Any recommendations for prescription mtb glasses ??

[Kevlasultanpus]

Hi,

Having worn contact lenses from 18 yo to about 50 yo my eyes started to reject them. Having also astigmatism corrective surgery not on the cards.

Are there others in my position whom rode with special glasses?? A few recent youtube vids have worried me about riding in my day to day glass specs.

Also im in Australia... so any Aussie specific recommendations would be awesome.

cheers

 

[BBear]

I just chose some Oakley frames at Vision Express (UK) which suited biking and got clear polycarbonate lenses for my prescription. They work great and I have a similar pair of sunglasses, again with polycarbonate lens.

 

[apac]

I wear glasses full time as you can see in my avatar pic. I have found that Oakley are the best for long term use, durability and comfort. Strongly consider Transition lenses that go dark in sun light.
Oakley plastic frames are very light weight, they come in different nose widths and overall widths too. like You I have astigmatisms, you will need to pay extra for thin lenses if you want to keep the weight light and for them not to look like milk bottle tops. If you crash onto your face, yes they will probably break, but so will anything you are wearing. I wear mine all the time including when riding. the only problem with glasses is when you get sweat on them or the steam up with heat. Also, riding in rain is just a nightmare. However, I suspect thats not as much of a concern for you as it is for me Living in Wales U.K

 

[SwissMountainLeader]

Julbo, easily the best prescription glasses I’ve had. I use them summer and winter and at high altitude. I use them for work so I can be wearing them day after day. Mine are a good fit and don’t move around or fall off on the bike, on foot, skis or climbing. They’re also comfortable with a variety of helmets.

 

[steve_sordy]

Another vote for the Oakley sunglasses here. I go for the Straitjacket style. I also opt for the transition lenses, great option! The nosepiece is made of "unobtanium" (some sort of rubbery compound) that grips the skin no matter how sweaty or greasy it becomes. The socks at the end of the arms are also "unobtanium" and neither slip nor irritate the skin. I have been falling from my bike throughout my more than ten-year period of wearing Oakleys and they have not yet been dislodged from my head. They can be re-glazed. I stood on them once and the arms just popped off the main frame instead of breaking. Brilliant specs. Expensive, but buy with confidence. For a prescription add approx £100 (GBP) to the ticket price. Look on the internet to get them cheaper than direct from Oakley.

 

[KSL]

I've been using prescriotion Smith sunglasses on rides for years!

 

[Nicho]

Another vote for Oakleys with transitions prescription lenses.
The lenses I got were made from Apache helicopter windscreen material, so they should not break in a crash.
Expensive, but still almost like new after about 8 years!

 

[Jackware]

Another vote for the Oakley sunglasses here. I go for the Straitjacket style. I also opt for the transition lenses, great option! The nosepiece is made of "unobtanium" (some sort of rubbery compound) that grips the skin no matter how sweaty or greasy it becomes. The socks at the end of the arms are also "unobtanium" and neither slip nor irritate the skin. I have been falling from my bike throughout my more than ten-year period of wearing Oakleys and they have not yet been dislodged from my head. They can be re-glazed. I stood on them once and the arms just popped off the main frame instead of breaking. Brilliant specs. Expensive, but buy with confidence. For a prescription add approx £100 (GBP) to the ticket price. Look on the internet to get them cheaper than direct from Oakley.

Which tint do you prefer Steve?

 

[CraigerC EMTB]

Oakley all the way! Oakley Targetline with a rose colored lens transition light to dark. Maybe not the best looking glasses, but they are bullet proof! I have crashed and exploded them and then clicked them back together and they keep going strong! I think the rose color is great for So Cal bright to shade transitions and late evening riding. Cheers

 

[Dirtnvert]

Julbo, easily the best prescription glasses I’ve had. I use them summer and winter and at high altitude. I use them for work so I can be wearing them day after day. Mine are a good fit and don’t move around or fall off on the bike, on foot, skis or climbing. They’re also comfortable with a variety of helmets.

X2 on this. A ski guide buddy got me on to julbo photochromatic lense glasses. Nice lense that i have used 4 seasons until they were worn out scratched from a lot of use. I dont have a prescription but my buddy does . The model was the trek but i think theyve replaced it with somwthing else. Theyre hydrophobic too so they resist fogging

 

[SwissMountainLeader]

X2 on this. A ski guide buddy got me on to julbo photochromatic lense glasses. Nice lense that i have used 4 seasons until they were worn out scratched from a lot of use. I dont have a prescription but my buddy does . The model was the trek but i think theyve replaced it with somwthing else. Theyre hydrophobic too so they resist fogging

I think mine are a running model, the frame was a good fit. I’ve really not found a use for photochromic or transitions lenses, I’m not entirely sure I know anyone personally that does. With the right tint it seems ok, certainly on skis I don’t feel it’s useful for goggles.

 

[Tim1023]

Whilst I'm sure there's a market-leader bias going on here and there's probably plenty of other good manufacturers, I'm very pleased with my Oakleys.

