In the past, I have just used cheap safety glasses to protect my eyes when wearing my contacts, and now I would like to use them for sun protection as well. Consequently, I was looking at Bolle safety glasses, and comparing them to Sinner branded sunglasses.

I know that there is a difference in proper upper-end glasses, but what separates a pair of Bolle safety glasses from a pair of Sinner sunglasses other than about 25-or-so pounds?

Recently told by optometrist type bloke who wasn’t on the hard sell as my eyes had come up clean was to be very wary of cheap sunglasses in any guise.
Basically they open up the pupil to unnecessary light, but offer no uv protection.

I’m not sure your optometrist knows what he’s talking about as I thought all sunglasses sold had to provide UV protection. Though if we’re talking specifically about Bolle safety glasses then they provide just as much UV protection as an expensive pair of Oakleys.

IME the difference between cheap Bolle safety glasses and more expensive (but still low end) sunnies is that the Bolle safety glasses are much better.

wrightyson – Member 
Basically they open up the pupil to unnecessary light, but offer no uv protection.

Which is balls when it comes to Bolle specs. They are safety specs for outdoor work use, and as well as meeting high impact specifications and meet all H&S work standards for UV protection which is more than enough for bike rides.

All for £6

They’re not cheap because they’re knock offs, cheaply made etc. They’re cheap because they’re just designed to do the job for a practical price for businesses. Not priced for style branding and paying for name (and okay with Oakley, paying for free replacements, but hell, you’re paying £100 for a load of replacements and a name basically, vs replace at £6 a pop).

Main thing for me though is I wreck glasses frequently, due to crashes, scratching up, running over them in the car park with my car (yes, done that 😀 ). Stupid money for a brand is not an option.

And yes, the “cheap” branded glasses I’ve used are a bit rubbish and even cheaper Bolle have been far superior.

Do they replace them if you leave them behind on your last belay at the top of a climb? That’s the sort of reason I only buy cheap sunglasses nowadays – I’m feeling quite relaxed about losing my £6 Bolles which had been well abused and starting to get a little scratched anyway.

All of that. The Bolle glasses are very very very good value, and I have no doubt that they offer what they say on the tin. Don’t get a pair, get a couple of pairs and always have one spare 🙂

wrightyson – Member

Recently told by optometrist type bloke who wasn’t on the hard sell as my eyes had come up clean was to be very wary of cheap sunglasses in any guise.
Basically they open up the pupil to unnecessary light, but offer no uv protection.

Most riding glasses and safety glasses will be polycarbonate, which is naturally UV-opaque. You can definitely get uv-transparent sunglasses if you’re right at the market stall/aliexpress’s cheapest end, but you’d not want to ride in them regardless of UV since they’re not likely to have much or any impact protection either.

Recently told by optometrist type bloke who wasn’t on the hard sell as my eyes had come up clean was to be very wary of cheap sunglasses in any guise.
Basically they open up the pupil to unnecessary light, but offer no uv protection.

Maybe send them this link:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dx-sunglasses-uv400-testing-results

It’s been a while but isn’t it quite hard to get plastics that are UV transparent. Think back to UV vis spectroscopy. Anyway volume and branding make safety ones cheap. I change glasses about every six months at work. There are probably 600 people on the site that do the same. You’ll also notice less redesigns and colour options on safety specs.

another +1 for Bolle and they don’t all look like safety specs – Spiders are very fashionable (‘cos I wear them)

http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.co.uk/p/582112/boll—spider-safety-spectacles—anti-scratch-anti-fog-flash-lens-for-uv-solar-mirror-and-impact-protection—en1661f-en172—bo-spiflash-.html

If you must have sports glasses, the ones I got from Velochampion after a recco on here are very good, 3 lenses too for £14

https://www.velochampion.co.uk/collections/sunglasses/products/velochampion-tornado-sunglasses-red

I wouldn’t trust cheap Chinese glasses myself (either to meet the UV rating they claim or impact resistance) but something like Bolle’s would be fine.

The main thing for me (after UV & impact protection) is comfort and field of vision, if Bolle’s do both of those as well as you want then why not? Personally I also prefer photochromic lens on sunnies in this country (unless I know it’s going to be bright sunshine all day) so I’ve ended up with Uvex’s as my preference.

I have Oakley Radars but don’t find them particularly comfortable, have some pricey Rudy Project’s too but the lens coverage isn’t as big as I’d like. The main reason I went for the Uvex’s was lack of a frame (I hate being tucked in on a descent and can’t see properly due to the top frame of glasses), turns out they are really comfy and the lens works well to.

Bolle or Uvex are my go-to cheap riding glasses, tinted or clear. They’re definitely up to standards for UV etc, look normal and cost sod all! Seeing as loads of builders working outdoors use them if there was an issue there’s be loads of claims for poor PPE.

Use Bolle tracker2 most of the time, have a set of clear , low light and sunnies,a bit like mini goggles,and work great under a full face lid.Also usually buy a few sets of the Aldi 3 lens jobbies £4 (in stores now!)

recently started using Bolle Silium having previously used Bolle Contours.

Both excellent value for money, comfortable all day use. DOnt get scratched up and for <£10 each I can have loads lying around the place.

I rode bolle for ages, they are ok and do the job. But two years ago I bought Oakley radar path ev photochromic, under 100quid in a wiggle sale, and they are a different league entirely. The bolle I always knew I had on, the Oakley I just forget.

