At long last I’m gonna get round to trying contact lenses. Having fresh eye test next week + contact assessment and will try daily disposables to see how I get on.
In the past I tried rudy project glasses with prescription inserts which did’nt work that well for me – and a face plant in NY Moors wrecked em. Since then I’ve ridden without which is ok (ish) in decent light but I really struggle in poor light or on night rides.

How have others found riding in contacts?
And any reccomendations of specs to wear, fancy some with interchangeable lenses – that are easy to change.

Hopefully once I get these and have my b’day present skills session I won’t be such a wuss on the rough stuff!
SteveB

I’ve tried contacts but as a very ocasional wearer they stil haven’t sat well. They will If I used them more but find working with them in very hard. I has an old set of oakley’s and removed the old lenses and had my perscription put in for riding. It cost 35 quid and i don’t care if I scratch them. You do still look a bit odd, though better than my Stealth’s did with the insert.

Bebefit of Contacts is you can wear them with shades, or on social nights out.

I wear contacts probably 90% of waking hours. I use the 30day ones you can leave in overnight although I tend not too.

Rarely bother with riding glasses offroad either. Only lost a contact once and keep a couple of spares in my camelback.

I’ve only very recently overcome my reflexes and been able to get contacts in. Like you, using daily disposables. Had a few rides with them in, wearing oakley jawbones, and must say they’re great. I previously used various types of shades – bloc stealth with the inserts, adidas evil eye with inserts, then jawbones with proper prescription lenses. Contacts will let me keep the same oakley lenses as my prescription changes, allow the use of vented lenses, change to clear lenses easily, won’t fog up as much as inserts do, and if the shades do fog up too much, I can just take em off and not be blind.

Getting the contacts in is still a faff though.

I have the extended wear lenses – stick them in, take them out a month later. No bother.

I do always ride in glasses though, as I find having something in your eye when you’ve got contacts in is far more irritating than normal.

As for which glasses – whichever ones are a cheap. Current riding glasses are a set from Aldi, and cost around a fiver.

Not sure I’d be comfortable with the extended wear lenses given the amount of much that gets flung about rinding round here. Optician reckons some will always end up in your eye but that this doesn’t matter enormously if the lenses are coming out after a couple of hours.

Andy

(Daily disposables with Oakley Radars for me – too blind for most inserts)

I wear traditional monthly contacts (last for 30 days and you can’t sleep with them in). I wear riding glasses 99% of the time mostly because I find that otherwise my lenses dry out with the wind blowing in your face (because I ride so fast obviously!). I’ve got a pair of Endura specs with 4 different lenses (stingrays I think), they’re about £40 and never had any bother.

Contact wearer here. I have a very bad habit of losing a pair of glasses every other ride, so now I just buy cheapy Bolle safety glasses off ebay for about £5 – 8, and losing them is less of an issue.

If you can find a style that fits you well and doesn’t make you look too much like a lab technician, stick with it (or just buy a few pairs at once). This kind of thing is perfect for me….

Oh, and be prepared for the fact that getting grit / mud / crud in your eyes is a whole different ballgame when you’ve got contacts in. It really, really hurts, and will see you standing half way down descents crying like a girl!

One of those little Muckynutz front mudguards made a huge difference to my riding – just stops you riding into all the crud chucked up from the front wheel.

I use daily disposable & those Bolle safety specs and generally they’re fine.
My eyes dry out easily though & those gigs don’t completely stop the wind from the eyes though.

I use daily disposable & Oakley M-Frames and this is a good combination IMHO.

Only use lenses for riding and find them OK even if I’ve missed a weeks or two’s riding. HTH

jam bo – Member
I wear contacts probably 90% of waking hours. I use the 30day ones you can leave in overnight although I tend not too.

Rarely bother with riding glasses offroad either. Only lost a contact once and keep a couple of spares in my camelback.

Likewise, but I take mine out about 12hours a month. Bad practice really, but I have regular check-ups and everything always comes back fine.

use daily disposables and always wear glasses when riding for two reasons.