My previous Oakleys saved my eyes from serious injury when I decided to headbutt a root a couple of years back. My new ones are Oakley Flak 2.0s with prescription Trail lenses, which apparently have trail-detail-enhancing optical properties. I haven't done a side-by-side test, but they seem pretty good.
Downsides:

• Expensive with prescription lenses!
• I would have liked to have additionally had a reading lens section at the bottom to see my phone for navigation better, but see point 1
• The lenses pop out quite easily when you are washing them

On the trail, I love them! I didn't go for the transition lenses because (1) expensive! and (2) on my local wooded trails, I'm often transitioning quickly between sunny and shaded areas, so I'd rather deal with the brightness when coming into the light than not being able to see details when going back into the shade.

My optician, who is also a mountain biker, said that Adidas do (did? it was a couple of years back) pretty good prescriptionable mtb glasses too.

 

[Dirtnvert]

I think mine are a running model, the frame was a good fit. I’ve really not found a use for photochromic or transitions lenses, I’m not entirely sure I know anyone personally that does. With the right tint it seems ok, certainly on skis I don’t feel it’s useful for goggles.

The light transmission of the zebra lense has a wide range. That was a big draw for me for both skiing and biking. They were good in flat light, and snow and quick to wipe off if it was wet and when it turned to rain. Super clear bright days in the alpine in the sun i had a mirrored glacier glasses as my spare. Other than that spare glacier glass i wore the photochromic julbo trek a majority of the time. Great biking too unless it was after the sun dropped behind the mt and i was in the trees then it was too dark for that last hour or 2 of the day. For most of the day and light conditiin they were perfect. Peobably skied 400+ pow days with them and a lot of riding days. I shouldve had a clear lense glass as a spaee for after dusk

 

[SwissMountainLeader]

The light transmission of the zebra lense has a wide range. That was a big draw for me for both skiing and biking. They were good in flat light, and snow and quick to wipe off if it was wet and when it turned to rain. Super clear bright days in the alpine in the sun i had a mirrored glacier glasses as my spare. Other than that spare glacier glass i wore the photochromic julbo trek a majority of the time. Great biking too unless it was after the sun dropped behind the mt and i was in the trees then it was too dark for that last hour or 2 of the day. For most of the day and light conditiin they were perfect. Peobably skied 400+ pow days with them and a lot of riding days. I shouldve had a clear lense glass as a spaee for after dusk

The reason some people weren't liking the transitions was they reacted too slow I think. Maybe that's an historic thing and they're better now.

I'm pretty sure skiers worry too much about the tints of their goggles, they should bend their knees more

 

[apac]

Oakley all the way! Oakley Targetline with a rose colored lens transition light to dark. Maybe not the best looking glasses, but they are bullet proof! I have crashed and exploded them and then clicked them back together and they keep going strong! I think the rose color is great for So Cal bright to shade transitions and late evening riding. Cheers

Can you get prescription lenses with these?

 

[Dirtnvert]

The reason some people weren't liking the transitions was they reacted too slow I think. Maybe that's an historic thing and they're better now.

I'm pretty sure skiers worry too much about the tints of their goggles, they should bend their knees more

Yes bend zee knees and point zee skis. Turns are for girlzz
They dont transition super quick but they really dont have to. A flat light day is a flat light day. They transition to that light and stay there. The zebra never gets super dark so thats why i have glacier glasses in my pack for when i need dark lense for above tree line. Every other condition the zebra lense will afjust for it for the day and if it has little changes in light throughout the day its close to the right transmission and then will adapt.
A friend worked at a sunglass shop snd he got some transition(the brand name "transition") prescription sunglasses and they were total shit. They would go super dark just because of snow being so light like it was a bright sunny day but it was puking snow. He couldnt see shit. I saw some spectacular crashes that ill never forget. How he didnt die i'll never know ?
I kept telling him he has to use those in town. They werent for ski touring in the mts but he kept bringing them until he realized i really didnt want to be making a sled in the backcountry to tow his dead dumb ass off the mt. They were terrible. Julbo zebra lense dont go even close to as dark as his transition shitty glasses. I was surprised he got them. He knew all the sunglasses and managed that store for years

 

[Charliektm400exc]

Hi,

Having worn contact lenses from 18 yo to about 50 yo my eyes started to reject them. Having also astigmatism corrective surgery not on the cards.

Are there others in my position whom rode with special glasses?? A few recent youtube vids have worried me about riding in my day to day glass specs.

Also im in Australia... so any Aussie specific recommendations would be awesome.

cheers

Hi,

I live in Tasmania and I got these off ebay ROCKBROS Polarized Cycling Sunglasses Outdoor Bike Goggles Riding Hiking Glasses I got the insert filled with my distance and reading prescription at my normal optometrist.

 

[B1rdie]

Oakley prescription lenses here also! Have been using them for over seven years, have changed the frame of my flackjacks twice and the lenses are still doing fine.

 

[steve_sordy]

Which tint do you prefer Steve?

View attachment 69599

I have tried the black iridium first, because I liked the idea of the black glass look. But I was disappointed in how slowly they reacted when going from bright sunshine into dense woods. If there was a sharp turn or a rock just inside the shade, I'd be in trouble. I tried the grey transitions on my next pair and they were much better. No idea about the brown ones.