Cannot count the number of times I’ve taken my glasses off to wipe my brow or stop for a wee and left them on the side somewhere in the middle of no-where.
I get these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009IBJ5ZI at £2.30 😆
& according to my purchase history I go through about 3 pairs a year!

As particular models are being mentioned, I tend to buy Bolle Rush glasses – though I suspect some people might not like the wrap around style, I find them very comfy. I might try a different style from those recommended above as well though.

I was almost wondering how the expensive sunny companies were staying in business given all the love for Bolle safety specs on this thread, but then I remembered how much longer the threads on Oakleys always are!

I have just discovered these at Decathlon. At £3.99 a pair they are almost disposable 🙂

I wear the clear Arenbergs, they’re great imo. Though they did go up in price by a pound. I didn’t really like the grey tint but tbh I don’t wear sunglasses much to ride, anyway

Well you live in Scotland 😈

As others have said, Bolle/Uvex/DeWalt/etc safety specs will meet all the relevant standards for UV protection etc.
Plastic sun glasses from a market stall may not.
I wear Bolle safety specs at work, and for night riding.
I much prefer my Oakley Racing jackets for daytime riding – the tints are perfect and the distortion free field of vision is really nice.

aracer – Member

Well you live in Scotland

True but I do get time off for good behaviour occasionally, still prefer clear out in that France

Aldi have a load of riding sunglasses for £2 at the mo.

Just get them if you’re worried, I’m sure the Germans wouldn’t put up with any funny business.

There can be some sport-specific qualities that give pricier glasses the edge over regular glasses. You’re in a pretty particular position when your cycling – if the glasses aren’t a good shape for that then you’re looking over the top of them rather than through them a lot of the time. I find glasses that are fine in the workshop tend to slip down my nose when I’m riding too.

Pricier brands can be comfier for longer rides too – having softer, grippier materials on the bridge and arms means they’re rely less of tight-ness to stay put. Not much of an issue for a hour bumbling on the trails, a bigger deal 12-hr days for weeks of touring.

But if you find a cheap pair and they fit you then thats all good – as above once you find what works you can buy plenty of them and they’ll usually be available for as replacements long into the future too.

OK, ALL[/u] sunglasses from 1.99 bucket shop to £500 prescrition in the UK have to be UV 400 which basically means your eyes are UV protected, The only ‘REAL’ difference between low and high end is optical quality.

I tried some Aldi glasses the other day. One pair the coating rubbed off one of the lenses with just a stern glower. The other pair seem OK and Mrs S has used them on her bike OK.

Only 1.7% of EC labelled sunglasses fail to meet the EU standard according research. Which given the numbers in the test that were probably fakes suggests just about any sun glasses offer enough UV protection. In other optical respects the failure rate was higher.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNZhcjgpYsE[/video]

My 3-lense Aldi glasses from ~10 years ago snapped at the hinge yesterday, now trying to decide whether to raid ALdi in their current cycling sale, or spend a bit more from somewhere online.

Got a few pairs of Bolles and they are great purely for stopping filth. The fit isn’t great and they can move around, but I can live with it.

However, compared to my Smiths, the difference is obvious. The optics on the Smith lenses are markedly better. The polarized lens are great too, working well in sun and shade. There’s also a warranty, which I have used before.

But then this is £10 vs. £100, so it really depends what you want to achieve.

Has anyone tried the more expensive Bolle stuff? I’ve been looking at their website and some of the polarized specs are nearly oakley money.

I owned a pair of Bolle safety glasses. Absolutely useless for cycling as they steamed up like nothing I have used before or since

Has anyone tried the more expensive Bolle stuff? I’ve been looking at their website and some of the polarized specs are nearly oakley money.

Used to sell it, albeit 20 years ago. At the time it seemed to give Oakley a run for its money in the quality stakes. Very popular on the high-end road scene at the time, possibly due to the number of pros riding in Edge2s.

On the strength of this posting i just bought some Bolle twilights and they seem just as good as my far more expensive ones!

TK Maxx often have decent sports sunglasses for not a lot.

Nike Optics for £20 ish, Smith Optics (whose lenses I’d rate as good as Oakley) for about the same.

There are the cheap but genuine ones and there are the fake ones, you want to avoid the latter.

As long as they provide genuine UV protection you should be fine.

the hustler – Member
The only ‘REAL’ difference between low and high end is optical quality.

… and the fake UV protection ones. You trust the seller(s) too much. 😯

How about far east street stall two pounds sunglasses?

Another vouch for Decathlon (I do seem to be doing this a lot recently though) picked up a pair of their sailing ones(tribord?) and they are ideal. Using them for running mind you but I’d be happy enough to use them on the bike.

… and the fake UV protection ones. You trust the seller(s) too much.
How about far east street stall two pounds sunglasses?

LikeI said all if sold in the UK, its actually quite hard to ‘not’ UV a prtective lense as they are generally made from Polycarb which is naturally UV resistant, any prescription ones we make in our shop, the dies etc we use also havea uv blocking element.

there will be street corner fakes that might slip thru, but even poundland kids glasses are uv treated

I have bolle safety glasses. Prescription. They are good

I have used the normal bolle and uvex safety glasses. Big issue I have with them is that due to the curvature they all distort the image.

I can’t live with that.