[Closed] Riding in glasses

I can ride just fine in the wet when wearing clear lenses and do all the time in winter. Dazzle (from car brake lights) is the greatest problem, not outright visibility.

Interchangeable lens glasses with prescription inserts. or the cheapest 'second pair' you can get your hands on as the lenses will get trashed pretty quickly with winter riding.

I do also coat my lenses with RainX.

Had a few prescription Oakley pairs from RX Sport. Latest is transition crosslink MNP. Good service from RX and good quality lenses, transitions with cross links were £230is so miles cheaper than high street. Seem to go through a set of lenses every 12 -18 months ie start to get a bit scratched but doesn’t really bother me if I wanted to keep on using them. The Crosslink is good for strong long sighted prescriptions like mine ie straight frame rather than wrap around which causes distortion. Ride in all weathers, find them a bit of a chew on if the dew point/temperature is close so end up fogging a bit but still useable just require more wiping.

That RainX stuff looks like a good shout. Will give that a go on an old pair of specs first.

Cheers

I just wear my normal spectacles.

I did lose a pair when I ended up in a river, but that was kinda my own fault.

I just wear my normal glasses but I have been looking at sports glasses with interchangeable lenses and clip-in prescription lenses. Like these; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sports-glasses-PRESCRIPTION-INSERT-protective-interchangeable-lenses-5-colours/162354218244?

In really foul weather I have ridden back to the car without glasses, but as a Mr Magoo I wouldn't recommend it.

Does the rain x harm prescription lenses and coatings?

I wear regular opthalmic glasses for all my riding and have for 20 years. I ride in all weathers, day and night.

My quirky prescription rules out any fancy wrap round stuff, which would be better I think.

I'm also a keen sailor. Nothing teaches you to look through dirty and wet glasses like sailing in a blow. You get the hang of it on the bike fairly quickly.

I do get the odd blob of grit in the eye but that can be cured if you are able to go for wrap round or close fitting riding glasses. The odd eye wipe stop may be needed.

I wouldn't mind some goggles that were deep enough to go over the specs though.

I wear glasses all the time. Admittedly I avoid riding if it's raining hard but they clear well enough.

Yep. Contacts I never got on with so it’s my specs all the time. Not usually a problem just make sure they are snug on your head, you take an abundance of kitchen roll to clean and or dry them regularly, and get some cheap ones with a bigger frame to reduce debris in your eyes, Glasses Direct is great for this.

Have had to stop wearing contacts due to problems with my eyes.

I'd be asking for a second opinion if you haven't already. Sometimes opticians don't realise how important riding is to some people. One optician told me to stop but on talking it through she admitted it would probably be okay, and subsequent check-ups have been fine.

Unfortunately I have something called Meibomian gland dysfunction and am currently awaiting an op to remove some blockages/lumps. It's a chronic condition and exacerbated by contacts which I now find too uncomfortable due to lack of eye lubrication.
I dislike wearing specs but liking the interchangeable lens idea for those rare sunny days.
That RainX stuff might be the short term answer though

Get zapped?

Though I'm reluctant to go down that route myself given experiences from friends in that it doesn't seem to last and you end up still needing glasses. Especially when you're around the 40s+ and eyes are changing.

I wouldn't mind some goggles that were deep enough to go over the specs though.

I use overglasses downhill. Cheap from screwfix. Bolle ones a bit more expensive but still only £5 ish

I wea oakleys that I've had clear polycarbonate prescription lenses put into.

I have some old minutes that I've used for a few years and I've recently got some half jackets. Ridden in the rain a fair amount with the minutes and they're ok - they're very wrapped around so can fog a bit when you stop.

The half jackets are frameless at the bottom of the lense but I haven't used them much in the rain yet.

Does the rain x harm prescription lenses and coatings?

Looking for feedback on this too, just looked on ebay after reading some posts above and it says not for use on plastics as it contains a solvent!

I would suggest you consider one of the various prescription lens cycling glasses from the likes of [url= https://www.optilabs.com/product-category/sport/cycling-sunglasses/ ]Optilabs[/url]. A prescription insert offers worse vision and is more likely to steam up than well designed prescription lens compatible sunglasses. A photochromic lens should suit pretty much all riding conditions.

Logically, this should result in no significant change for you when riding, because you should be wearing sunglasses or safety glasses [i]anyway[/i] for off road mountain biking, given the risk otherwise of stones, dirt etc. being flung up from the front wheel into your eyes.

In rain, I would suggest a hat with a peak under your helmet like the traditional [url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=firefox-b&dcr=0&biw=1366&bih=655&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=BRIMWvCbFsSPgAa_gYOwCA&q=cotton++cycling+casquette&oq=cotton++cycling+casquette&gs_l=psy-ab.3...4031.7696.0.8287.9.9.0.0.0.0.215.1152.4j4j1.9.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.rcMDdod66hY ]cotton casquette[/url]. For winter you can get similar styled hats in synethetic materials.

I wouldn't use kitchen roll, tissue or any paper to clean glasses. Wood based innit so it scratches lenses

I do also coat my lenses with RainX

I'm gonna look into this- riding in the rain is a nightmare!

I’ve ridden with glasses on ever since I got glasses about 30 years ago. For rain I just carry a micro fibre cloth to help clean them. Biggest challenge I have is when I get a proper sweat on in summer and it drips onto the lenses. I started wearing a halo band to channel the sweat that made a huge improvement.
I’ve tried expensive lenses with coatings but they wear after time and the lenses looked fogged up. I just tend to order my lenses online and put into cheapies Oakley frames from the likes of glasses123 or another place in Edinburgh.

it says not for use on plastics as it contains a solvent

Hmm, are glasses made of plastic or, um, glass?

Nomad - Member
Unfortunately I have something called Meibomian gland dysfunction and am currently awaiting an op to remove some blockages/lumps. It's a chronic condition and exacerbated by contacts which I now find too uncomfortable due to lack of eye lubrication.

Be interested to know a bit more about this - i have several blocked glands (long-term calcium build-up so the usual squeeze/massage approach has been wholly ineffectual) which make contacts difficult, never occurred to me that i might be able to get them sorted, I'm guessing it's a private job?

Webmd reckons plastic

https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/eyeglasses-eyes

The only problem with rainx is that in some conditions it can allow fogging on the outside of the lenses (I've found this using safety glasses that have a good anti fog protection on both sides, but this is the opposite of rainx basically so if they get rain on the vision gets very blurred!)

It only really becomes a problem off road with low speeds/large amounts of muddy water. Probably worth considering what front mudguard you're running too.

Hmm, are glasses made of plastic or, um, glass?

No worries riding with glasses, except now with my first bi-focals. They really screw up lower peripheral vision meaning that navigating rock steps and skinnies is pretty difficult now. I just have to remember to use old glasses for riding.

Long term glasses wearer (nearly 40 years now).

Mudguards/spray deflector of some description on all your bikes (most of the water you get in your face is off the floor/road/trail in my experience).

And a roadie cotton cap with a decent sized and stiffish brim, peaks on MTB helmets are generally too far away to be massively useful. You can also flip the brim on the cap up if its in the way.......

And something like rainx.