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Unfortunately I found a big scratch across my Jawbreaker Clear>Black this morning. But, before I fork out £90 for some replacement Oakley lenses, is there anything else to consider?
Need to be clear>dark for Autumn/Winter under-the-trees MTB.
Thanks
I've two pairs of tifosi photochromic which have served me well. Both around £50 in the sale. Great for everything apart from night riding.
I’ve had all sorts of photochromatic lenses over decades, and the modern ones are so good. Ask your optician about faster transitioning lenses. But I think some don’t go as dark as slower ones. And some end up getting slower to change over time. And some have different colour transmission, so may be better in different types of light. And if you want ones that go completely clear, they won’t go as dark as ones with a base tint. Tbh it’s a bit of a minefield, and what you get may be dependent on what brand your optician deals with. Oakley photochromatic lenses are good though, optically very good quality. All plastic lenses will scratch more easily than glass though. And any fancy mirror coating will reduce light transmission, so may not be so good at night.
I’m in the market for a new pair of ‘action’ sunnies, as I broke mine on holiday recently. 😪
Have just ordered some prescription ones from Rxsport.co.uk, they were loads of different options available, all explained in detail. Some for driving ie partially work behind glass, others go darker, or start darker etc.
The best ones? Julbo, anything Julbo. But I lost my last pair off the top of my helmet.
So for mountain biking? AliExpress Kapvoe's are pretty damn good for £12 and come in all sorts of glam colours.
I use Sungod Vulcans with their Iris smoke photochromic lens which I do find to be on par with Oakley. They claim to have less of a range than Oakley, but I can’t say I notice that. I always thought the Oakley lenses didn’t get as dark as they claim anyway. The Vulcans are sodding massive though, luckily I have a sodding massive head.
I was looking at the Vulcans but not sure how clear they go @the-Beard? I’ve also found some Tifosi’s on sale at half price and am wondering whether to get those.
Then again, I always do this then shelve the option and return to Oakley, there must be a lesson there. I’d love to get the clear lenses for half the price but have light sensitive eyes so need something to dampen the Winter sun a tad.
I have two pairs of Oakleys with prescription and photochromatic Julbos Streams without.
I really like the Julbo Zebra 1-3 lens (or something, lighter one anyway) for MTB and general sport use - only on bright sunny spring skiing sessions they should get darker than they do.
Only issue with Julbo lens is that the inside is not smooth and cleaning them takes while. Also the ventilation on Stream model works really well and they do not get foggy.
I have two pairs, and they both work well enough for me.
Rudy Project Rydon - these are light and comfortable but expensive. I prefer them to Oakleys as they are not ugly.
Carnac RSF - 25 quid at the moment. I've had my pair for years and they are still in great condition. They're so cheap that I use them as my everyday glasses as I'm not worried about scratching or losing them. I save the Rudys for long days out.
The Sungod's don't go as clear as the Oakley's - there is a slight grey tint, but very slight and I can't say it's put me off using them at night. I can DM you some pics if you'd like? I don't have a way of publicly hosting pics to post here.
Where the heck do you manage to get oakley lenses for £90???? Let me know! I’ve spend more than i care to disclose the Mrs S on oakley prescription sunglass lenses!
Scratch that….non-prescription I presume! Sorry.
BBB from Merlin. Job done. Superb for riding and running and as you get older, they have a +1 lens so you can still read your gps.
Melon Alleycat seconded. The company has a bit of a sick/rad/dude vibe, but the product and service is good.
They do a once a year sale, in November I think.
Bliz with nordic lights are very good and not to expensive, Alpintrek have some very good dicounts on them at the moment
My Melon Alleycats do seem very good, and they go clear enough I'm happy to use them in the dark. They were a lot of money though. I've just ordered a pair of the Aliexpress Kapvoe ones to use and abuse, for a little over £20. Interested to compare opposite ends of the cost spectrum. I wonder whether in the winter dirty specs will be dirty specs whatever they are, so they might as well be cheap in case I spanner them.
ADIDAS. When I used to stock them (I'm an Optician) they used Shamir lenses and they were really very good, even the non rx stuff. I have tried many different brands over the last few years and I keep going back to ADIDAS for my riding glasses.
Need to find out who the agent is again actually, so I can stop paying retail for them...!
I really like my alleycats. The photochromics are very good. Easily handled the shadow bright light of summer time Alps
A friend seems to be sensitive to alternating bright/dark since alleycats no migraine.
Has to be Rad8 for me
Oh thats interesting, I have some Rad8 504's with blue lenses which sit atop my off-bike event cap. I quite like the look of the 507's...
My Rad8 505s fitted quite closely around my eye socket on all sides, which made them steam up really easily in summer. I don't have this problem with the Melon Alleycats, and they also have the advantage of being able to swap lenses.