Bugeyed!



B

Bean Long

Guest
Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for riding?
Headed off this morning under cloudy grey skies and left the sunnies off so
I could see. I usually wear prescription glasses but find these don't offer
any protection and are a little difficult to get a good, uninterrupted view
of the road (small lenses) so go naked or with sun glasses mostly. Anyway,
almost at work and 'thwack!!' a big ugly bug digs his head into my eyeball.
I kept riding for a short while before the discomfort forced me to stop and
give my eye a wash from my bottle. Was't till after my shower when I
arrived at work that I was able to get the bugger out of my eye. The eye is
still red and inflamed nearly an hour later but much more comfortable thank
god. Again, any recommendations for eye protection??

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying
 
On 2005-11-21, Bean Long <[email protected]> wrote:
> Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for riding?


I very much like my yellow-tinted glasses. They do an excellent job of
both protecting my eyes, and improving the contrast on relatively dark
days (to the point that it's easy to think that you're right to keep
going without turning on the lights, even well after the point when any
sane cyclist would have done so.)

I got mine from the Cancer Council shop in Chadstone.

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".
 
Bean Long wrote:
> Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for riding?
> Headed off this morning under cloudy grey skies and left the sunnies off so
> I could see. I usually wear prescription glasses but find these don't offer
> any protection and are a little difficult to get a good, uninterrupted view
> of the road (small lenses) so go naked or with sun glasses mostly. Anyway,
> almost at work and 'thwack!!' a big ugly bug digs his head into my eyeball.
> I kept riding for a short while before the discomfort forced me to stop and
> give my eye a wash from my bottle. Was't till after my shower when I
> arrived at work that I was able to get the bugger out of my eye. The eye is
> still red and inflamed nearly an hour later but much more comfortable thank
> god. Again, any recommendations for eye protection??


As Stuart points out, yellow glasses are good. Personally, I like
clear ones - in rain I find them a bit more transparent. Your LBS
should sell them, or if you're after cheapies, you can get safety
glasses from hardware stores. They may fog up more though, which may
defeat the purpose!
 
Bean Long said:
Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for riding?


We use clear safety glasses purchased from Bunnings - usually only about $15 and virtually indestructible.
 
Bean

I also wear prescription lenses. Lots of people have sports sunnies
with a prescription insert, but I don't like them because of
difficulties cleaning off sweat/snot and fog.

Prescription sunnies can now be made with a high degree of curve
(unless you have a really strong script). You can pick out just about
any pair of full-frame sunnies - wrap around sports types included -
and they can fit your lenses into them.

You can also get photo-active lenses. I use one that is pink and goes
dark purple with UV light - very nice to use.

My medical cover left me with no extra charge.

Donga
 
On 2005-11-21, Donga (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Prescription sunnies can now be made with a high degree of curve
> (unless you have a really strong script). You can pick out just about
> any pair of full-frame sunnies - wrap around sports types included -
> and they can fit your lenses into them.
>
> You can also get photo-active lenses. I use one that is pink and goes
> dark purple with UV light - very nice to use.
>
> My medical cover left me with no extra charge.


No extra charge than what?

And what medical cover -- private medical?

Is there anything for poor students on a medicare card to get cheap
prescription cycling sunnies?

--
TimC
Anyone who quotes me in their sig is an idiot. -- Rusty Russell.
 
After getting a tip off from Tam, I picked up two pairs of 'sunnies' -
1 x clear lens, 1 x yellow/orange lens - from the Uni bike shop. Black
Ice brand, only $14/pair.

I wear contacts now - used to wear glasses. If you have had bad contact
lens experiences in the past (as I did when I tried them in school
days), I'd recommend going back and trying again.

The optometrist gave me 3 pairs from different makers (all monthly
replacement schedule). Two of them sucked - wanted to claw them out
after half a day!!. But 1 pair was absolutely perfect, and am so glad
that I went to the effort.

Given the improvements in contact lens technology - seriously take the
time if you haven't before!!

Cheers and good luck,
Abby
 
cfsmtb <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Bean Long Wrote:
>> Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for
>> riding?

>
>
>We use clear safety glasses purchased from Bunnings - usually only
>about $15 and virtually indestructible.


Same here. I have a pair that fit over my prescription glasses, keep
the wind, rain and bugs out of the eyes.

Ted.
==============================================================
| Ted Linnell <[email protected]> |
| |
| Nunawading, Victoria , Australia |
==============================================================
 
On 2005-11-22, Absent Husband (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> I wear contacts now - used to wear glasses. If you have had bad contact
> lens experiences in the past (as I did when I tried them in school
> days), I'd recommend going back and trying again.


