Riding glasses for dark cloudy days

[rparedes]

What are you guys wearing on real dark, cloudy days. All my glasses have lenses for sunny days but every time i ride on a dark day i can't see a thing!
I've looked on-line for some interchangeable lense glasses but it seems like a pain...
any brands/type you suggest?

 

[sogood]

Or get one with photochromic lens ie. Variable density lens. They don't get as dark as fixed density lens, but do a good enough job per your requirement. I've been happy with one.

 

[dhk2]

What are you guys wearing on real dark, cloudy days. All my glasses have lenses for sunny days but every time i ride on a dark day i can't see a thing!
I've looked on-line for some interchangeable lense glasses but it seems like a pain...
any brands/type you suggest?

Bolles with rose-colored lenses work for me on dark cloudy days. They warm colors and make everything look brighter.

 

[bernmart]

Bolles with rose-colored lenses work for me on dark cloudy days. They warm colors and make everything look brighter.

I use Native XP glasses, which come with a variety of lenses. Mostly I use the grey polarized ones, but on dark cloudy days I switch to the orange ones, which transmit more light and increase apparent contrast. They work fine.

 

[alienator]

It depends on the level of darkitude. I have rose colored lenses, and I have clear lenses.

 

[rwinthenorth]

What are you guys wearing on real dark, cloudy days. All my glasses have lenses for sunny days but every time i ride on a dark day i can't see a thing!
I've looked on-line for some interchangeable lense glasses but it seems like a pain...
any brands/type you suggest?

I'm using Tifosi's Slip model with the 4 interchangeable lenses. http://www.tifosioptics.com/interchangeable/index.html. They pop off of the frame quickly because you're removing the whole thing instead of trying to pop out lenses from a full frame. Rose colored is great for most riding, but for dark cloudy days nothing beats yellow. These things will light up the road and surroundings like someone shone a halogen in front of you and there easy to slide on and off when wiping sweat. The vent holes are a plus in the summer months. For the price, you can't beat'em.

 

[nerdag]

What are you guys wearing on real dark, cloudy days. All my glasses have lenses for sunny days but every time i ride on a dark day i can't see a thing!
I've looked on-line for some interchangeable lense glasses but it seems like a pain...
any brands/type you suggest?

On overcast days, what you want is something that will boost the apparent contrast in the scene, and yellow/amber coloured lenses fit that bill perfectly. Our retinae are programmed to respond to changes in contrast (i.e. dark/light areas), and the increase in apparent contrast with yellow lenses on an overcast day really is spectacular.

Don't use them when its *very* dark, though, since yellow lenses are still deisnged to cut out a fair chunk of light (something like 40-50% IIRC), and taking away light is worse than not seeing contrast.

If it's just plain dark (eg. dusk/dawn), then you're better off with clear or very lightly tinted lenses. Clear lenses lose between 1-8%, depending on the coating on the lens and you want as much light getting in as you can.

Your best bet may be to own two pairs of glasses. This is because most photochromic lenses (ones that change shade with changes in UV light) aren't useful for overcast days, because the level of ambient light may not be enough to darken them, and when they do, the shade that they darken to isn't ideally suited to overcast conditions.

I'm sure one of the more expensive manufacturers has overcome this, but haven't kept up with the market to know enough. Let us know if you find any one product that fits the bill.

HTH,

n

 

[ibis1]

i use performance amber lenses that are convertible. they make the days seemm sunny no matter what reality is. for night riding i switch to clear lenses. and have alternate sunny day glasses.

 

[Cycler6n]

I've heard that a good pair of safty glasses work the same as long as they block wind/debris from your eyes. Thats what I'm gonna buy come spring

 

[steelem]

I got the best glasses ever- Oakley Radar Path / Brown Smoke Lens for sunny days & yellow for cloudy days -

 

[dbackmtg]

I wear my amber lenses on darker days. The seem to brighten things up. I have an interchangeable set of lenses and they are easy to change around.

 

[kdelong]

I wear glasses to see, period. My clear ones are fine for cloudy days and my photogrey work well when it is bright and sunny. With the price of prescription lenses, I'll just stick with these until I can accumulate enough vacation days at work to get lasik surgery done.

 

[alienator]

I wear my amber lenses on darker days. The seem to brighten things up. I have an interchangeable set of lenses and they are easy to change around.

FYI, amber and yellow lenses do increase contrast but at the cost of decreased light transmission. They filter out the scattered blue light, which tends to decrease contrast.

 

[alienator]

I wear glasses to see, period. My clear ones are fine for cloudy days and my photogrey work well when it is bright and sunny. With the price of prescription lenses, I'll just stick with these until I can accumulate enough vacation days at work to get lasik surgery done.

FYI, hold off on the LASIK: there are much better things coming down the pike, things that don't have the nasty side effects that LASIK and other procedures have.