npkeith

Not sure which forum to post this in, but its for commuting, so here goes:

I'm 40, and have crappy eyesight - my glasses are -5 on both sides, with a mild astigmatism to boot.

I'm looking for a pair of cycling glasses that will protect me from flying grit, stop my eyes from watering in the wind, and stay on my face. I would like them to be clear (most of my commute is in the dark), but be convertable to sunglasses (preferably polarized) in short order. I'd rather not have to change lenses (some sort of clip-on would be easier) but I'll take what I can get. Polycarb lenses would be nice.

I'll pay $$$ if I have to, in order to get quality, but I'm not made of money.

suggestions?
Keith

BarracksSi

My eyes are worse.

I've been getting military-issue glasses for the past several years, so I was out of the market for a long time; I just didn't care what the civilian world was getting.

Now I find out that big names like Oakley and Rudy Project do glasses with the prescription lens integrated into the whole lens. Not just an add-on thing that snaps into the bridge and pushes the frame away while getting smudged by your eyebrows, but each side is somehow bonded into the lens.

I just ride with regular glasses, and I've got some Wayfarer-like sunglasses with my last issue. I also rely on my helmet's visor to deflect some wind. But those new prescription Oakleys are really enticing...

cyclefreaksix

I was recently getting my eyes checked and some new contacts ordered. The shop I was in actually had a pretty good selection of sport glasses that can be fitted with perscription lenses. Go check out a couple of eyeglass shops, you might find something that suits you.

cod.peace

Run, not walk, to www.sportsoptical.com and get some glasses from Brett Hunter. He's a cyclist and he specializes in high-power prescriptions in sport frames. My right eye is -3.5, my left is -2.5 (I think) and I wear a pair of Zeal Maestro frames with lenses (brown, polarized, mirrored) from Sports Optical that I bought in the early summer. They are so comfortable I will occasionally forget they're on - and this is a base 8 lens with an. He also does Rudy frames and many others, and will use any frame you have on hand if he doesn't stock it.

npkeith

Yeah - I've been looking at some of the Rudy Project flip-ups. Gulp! $250-350, possibly more for the hi-strength Rx inserts.

Like I said, much of my commute is in the dark, so I need clear lenses for that, but then I live in SoCal, so when its bright, its really bright. My driving sunglasses are the darkest neutral grey you can get and polarized.

I suppose I could get 2 pairs (clear and dark), and if I pick the right ones, it might be cheaper, but the idea of one pair that changes back an forth really appeals (I already have to carry my regular glasses and a pair of Rx sunglasses - adding 2 more pairs would drive me nuts).

uke

I'll throw in a recommendation for contact lenses. Amazing things.

BarracksSi

I have a Darwinian aversion to sticking things in my eyes.

Boston Commuter

Like you, I have been having problems with my eyes tearing up now that it's getting cold. I just got a pair of prescription WileyX glasses (recommended by my optometrist). They have a removable seal around the eyes -- with the seal in, they are essentially goggles -- without the seal they are just (sun)glasses. I got the "Transitions" lenses, which are completely clear when I am indoors or outside in dim light, and darken in the sun, so no need to change lenses.

I wore them with the seals today (32F) and they worked great, no tears -- tinted in the morning sun and clear on my way home after dusk -- problem solved. This was an expensive solution, but I will be able to use them as general-purpose summer sunglasses as well as cycling goggles.

ratell

I tried a pair of performance bikes sunglasses with rx inserts. The curve distorted my thick prescription making them unwearable, but I found that the sunglasses actually fit over my glasses. I returned the rx insert and now I just wear the sunglasses over my regular glasses. They block the wind well and come with multiple lenses I can switch. They don't look cool, but for $20 they work well enough.

If you have a bad prescription read the small print on the prescription frames. A lot of them are limited in how thick a lens they can take.

Sirrus Rider

I use BOLLE Parole with the RX Adapter. You can also get a kit with multiple lenses (clear, gunmetel, vermillion, brown) they work well and rarely fog up.

sauerwald

I wear a pair of the Bolle Swiftkick glasses. There is an insert for my prescription - which is strong enough that I can't wear contacts, and the lenses are interchangeable. The three sets of lenses that I use the most are plain clear, yellow, and a polarized one that gets darker in the sunlight.

ItsJustMe

I bought some of these and a prescription insert:
https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/essice243len.html

They're OK, but the angle on the insert is so extreme that they distort a fair amount. I probably wouldn't go with that again. They're not horrible, but I'd probably try something else next time.

crocodilefundy

have you ever considered lasik? it has a high initial investment but you should compare the total life cycle cost between glasses/ contacts and getting lasik done once. and if its close get lasik due to the freedom it gives you. I was like -7 R and -7.5 L and i've almost forget what its like to wake up and be worthless without my glasses.

npkeith

Transitions lenses are great except from one thing - the hotter it is, the lighter they stay (or the less dark they get). I live in Southern California, where it gets to 110 degrees F routinely. Usually that means a clear, bright day. So the days I need a dark lens most are the days they get the least dark.

I have considered it. I'm a healthcare practitioner (can you guess from the username?) and finding out about the latest and greatest in technology is a matter of tapping an opthalmologist on the shoulder. Here's my problem. At 40, presbyopia (literally "old-age eyesight) is kicking in. Most likely my next pair of glasses will be bifocals (or progressives). Lasik only fixes myopia ("near-sightedness") The upshot is that I'll be able to see far without glasses, but still nead them for reading and computer work. I don't see the point of letting someone cut my eyeballs (with a knife or a laser...) if I'll still need glasses for most of what I do.