Do they still take too much time, effort, and money? :)

> The optometrist gave me 3 pairs from different makers (all monthly
> replacement schedule). Two of them sucked - wanted to claw them out
> after half a day!!. But 1 pair was absolutely perfect, and am so glad
> that I went to the effort.


I suspect optometrists wouldn't have trial pairs in prescriptions of
+6 and +8.

> Given the improvements in contact lens technology - seriously take the
> time if you haven't before!!


Tis tempting...

--
TimC
mathematician, n.:
Some one who believes imaginary things appear right before your i's. --unk
 
Hey TimC,

I wear the 'monthly' lenses (ie leave the little suckers in for the
full month, even when sleeping).

The optometrist recommended I take them out weekly, for an overnight
soaking in whatever-that-solution-is-called - good for the eyes, and
extends the active life of the contacts. So every week or so I give the
eyes a rest from them, and they generally get replaced every 6-8 weeks.
So time/effort is very, very low.

Cost is pretty cheap too. My bottle of solution has lasted almost 18
months now (almost empty...). MBF gave me back most of the cost of the
contacts themselves, but as I recall, it was less than $200 (before
rebate) for 6 pairs (years supply).

Contrast that to when I was in high school. It was like wearing Cling
Wrap in my eyes. Had to use heaps of eye drops (never use that now),
and about 3 different solutions to keep them sterile and hydrated. No
wonder I gave up on them so quickly back then!!

My optometrist very happily gave me trial pairs - and he had a huge
stock of them in what looked like covered the whole range of
prescriptions. I suspect the manufactureres keep them well-stocked with
freebies so they don't miss out on the 'life-long sales stream'!!

Seriously - give it a shot. While they obviously aren't for everybody,
I am very, very pleased I gave them a second go.

Cheers,
Blind Abby
 
I'm a stereotypical scientist with lab coat, glasses and thinning hair. We
have quite a few 'ubergoggles' here in the lab that would probably suit the
purpose, so I might give them a go... they're just not as stylish as one
might like when trying to impress passers by when on the bike!

Thanks for the feedback all.

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying
"cfsmtb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Bean Long Wrote:
> > Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for
> > riding?

>
>
> We use clear safety glasses purchased from Bunnings - usually only
> about $15 and virtually indestructible.
>
>
> --
> cfsmtb
>
 
Tim C wrote:
>> My medical cover left me with no extra charge.


>No extra charge than what?
>And what medical cover -- private medical?


I meant there was no charge above my private medical cover, i.e.
Medibank Private with extras, which is worth a new bike a year and I
never use a fraction of it - hopefully won't, except when I get new
glasses each year!

As for poor students, you might be under your parents' cover, or there
might be a discounted package.

Donga
 
Bean Long said:
Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for riding?
Headed off this morning under cloudy grey skies and left the sunnies off so
I could see. I usually wear prescription glasses but find these don't offer
any protection and are a little difficult to get a good, uninterrupted view
of the road (small lenses) so go naked or with sun glasses mostly. Anyway,
almost at work and 'thwack!!' a big ugly bug digs his head into my eyeball.
I kept riding for a short while before the discomfort forced me to stop and
give my eye a wash from my bottle. Was't till after my shower when I
arrived at work that I was able to get the bugger out of my eye. The eye is
still red and inflamed nearly an hour later but much more comfortable thank
god. Again, any recommendations for eye protection??

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying
You can get quite inexpensive glasses with a choice of coloured (and clear) lenses which offer good protection and choice of lens to go with the weather. Of course, you can get really expensive ones too :D but they can all break when left in the back of cycling jerseys :eek:

Keep an eye on probikekit if you use it - I got my current pair there (prorace, i think they are) for 1/2 price when ordering something else a while back. The lenses are a quick change and go far enough around to keep out the bugs.

The worst bug episode I have had was a large moth in my mouth one evening. That was *truly* one of the most disgusting things ever :(

I hope the eye is feeling much better,
ali
 
On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:59:16 +1100, TimC wrote:

> I suspect optometrists wouldn't have trial pairs in prescriptions of +6
> and +8.


+? Why do you want riding glasses - I suspect you can't see anything less
than about 5m away, and by that stage you're probably flinching anyway...

Or did you mean -6?

Give them a go. They'll probably have a box full of trial pairs. I know my
-2 is a special order as often as not because most people are worse off.

--
Dave Hughes | [email protected]
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of
cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses" - Elwood Blues
 
On 2005-11-22, Random Data (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:59:16 +1100, TimC wrote:
>
>> I suspect optometrists wouldn't have trial pairs in prescriptions of +6
>> and +8.