1) if i don’t, i get gluey eyes from the mud and crap.

2) i’ve slight astigmatism in one eye and it’s enough for the air to get behind the unweighted lense and ping it out.

Thanks for all replies chaps. I think I’ll give em a whirl for a while and just borra the Mrs’ glasses for a bit, make sure I can get used to lenses ok before spending dosh on specs.

I find it makes sense.. I don’t like wearing glasses at the best of times for riding so I have dailys for riding in, and monthly’s for off the bike
I wear lenses 99.9% of the time

however having crashed into a bush the other week and nearly loosing my eye I’ll be wearing eye shields a bit more!!

I’m the same as Jambo above. More than a slight astigmatism but never lost a lens. I find my prescription glasses more of a hassle as they seem to direct wind into my eyes. I tend to way glasses ( Oregon chainsaw glasses in yellow, they keep the wind out fine, don’t steam up, are scratch proof and cheap)to keep spray ot of my eyes when using contacts but only on the CX bike on the soggy gravel tracks where a bit of speed throws the crap up and over the bars. Occasionally mud under a lens can be a pain but I have built up enough “spare” lenses to just chuck one out if I have to.

I’ve been using contacts for over 15 years now. I originally got them for mtbing but wear them pretty much all the time. I’m using monthly disposeables and never had any issues at my checkups. I have had the odd lost lenses in very dry conditions and excessive ac can cause dryness but the latest lenses are much better at not drying out.

I always use glasses – previously m frames or radars but now also jawboned with photochromatic lenses. the only exception is of it’s really wet when I take the glasses off and grit isn’t a problem because the rain kind of stops it being so.

basically though I’d never consider going back unless it was for health reasons.

I have a wicked bad astimatism in one eye and I couldn’t get a comfortable lens fit so it’s normal specs, DH goggles with inserts (steam up if you stop though) or my hacked together perscription oakleys if it’s sunny enough.

I use daily disposables and throw them away at the end of a ride. Eye protectio I use is Oakley Zero – came out several years ago, though find they are perfect as no mud gets in your eyes and there is no frame round the lens at the top making for clear vision…

I use disposables when it’s sunny so I can wear dark glasses (cheap ones, you’d have to be mad to spend a lot of money on sunglasses and then go riding around in the mud in them). The rest of the time I just use an old pair of glasses.

I do have some pescription cycling glasses but I quickly found that they’re a pain if I go indoors while out on a ride or enter tree cover, stop for repairs, that sort of thing.

Got my daily disposables yesterday, having bit of trouble getting them in and out but managing. Went for first ride with them in this morn with the mrs’ pink lensed glasses!
Felt strange at first but soon got used to them and felt lot more confident – it’s so much better when you can see the trail 😀
Last half of ride took specs off as steamed up a bit, and left them off as it started to drizzle. Looking forward to riding Dalby tomorrow in them, and then a night ride later in week.

I wear contacts for most of my cycling, with glasses over them… I get a bit tearey-eyed without a bit of protection (even if I wear my normal glasses actually so it’s not a contacts thing). I don’t wear them every day, glasses are more convenient but they really do make a big difference for riding.

SteveBbrain – Member
Got my daily disposables yesterday… Went for first ride with them in this morn with the mrs’ pink lensed glasses!
Felt strange at first but soon got used to them and felt lot more confident…

steve, personally i think you looked very fetching in marys pink shades 😆
i’d agrre that they appeared to give you more confidence as i could have sworn i saw daylight between the trail and your wheels on more than one occasion 😯

Cheers Stanley, As you know I’ve been riding mainly without specs (pink or otherwise) and had no problems so far. I am seeing the trail so much better, I truly am turning into a riding God 😆

mmmmm look at the time – must be dreaming again zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I’ve found disposable contacts to be much better than prescription inserts. Needed to change a contact in the woods once and managed it ok. Suggest you carry some eye drops just in case you get mud in your eye. And always wear glasses on top. Takes a while getting used to them but worth the effort imo