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Who here wears Rx cycling glasses
 

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/4/23 8:39 PM

Who here wears Rx cycling glasses

I've finally gotten to the point that readers aren't cutting it anymore I've had to get Rx glasses to correct for both distance vision and reading. I tried progressives and hated them, so I'm wearing bifocals. I've had no problem getting glasses that are fine for driving and general use, but cycling glasses are another matter.

I've been wearing Tifosi Podiums for quite a few years and I'd like to keep using them. Tifosi offers a prescription insert, but I don't want anything with a frame. Sved optical offers bifocal, frameless inserts and will adjust the OC and lens position for optimal vision on the bike. They run $189, or $239 with anti-reflective coating. Has anyone here had experience with their products or any others that you particularly like?

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

5/5/23 7:56 AM

I wear them

But I probably can't help you much with your preferred products. I use progressive lenses in Oakley frames, which I get through my optometrist. I love them. I've used inserts in the past with Briko frames and found them cumbersome. YMMV, obviously.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/5/23 9:07 AM

I also won't probably help your list either. Since 1999 I've done contacts and Oakley M Frame with Heater lens, and still do. Talk about amortizing out, same frames since 99.

But last 5-6 years I actually bring readers in the bike. I doubt could fix a flat with the contacts only anymore.

Main glasses otherwise are Bi-focals, wearing them now. I got a progressive pair few years back. I appear to be one of those folk that just does not like them. [not even a little].

I have to say "$189, or $239" sound reasonable, especially if effective solution.

I occasionally ride with my bi-focals being photo sensitive. Just wear a cycling cap to shade light from top. But by this time of year cycling hats get too hot and I quit that.

*Occasionally means more in off season, contacts and M-Frame/Heaters is my goto.. And I have a micro mirror CA glued inside the left side of the Heater lens.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/5/23 9:13 AM

Other point, my RX is getting lighter every year last 3 years. So RX in riding glasses needing new RX every year possible if you old eyes are doing similar trend.

If you are not against contacts, there are mono vision options. I've done well with this. Basically you under correct your non dominant eye. And your brain happily uses under corrected eye to focus on up close.

Prob with that for me was after dark, I'd get headaches. But I still do that days/riding season.

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

5/6/23 1:39 AM

I've been using Rudy Project cycling glasses with RX lenses for quite a few years. There's no separate RX clip-on - the RX lens is the sunglass lens. I've had the same frame for about a dozen years, and when I needed a slightly different prescription, just got new lenses that clip into the existing frames. I think the frame I have is still a current model - "Rydon": https://www.rudyproject.com/ww/en/products/performance-eyewear/rydon.html .

I used to get photochromatic RX lenses, but found that after two or three years of use, the darkening in bright light would become less and less until eventually they were just completely clear at all light levels, so now I just use orange lenses, which I find fine in all conditions from bright sunlight to night-time (not that I cycle much after dark these days).

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/6/23 10:16 AM

Nick, are you generally light sensitive? Guessing not with orange does all approach.. But it is usually pretty bright ad sunny down there, yes?

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/6/23 4:13 PM

Thanks guys! I'm new to the whole Rx glasses game and haven't tried contacts yet, though I've thought about that as an option. I may look into it further.

I've looked at both Oakley and Rudy Project and even if I ignore the exhorbitant prices, the styles I prefer are only available in single-focus. In the case of Oakley, they're not available in photochromic, either. This is the main reason I'm considering insert lenses for my Tifosi glasses. I have no idea if I will like them or not, so it's a bit of a crap shoot, and not a cheap one.

It's interesting what Nick said about photochromic lenses fading over time. I've has several pairs over the years and that's never been a problem, so perhaps it was that particular brand or production run of lenses. The only "fading" I've seen is that Tifosi no longer makes their dark gray photochromic lens, only a much lighter "day/night" lens that only darkens to ~25% transmission, which is too light for me.

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

5/6/23 6:00 PM


quote:
Nick, are you generally light sensitive? Guessing not with orange does all approach.. But it is usually pretty bright ad sunny down there, yes?

I guess maybe I'm not particularly sensitive to bright sunlight - I occasionally forget to change my normal clear glasses for sunglasses when I get on the bike, and don't really notice the difference other than that the sunglasses have much better wrap-around for keeping the wind out. We do get our share of dark gloomy days here, particularly in winter. I can really notice that with the output of our PV systems - eg last Thursday, which was sunny all day, we generated about 37kWh, not bad for only a few weeks off mid-winter, whereas a few days before, on 30 April, where it was cloudy and rained all day, we generated only 5.2kWh.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

5/7/23 4:31 AM

Similar

Like Nick, I’m OK with my regular glasses except for wind penetration - I always wear them on my short commute to work.