>
> +? Why do you want riding glasses - I suspect you can't see anything less
> than about 5m away, and by that stage you're probably flinching anyway...


Far sighted. Is that +ve or -ve? I'm pretty sure it's +ve[1].

> Or did you mean -6?
>
> Give them a go. They'll probably have a box full of trial pairs. I know my
> -2 is a special order as often as not because most people are worse off.


Yeah. I was in the chemist today, and they have some el-cheapo
glasses in +0.5 increments[1]. Starting at 1.0 IIRC "weak", and
finishing at 3.5 "Strongest". Hah! 1.0 is close enough to an optical
flat, dagnamit! Why would you even need such weak glasses?


[1] And the glasses confirmed it.

--
TimC
Experiments must be reproducible; they should all fail in the same way.
 
>>>>> "TimC" == TimC <[email protected]> writes:

TimC> On 2005-11-22, Random Data (aka Bruce) was almost, but not
TimC> quite, entirely unlike tea:
>> On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:59:16 +1100, TimC wrote:
>>> I suspect optometrists wouldn't have trial pairs in
>>> prescriptions of +6 and +8.

>> +? Why do you want riding glasses - I suspect you can't see
>> anything less than about 5m away, and by that stage you're
>> probably flinching anyway...


TimC> Far sighted. Is that +ve or -ve? I'm pretty sure it's
TimC> +ve[1].

Far sighted is positive. I'm +4.75 and +4.5. It has a real impact on
what eye wear I can use. You must find it even more difficult, you have
my sympathies.
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)
 
On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 20:30:37 +1100, TimC wrote:

> Far sighted. Is that +ve or -ve? I'm pretty sure it's +ve[1].


Yep, but I would have suspected that far sighted meant riding was OK.
While I could in theory look up exactly what a diopter means, it's going
to be easier to ask - how close can you focus reasonably?

> Why would you even need such weak glasses?


Eye strain adds up to headaches over long periods? One of my mates is
probably about +1 and needs to wear glasses if he wants to sit at a screen
for more than 1 day a week.

--
Dave Hughes | [email protected]
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of
cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses" - Elwood Blues
 
On 2005-11-22, Random Data (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 20:30:37 +1100, TimC wrote:
>
>> Far sighted. Is that +ve or -ve? I'm pretty sure it's +ve[1].

>
> Yep, but I would have suspected that far sighted meant riding was OK.
> While I could in theory look up exactly what a diopter means, it's going
> to be easier to ask - how close can you focus reasonably?


My default focus is well past infinity, as you would expect, however,
I can focus down to 10cm or so. For a few seconds. I used to be able
to read all day -- during my last year of high school, at the height
of my vanity, I didn't wear my glasses at all, despite not having
contacts, without the knowledge that of course, when I am focussing
in, my eyes have gone cross eyed.


I can probably commute in without optical correction -- hell, as it
is, for some reason I end up looking over the top of my glasses most
of the time anyway.

--
TimC
Is it because do me reconcile my life that I say perhaps your plans
could have caused this that you are going through all this that you
came to me? --emacs doctor to TimC
 
Bean Long wrote:
>
> Any recommendations for clear or lightly tinted glasses/goggles for riding?
> Headed off this morning under cloudy grey skies and left the sunnies off so
> I could see. I usually wear prescription glasses but find these don't offer
> any protection and are a little difficult to get a good, uninterrupted view
> of the road (small lenses) so go naked or with sun glasses mostly. Anyway,
> almost at work and 'thwack!!' a big ugly bug digs his head into my eyeball.
> I kept riding for a short while before the discomfort forced me to stop and
> give my eye a wash from my bottle. Was't till after my shower when I
> arrived at work that I was able to get the bugger out of my eye. The eye is
> still red and inflamed nearly an hour later but much more comfortable thank
> god. Again, any recommendations for eye protection??


I have clear ones that cost $15 at my bike shop - you can get
interchangeable lenses but I prefer to wear my other sunnies and just
keep the clear ones in my jersey pocket when I ride (in a sock if I
have lots to carry). Haven't had any bug incidents and they're well
ventilated. Given you don't use them in fair daytime weather, for glare
reduction, etc., I don't see the point in getting fancy ones.

Tam
 
TimC wrote:

> Yeah. I was in the chemist today, and they have some el-cheapo
> glasses in +0.5 increments[1]. Starting at 1.0 IIRC "weak", and
> finishing at 3.5 "Strongest". Hah! 1.0 is close enough to an optical
> flat, dagnamit! Why would you even need such weak glasses?


Which chemist?
And are these the ones made for asian heads?

I've found these in a $2 shop and a service station, but all too small.