Right, worn glasses all my life. Normally for on the bike I can ride with out specs. H
owever couple of years ago took the plunge and got some addidas prescription sunnies..so happy days when it’s sunny etc.
Tried contacts a couple of years ago for about 8 months for the winter MTBing and the work winter night time commutes. Never really got on with contacts and did try several differing makes before saying **** it just riding with out specs again.

However I am now in the position where I can tell me eyes are biffed and I need glasses all the time for riding..

So new specs time..

Looking at getting from optilabs , ( already got a few of their frames through to try on etc) and bearing in mind these specs are going to be for the crappier weather/ winter months I am pondering over lenses. Plain, polarised or photocromatic?

Plain , yep clear all the time.
Polarised..selection of tint colours, but will these be too dark for night riding?

Photocromatic( transistions) so complete nob question, these are clear until only bright sunlight ( not street lights / car headlights on full beam?)

Piss taking and genuine advice welcomed..

I use Oakleys transitions for all cycling, day or night.

Transitions will go dark in the presence of UV, so they will go dark on a cloudy day, but will stay clear under car headlights and street lights.

Good point – they don’t go dark when driving a car in daylight as the car windscreen filters out the relevant UV.

You can get a version called Transitions Extra Active that do work better in cars.

I use the photochromatic when night riding and it’s fine

obviously I use lights as well 😀

Mick,

I had the photo-chromatic lenses in my Optilabs, they worked fine for day and night riding, the only problem I had was they scratched really easily when wiping clean and after about 12 months the lenses were too scratched to see through properly, not had that problem with cheaper riding glasses over contacts, might be worth a retry as contacts have moved on quite a bit

+1 for contacts and I ride with Oakley jawbones all the time now (clear, yellow, & black lenses for different conditions) takes seconds to swap out lenses

WileyX frames with Transitions prescription lenses for the last 3 years here. I don’t road ride, only MTB to include night riding (with lights). I’m quite happy with them and would buy them again.

The only thing that I would caution you on is that if the riding frames have a much different shape than your regular ones, there may be a period of adjustment while your brain gets used to the new setup even if the prescription is the same. My regular glasses are rather flat and rectangular, while my riding glasses really wrap around the side. When I first put on the new riding glasses, everything was distorted; it was like looking through the bottom of a coke bottle. I was told that this was due to the different lens shape. After a few weeks of wearing them around the house for increasing amounts of time, my brain adjusted. I can now switch between glasses with pretty much zero adjustment time. I want my riding glasses to wrap around and cover the eye as much as possible to protect from branches and such.

I got a wraparound sunglass frame from TK Max for £2.99 and got it prescription glazed with the cheapest clear plastic for £53.00. Because it’s low-density cheap plastic the lenses are thick at the edges but since I only wear them when out on the bike that doesn’t matter.

You can get a version called Transitions Extra Active that do work better in cars.

but still dont go dark for car lights, they still work via UV just a bit better than standard transitions

Personally find a decent wrap around frame that you are happy with take them to a decent indipendent optician and get them glazed with a polycarb (for the strength/safety) transition lens

for globalti polycarb will cost a bit more but will give you a thinner edge to the lens for future reference as its light bending qualities are slightly better than standard plastic

One extra bit about the extraactive lens, its only available as a grey transition atm if thats an issue

but still dont go dark for car lights, they still work via UV just a bit better than standard transitions

You wouldn’t want them going dark with headlights as it would be night time and it would be illegal

I’ve got Optilabs photochromatic lenses, used them for sunny days (inc skiing), cloudy days, evening riding, commuting at night, night riding, been excellent.

As someone said, you do have to be a bit careful as they scratch a bit, but mine are at least four years old now and still fine for riding in.