Interestingly my current solar numbers are also similar to Nick’s. Yesterday I had 37.5 kWh on a sunny day, and 4/30 it was 5.3. Of course it’s Spring here….and I have a fairly small house and array.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/8/23 5:09 AM

Unlike Dan and Nick, I'm very sensitive to bright sunlight. and particularly to UV, and I wear sunglasses nearly all the time outdoors, unless it's really heavily overcast. I've been told that's typical for people with blue eyes, like me. The upside of wearing sunglasses my whole life is that other than the typical age-related vision changes, my eyes are very healthy, with no signs of cataracts, glaucoma, etc.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

5/8/23 6:35 AM

The reverse situation...sort of

I never could get cycling glasses with the requisite lenses to work. The frames always pushed the prescription lenses back at the edges, so there was a lot of distortion.

Last summer, right before an inattentive driver ended my automotive career, I had cataract surgery and it's amazing.

I can see the world in bright, living color. Well, sometimes a little too bright. The only problem is that I can no longer see things close to me. So I wear readers, which make me look old, but WTH.

However, I discovered that you can get sunglasses with readers bifocaled-in, and so that's what I use for riding these days. Ironic--cataract surgery took me from bifocals to . . . bifocals.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/26/23 5:33 AM

The Sved Optical inserts I ordered for my Tifosi Podium glasses arrived this week and I got my first ride in with them a couple of days ago. Their clarity is outstanding, the distance vision is perfect and the transition to the bifocal section when I glance at my computer is so seamless that I don't even notice it; it just goes from crystal clear distance vision to equally clear closeup vision. I couldn't be happier with that.

They installed in seconds by swapping the nosepiece for the insert. The lenses are set higher than normal in order to accommodate the bent-over cycling position and eliminate distortion caused by the optical center being too low. The tops of the lenses are actually slightly above the top of he main lens, probably because these fit a half-dozen Tifosi models, some of which have larger lenses than mine. The lenses do touch my eyebrows slightly, so we'll have to see if this causes any issues with sweat on the lenses in hot conditions.

The nosepiece is not adjustable, but I didn't realize that the original one was until I removed it. They glasses were comfortable during the ride, so the lack of adjustability is not an issue.

I now have what I wanted, photochromic bifocal riding glasses and at this point, I couldn't be happier. We'll see how these work out long-term.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

5/26/23 7:49 AM

Isn't it great when something works!!??

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/26/23 8:53 AM

How was cost? Actual bi-focal, not progressive?

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

5/26/23 11:23 AM

The website doesn't show any flip-up models like they offered in years past.

I used and raced with those for decades, replaced almost every part more than once.

They weren't the lightest, but had good airflow management, fit, retention and seemed aero.
They were also a bit of a conversation-starter as I recall.

My last pair kind of got stolen, I'd set them down in a shallow box full of small items I was gathering at a flea market and someone took my whole box to the acting cashier and left with it.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/26/23 12:09 PM

I remember in the mid 90s when I got stared riding using those geriatric shades that went over glasses. Boy I got abused for those, LOL

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

5/26/23 5:08 PM

Yeah Dan, it is. I wore them on a gravel bike ride in the woods a couple of hours ago and they worked really well.

Sparky, I found a discount code for $50 off, so I sprung for their anti-reflection coating and I''m glad I did. The total cost was $199, shipped. I already had the Tifosi Podium glasses, which I've been using for a decade or so (I'm on my second lens). Yes, these are bifocals, not progressives, but for some reason, I don't notice the transition. Perhaps it's because on the bike I'm typically either looking down the road (up on the lenses) or at my computer (down, where the bifocal is ideal). However, I stopped for perhaps 30 minutes to cut and move an 11" oak tree that had fallen across a trail and didn't notice it then, either. When I first put the glasses on, I do notice the edges of the lenses in my peripheral vision, but that doesn't cause any issues and I forget about it as soon as I focus on riding.

DDDD, I don't have their glasses (I assume you mean the Pit Vipers); the inserts I bought fit a half-dozen Tifosi models and I'm using them in Podiums.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

5/26/23 6:17 PM

That seems reasonable...

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