried two or three different pairs of cycling glasses with prescription inserts, and the inserts always annoyed me because my eyelashes would bat up against them. I eventually switched over to genuine prescription lenses (glass ground by an optician, no insert) and couldn't be happier

...well, I suppose my wallet could be happier.

But going to an optician who is well-versed in cycling needs was a huge asset. I used SportsOptical.com in Denver. One of their observations was that because of the extremely high strength of my prescription -- myopia + astigmatism + age-related presbyopia (necessitating a very thick, highly curved lens with a bifocal component) -- there were very few frames on the market that could accommodate such a lens without compromising the optics.

Fortunately the Rudy Project Ketyum was one such frame, so I've been wearing those for almost a decade now.

rydabent

Are there any Blue block polaroid prescription glasses available? Blue block polaroid sun glasses make riding a lot safer!!!

Homebrew01

I wear the same standard glasses for everything

JohnDThompson 

In a similar vein, I wear my usual bifocals under Lenscover sunglasses. I prefer that to clip-ons (which I've also used) because the Lenscovers block wind from coming around the side of the glasses.

https://www.lenscoverssunglasses.com/medium-sunglasses

Lombard

^^^This.^^^

I tried wrap arounds, but the Rx turned out wonky so I sent them back.

icemilkcoffee 

There are two issues with cycling with prescription glasses:
1. wind comes around the edges and makes your eyes water
2. when you are hunched over, the top of the frame is blocking your view.
2a. you push your glasses up to fix 2. But it slips down again after a few minutes

The way I see it, inserts behind wraparounds would fix problem 1. But make problem 2 and 2a worse.

staehpj1

I have been doing that with transitions lenses. They have sufficed as sunglasses. The ones I had years ago stayed too dark too long. These have been fine.

skidder

Same with me. Find an optomotrist/opthamologist shop with a large selection. Most also give a discount if you order a second pair (get some dedicated sunglasses) as long as they are the same prescription (it doesn't have to be the same frame style).

ratell

If your correction isn't too strong tifosi has a line of prescription glasses that work well and are about half the price of other name brand options.
https://www.tifosioptics.com/prescription-sunglasses/

79pmooney

I use prescription wire rim glasses. Bifocal. (I did trifocals for two years. Drove me nuts. Too little distance glass and I could not judge the stairs I was walking down.) Wire rim so I barely see the transition from lens to without. Periferal vision is fully effective. I find frames with a squarish outboard corners with a good views of my helmet mirror. Wire temples with the heat bendable plastic ear pieces. Set up right, they do not slip. I've used the straps with the rubber sleeves. Great for riding and miserable the rest of the time.

Lombard

1) I can't say I've ever had this problem.

2 and 2a) If your glasses slip down, you can easily bend the part of the templates that go around your ears. To do that, dip them in a cup of hot water to soften them, then bend them so they stay behind your ears.

Chinghis

Same here, I'm on something like my fourth or fifth pair of their sport sunglasses, gray. For less than $75 a pop, I don't mind scratching them or losing them, or when the little nosebridge thing falls off. I had a pair of really nice Raybans once - coddled them, kept them nice and clean for about three months, until I walked into the house one day and they apparently fell into a black hole, never to be found even after we moved and emptied the house. $300? Screw that.

Now, the thing is that I had a pretty hard crash a few weeks ago while wearing them. Landed on my helmet and glasses, watched the pavement come up. I think they behaved as their supposed to - they didn't shatter, but instead the lens popped out of the frame and the prescription insert went flying. I think the gray lens cut my face, but I have to say that if I had been wearing what I used to wear - drug store Lenscovers, etc., over my glasses - I'd still be picking pieces of plastic out of my face (if not my eyeballs). Just my 2 cents.

skidder

#1 only happens to me on cold mornings, and only lasts about 10 minutes (at the worst), I figure it would be worse if I didn't wear glasses.
#2 and #2a Can you put a strap on them and around the back of your head to hold them securely? Try a 'Croakie" is they are still made. FWIW I don't have an issue with my glasses slipping down my nose.

drlogik 

I wear a pair of Gatorz Wraptor Rx sunglasses. Best I've ever purchased, even better than my most excellent pre-Luxotica take-over Oakley's. The Gatorz fit under a helmet easily, are really durable (made from light weight aluminum) and fit close to the face and come with a lifetime guarantee. If you're in the market for a new pair of sunglasses, give these a close look. BTW, they are really popular in the special operator community.

These are very competitively priced sunglasses made in America and are direct to consumer so you save a lot of money over a less than comparable pair from your eyeglass shop. Oh, and you can get replacement lenses for a fairly modest price if they get badly scratched from a fall.

https://www.gatorz.com/

rsbob 

I have chronic dry eye so need good protection from the wind which also accommodates lense inserts. So I went through 4 sets of cycling glasses that accommodate inserts until I found these for a whopping $18 with three lenses including Photocromatic. They are Chinese brand X-Tiger. If I break them of lose them, its no big deal. I have 4000 test miles on them and would recommend for the budget conscious.


https://xtigersport.com/collections/...39609873793217. But I bought mine through AliExpress and they were far cheaper.