It's a hobby horse of mine, probably because I realise how great sports eyewear can be and because I value it so much. I have plenty of stone chips and bramble marks on my eyewear to appreciate the value they provide.
Yet again I have been sent and email extolling the virtues of cycling eyewear .
Don't get me wrong, this is good for the sector, but it misses out on so much great product out there.
I am lucky enough to have tried out a whole range of sports eyewear from the cheap and nasty to the excellent.
Once you have cycled in, say, a Rudy Project frame glazed with prescription Drivewear, you are hooked. For changeable light conditions Transitions lenses are a great option in a performance frame such as an Oakley .
If style and performance is what you are looking for the digital glazing now offered by Maui Jim is another option. If you need something lower down the budget then otjer products such as the modular Nalinni from Norville offer the function with a little less style.
Changing light conditions always pose a problem so while a Rupp + Hubrach Silvershadow with a moderate tint galzed into a Rudy Project frame with a side vent provides excellent mist-free vision for light sun there is always the problem of what you do when conditions go to full sun.
Bright sun category eyewear is not something you want to be wearing unless there is full on sun so that is where the compromise is usually made.
The solution so far has probably been to wear contact lenses or use orthoK and then option for a Transitons activated by product or swappeable lenses ( not popular on the go).
Some products on the horizon will hopefully address this as the next generation of glazeable Transitions sunwear makes it onto the market.
The sad fact in all of this is that 'cycling specific eyewear' is available from sports retailers at very low cost, but a lot of the quality is shockingly poor. Unitl the optical retail business gets to grips with sports eyewear, as it has in Germany. That massive market will remain untapped.
