Advice on prescription cycling sunglasses for someone with bad eyesight

steephill.tv said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

Almost all of the major sports sunglass makers make inserts so that
your prescription can be used along with regular type sport sunglasses.
You can find these at local optical shops, in almost all of the cycling
catalogues, and at on line sites for both optical goods and cycling
shops. Pick the ones you like and get them. Many of the shops will do
your p[rescription insert for you or you can choose to get the insert
nad have your own optician put in the prescription.

Rudy project has numerous models that allow you to put a prescription
directly into the frame or Rx attachments. I'd check them out at
rudyprojectusa.com

I've tried a pair of cycling sunglasses with inserts and they are just a
PITA. They fog twice as much and get twice as dirty, and the prescription
insert broke the first time the optometrist tried to fit it with
lenses. (Performance "Radial II": yeah, I'm a cheapskate.)

I have a pair of Briko Gripper sunglasses that I had fitted with
medium-dark reddish prescription plastic lenses at my local
optometrist. Love 'em. I'd like to get another pair with clear or yellow
lenses for winter riding. I found the sunglasses cheap on ebay I think.

This looks promising:

http://pezcyclingnews.com/default.asp?pg=fullstory&id=2963

BTW Steve, I really like your race and ride write-ups. Please keep doing
them. 🙂

Morgan
--
Morgan Fletcher, [email hidden] Oakland, CA, USA

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 22:14:49 GMT, Morgan Fletcher <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I've tried a pair of cycling sunglasses with inserts and they are just a
PITA. They fog twice as much and get twice as dirty,

Ditto. They suck. I eventually went to a pair of normal "street"
glasses that I bought with various lens colors. Big improvement,
though I needed an eyeglass strap to hold them on. More recently I
got Lasik (which the original poster may not be able to do). And my
wife just got a pair of Rudy Projects with the presciption lens built
in. Not sure if the OP's prescription will work but check
www.rudyrx.com for info.

Quoted message said:

I have a pair of Briko Gripper sunglasses that I had fitted with
medium-dark reddish prescription plastic lenses at my local
optometrist. Love 'em. I'd like to get another pair with clear or yellow
lenses for winter riding. I found the sunglasses cheap on ebay I think.

This sounds good too.

JT

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If you go the cycling glasses/inserts route, be sure to make sure that
your perscription doesn't exceed the maximum for the inserts. I bought
a pair of Rudy Projects and inserts, only to find they could only take
a maximum prescription of -5, and I have a -9.5... I'm about a week
into an "experiment" with regular frames and Transitions lenses, they
seem okay so far, but I'd like 'em better if they got a bit darker...

I like the idea of putting the prescription directly into the frame as
well. Rudy project looks like they have what I need. Thanks.

I think my prescription is too strong for the glasses you've pointed.

Thanks for the nice feedback regarding my site.

Steve
http://www.steephill.tv

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

Oakley prescription sunglasses are phenomenal, but expensive. Fortunately,
they last a very long time; I've had mine for four years, and cycling use
puts them through the wringer. You can't buy them at a bike shop- you've got
to find an optometrist who has them. For me, they were worth the money.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

I just got a pair of Rudy Rydons with Rx inserts
I am happy with them
http://www.rudyprojectusa.com/products/sunglasses/styles/rydon.htm

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Rudy project has numerous models that allow you to put a prescription
directly into the frame or Rx attachments. I'd check them out at
rudyprojectusa.com

steephill.tv said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

Hi,

I have an Oakley frame with 3rd party lenses. That opto said they have
new technology that can map just about any prescription to any
curvature. Mind you other opto's said they can't do it at all??? I went
with the first opto, the glasses are great.

I agree with the other posters those magnetic attachments are OK but
with twice the cleaning and fogging they ain't fun.

How about those lenses that change color in the light? I've had them
before, n not as dark as sunnies but you should be able to get any
prescription you need.

Whatever you get make sure they wrap around. When I ride at pace with
my clear glasses my eyes water because the wind not only gets in the
frame causes additional turbulants or something.

Cheers.

On 8/29/05 4:50 PM, in article
[email hidden], "steephill.tv"

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

Take a look at www.heavyglare.com I got a pair of Rudy Project Keja & a pair
of Bolle Vanadium.

steephill.tv said:

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

What colour?