Contacts are out to. Used to wear them, but now my astigmatism is enough that they have to be weighted in order to stay in the right orientation, and they wiggle everytime I blink - drives me nuts.

For those of you who are cyberpunk fans (If you are, you know what I mean, if you're not, you can look it up...): I'm waiting for the day when I can order a pair of Zeiss-Ikons.
-K

Jim from Boston

I'm a year round commuter in the Boston area and I too really need my eyeglasses to ride. Today was 25 degrees on my 14 mile commute in the dark and I had no tearing, fogging, or reduced visibility. My conditions may be more extreme than yours, and I've never felt the need for anything additional to my eyeglasses over about 40 degrees. I avidly follow the winter forums thread, and I have heard all I think I need to know about goggles. One of my earliest postings, this August believe it or not, ;-) was to the Winter Forums about my solution. Here is a subsequent chat I had with another member that summarizes what I know:

FWIW,

Jim

h. bicycletus

This is the only company I can find that will grind cycling glasses to my prescription - - -it's outside the range of what any of the others will do. I have a pair of Rudy's from SportsOptical that were expensive but worth it. I bought them a couple of years ago- - -great customer service too.

flattie

I had a whole response all typed up and poof! no more. Let's try again. I can relate - I have poor uncorrected vision (near sighted) and while I have prescription sunglasses they are not sports glasses and when biking the sun often comes in over the top of the frames rendering them useless. Also, in cold, windy weather neither my sunglasses or regular glasses offer much protection from the wind.

I'm considering a pair of over rx sunglasses - at least one brand I've heard of is cocoons sunglasses They come in a number of styles, frame colors and lens types.

Amazon has them for $30 so I won't feel too bad if they are absolutely hideous in person or don't work as advertised. I'm thinking of getting the wideline ml frames in black with amber or copper lenses. I think you can get different lenses for the same frames so you could get an amber lens for low light riding.

Nightshade

Suggest you buy these fitover glasses to satisfy your requirements completely.

https://www.eyesave.com/brands/b281-d...ses/index.aspx

Being made of polycarbonate plastic it's not likely a rock or other object will get to your eyes.
I wear the smoke most of the time finding them to be very comfortable. My eye doctor gave
my first pair so I know the optical quality is first rate.

tsl

Same here. I'm -5.75 in one eye and -5.87 in the other, with plenty on astigmatism too. And at 52, I'm also in tri-focals. I can't stand progressives.

I've had to be satisfied with my regular glasses simply due to the cost of lenses. The wayfarer knockoff sunnies in my avatar are single-vision to keep the cost down.

My eyes do water when starting out in cold weather, but it quits after a couple of miles. I just blink a lot until then.

Having recently lost my tri-focals (fell out of my jacket pocket while running errands in the city) I went with some very nice, but expensive frames. This has killed my cost argument for sunnies on the bike, so I'll be looking at sports frames for the spring. It's interesting to hear about the integrated (as opposed to add-on) lenses. I'll have to look into that.

InfiniteRegress

I have to wear glasses (vision is not correctable with contacts) and I have found that a nice pair of Silhouette's (https://www.silhouette.com/) do the trick. I have to wear bifocals, so I get progressive, transition lenses. Costs a small fortune (about $950 for my most recent pair) but they are so comfortable and I wear them all the time. I often forget they are on my face. Because the arms are so flexible, it's not a problem wearing them with a helmet.

ItsJustMe

Yeah, my optician said even if I got Lasik, I'd still need glasses anyway.

Plus, no matter what they say, Lasik does reduce nighttime acuity, and does not generally correct for dark astigmatism, so as an amateur astronomer, I'm not letting them touch my eyes anyway.

If you do get Lasik, be sure to get the new generation "waveform guided" procedure. The old procedure basically just burned your current eyeglass prescription in. The new one apparently actually directly reads the incorrectness in your eyes and perfectly compensates for it.

As far as normal glasses go, try zenni optical. I couldn't believe that they could really deliver decent glasses for $12, but I've ordered a pair of sunglasses that were $32 shipped (strong prescription added money, and the tint added money) and they're as good as any $350 glasses I've bought from the eye doctor. I'm currently wearing $650 glasses, but in the future I'm getting all my glasses from Zenni. Even high index glasses with a progressive bifocal in titanium memory frames are something like $75 shipped, and basic glasses are < $20.

kwrides

Contacts dry out. Glasses that seal and prevent wind from drying contacts cause fogging.

kwrides

I have a pair of Rudy Project Exception with the insert and love them. Most inserts touched my eyelashes, which was annoying, and these don't.

I tried buying prescription Oakley lenses, but traded them in on the Rudy's. The "prescription in the lens" technology made me feel vertigo.

See this thread https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...dy#post6806849

And this one for more https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=insert

Good luck. I know this is like helmets, shoes, and saddles...very personal.

UberIM

Where in Boston did you get em?

Boston Commuter

I got mine at the optometrist in Harvard Vanguard on the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury. But if you have a copy of your prescription, you can order them online at one of the places mentioned by other people in this thread -- they're probably cheaper that way.