 

[BBear]

I tried transition lenses but couldn’t get on with them for biking. In and out of light and shade and too slow to change often mean’t they were dark in the woods and clear in the sunlight. Not wasted though as I use them for general wear ?

 

[SwissMountainLeader]

I tried transition lenses but couldn’t get on with them for biking. In and out of light and shade and too slow to change often mean’t they were dark in the woods and clear in the sunlight. Not wasted though as I use them for general wear ?

I agree, I’m quite surprised. I don’t think I know anyone that wears them although I’m often stood around outside and do notice when clients are wearing transition lenses. I’d wondered if they’d improved and I’d not noticed. Maybe it’s that I’m thinking about high altitude and very high altitude. Even at high altitude sunlight is upto 50%-60% more intense with UV rising at around 10% every 300m. This is slightly different at higher latitudes of course.

 

[steve_sordy]

I ride a lot in the woods, so I'm in and out of the shade and sun all the time. The grey transitions I wear on my bike now definitely work better. They suit me well as I wear transition varifocals normally and I just do not notice when moving from sun to shade. With the first pair of transitions lenses I got 40 years ago, I'd go blind when I walked into a shop!

 

[Kevlasultanpus]

Thank's for everyone's input.

I have been in contact with Extreme Eyewear in the UK and Goggleman in Aus. Each have different recommendations for my powerful (-5.25) prescription...from Bolle, Oakley, UVEX and Wiley. Looks like there are many options out there. Also came across of mob called Rudy Project.

Looks like i will need to spend the extra cash for multi-focals, ( as i do day in day out) as when i donned and old pair of single vision i noticed i got a bit of a headache.

Still thinking of transitions to which the forum seem to conclude have improved over the decades.

 

[Mcharza]

Thank's for everyone's input.

I have been in contact with Extreme Eyewear in the UK and Goggleman in Aus. Each have different recommendations for my powerful (-5.25) prescription...from Bolle, Oakley, UVEX and Wiley. Looks like there are many options out there. Also came across of mob called Rudy Project.

Looks like i will need to spend the extra cash for multi-focals, ( as i do day in day out) as when i donned and old pair of single vision i noticed i got a bit of a headache.

Still thinking of transitions to which the forum seem to conclude have improved over the decades.

I have Oakley's Straightlink with multifocal brown transition lens and they are very good. No problems ride summer or autumn

 

[Nicho]

Also came across of mob called Rudy Project.

Before I boght the Oakleys I tried some samples of Rudy Project frames. Their prescription lenses were fitted in an insert frame which clipped in behind the main frames. The problem was that the inserts were so close to my face/eyelashes that they were extremely irritating and uncomfortable, and steamed up wthin seconds. I was not at all impressed with Rudy Project.

 

[Kevlasultanpus]

Before I boght the Oakleys I tried some samples of Rudy Project frames. Their prescription lenses were fitted in an insert frame which clipped in behind the main frames. The problem was that the inserts were so close to my face/eyelashes that they were extremely irritating and uncomfortable, and steamed up wthin seconds. I was not at all impressed with Rudy Project.

thanks... you saved me from going down this rabbit hole. the idea of sample was appealing....alas I think I'd prefer a non insert

 

[Kevlasultanpus]

I have Oakley's Straightlink with multifocal brown transition lens and they are very good. No problems ride summer or autumn

how about night riding ??

 

[Mcharza]

how about night riding ??

In the dark they become completely bright, so no problem.

 

[Akiwi]

I had glasses with clip ins for ages... but avoid these as they are a Pain to keep clean!.
I tend to sweat a lot and when sweat drips between the lenses you have to pull them apart to clean which is a fiddle and takes too long.

I also have Oakley frames with a standard photochromatic lens. It goes completely clear and is dark enough for the sunny areas. Won't be dark enough for skiing.

 

[Dirtnvert]

Any photochromic lense youre considering will have the light transmission range in the specifications. Some go quite dark but theyre also probably darker at their high light transmission point than other models. Like wise some are lighter and dont go super dark. Some have wider light transmission ranges.
You dont necessarily want a darker range for skiing. If youre in an area where it doesnt snow a ton and its sunny a lot youd want darker. When its puking you want a lughter range. Also you often will go from a northface to a southface possibly multiple times in a day so much different lighting. I prefer a photochromuc lense that doesnt get that dark and will go quite light. Same for biking. With skiing id have a darker mirrored lense in my pack for those super sunny days, southfacing ski tors or sunny alpine. With biking photochromic is never going to be as good as a clear lense at night. My julbo trek with the zebra lense goes quite light and doesnt get very dark but its still terrible after dark and even just before dark. In that application you'd definitely want a clear lense. I dont pack extra glasses on the bike unless i have a camelback and i try and avoid a pack. The zebra lense is perfect 90% of the time. If i go on our northfacing trails in the trees for an after super ride i leave them at home. Ive been looking to get some cheap clear lense rock bros off ebay/amazon but have yet to do that