--
IT Management. Tel: +64 3 479 5478
Web and database hosting, Co-location. Web: http://www.wic.co.nz
Software development. Email: [email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

You can get glasses with a prescription insert. The only drawback is that
most of these glasses are fixed, so that if it gets dark out or you ride
in the shadows, the glasses could be too dark. I think the only company that
gives you the option of flipping up the dark lenses are Rudy Projects.
-------------
Alex

Morgan Fletcher said:

I've tried a pair of cycling sunglasses with inserts and they are just a
PITA. They fog twice as much and get twice as dirty, and the prescription
insert broke the first time the optometrist tried to fit it with
lenses. (Performance "Radial II": yeah, I'm a cheapskate.)

Quoted message said:

--

OK that's your experience. I'll agree with the fogging issue but not
with the sturdiness. I used Bolle's for years without a problem. The
issue is that if your prescription goes beyond a certain point and want
wraparound type sunglasses , then inserts are the only option I've
seen.

Or you could do like I did. Get old, get cataracts, have an operation,
lose the need for a Rx.

In ba.bicycles steephill.tv said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Quoted message said:

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

Quoted message said:

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

Steve:

Your prescription is a bit stronger than mine. I have been very pleased
with the custom inserts ("Polycarb 1.0"😉 that I got from Sved Optics.
They specialize in custom inserts for just about any brand of sport
sunglasses.

The nice thing about these inserts is that they don't cost as much as some
(e.g. Oakley). If you wear contact lenses some of the time as I do, you
can use the same tint lenses as with the inserts, only needing to swap the
nosepiece.

www.svedoptics.com

Here are a few links of me wearing the Sved inserts with the Oakley
glasses (although I took these pics not intending to model them). You
have to look carefully to see the inserts.

http://tinyurl.com/co57a
http://tinyurl.com/c6cfd
http://tinyurl.com/caxr9

--
Bill Bushnell
http://pobox.com/~bushnell/

The lenses look rather small. Do you have any problems with peripheral
vision? Any problems with the inserts fogging up?

Steve

In article <[email hidden]>,

steephill.tv said:

The lenses look rather small. Do you have any problems with peripheral
vision? Any problems with the inserts fogging up?

Steve:

The inserts appear small because the tint lenses are the largest that
Oakley make.

Peripheral vision is a bit better when I wear contacts, but in use one
uses peripheral vision to sense motion, not detail, so it's not critical
that peripheral vision be in sharp focus.

If the inserts were much larger they would be too thick around the
edges, and I'd start to feel them with my eyelashes every time I blinked.

Fogging is no more a problem with the inserts than without. The
solution is always to get enough air to circulate behind the lenses. If
I expect to find myself in a lens-fogging situation (e.g. cold, damp
air) much of the time, then I'll wear contacts that day.

--
Bill Bushnell
http://pobox.com/~bushnell/

steephill.tv said:

I'm looking for advice from cyclists with lousy eyesight who have found
good prescription sunglasses. The worse your eyesight, the less lens
curvature you can have which eliminates most sunglasses. Anybody with
any good links or referrals to pass along?

Of course, the more stylish, the better. 😉

my eyes:
Sphere, Cyl, Axis
R: -5.25, -0.75, 20
L: -4.25, -0.25, 5

I had the same questions a while back and my prescription is even worse
than yours. I have been extremely happy with contacts for a couple of
reasons. First of all I have very expensive (what I consider expensive)
Oakley's, Smith's and Rudy Projects. I choose the glasses to wear for
the ride depending on conditions and what Im doing. But they are all
normal glasses so it doesnt matter what I put on. My prescription is
changing, albeit slowly, and I would hate to have less then perfect
prescription sunglasses. Also getting a prescription in the frame itself
is costly and you can lose/break/scratch/etc. them. With contacts I can
buy another pair and if Im remote, I can just walk into any drugstore
and get a cheap pair to hold me until I can get another good pair.

Finally contacts are nice because when I get off the bike and take off
my sunglasses, I can still see without having to carry another pair of
glasses.

I have extreme astigmatism and the lenses have to sit just right on my
eye. For some reason the amount of air flow when riding the bike with
the heavily wrapped frames, is just right so my vision is astounding on
the bike.

YMMV.

k