I was pondering this afternoon seeing a couple of riders today wearing them, along with kit that made them look like extras from an MBR photo shoot. Either that or they’d got dressed in the dark. Is it just fashion? Just seems odd to spend thousands on a bike where you can adjust saddle height, suspension and everything else without stopping and then wear something which makes you stop at the top of every descent to put on and take off at the bottom as they’re too warm to ride along or up in.

i hate wearing googles for snowboarding let alone biking

One word.
ENDURO.

It has a lot to answer for.
Top of the list is trying to steal the identity of an engine based sport…

I find goggles keep mud out of my eyes when descending at speed. Might be that.

I’ll wear goggles with a full face, but that’s usually only if I’m uplifting. If you’re enduro racing and know you’ll have time at the top and bottom of a run and conditions are filthy maybe I can see the point as it’s more protection. So are we saying for normal trail riding it’s definitely just a fashion thing and there’s no real reason?

For riding around the trails … don’t be silly, for uplifted laps at a bike park why not? So much choice these days whoda thunk it …

HonourableGeorge, these guys definitely weren’t fast, but I see your point

Downieville, innit.

ART, but if you’re uplifting at a bike park why not not have a full face?

Ps I’m not trolling, just trying to find out why it’s becoming popular and if there’s a real benefit to it

It’s the future.

matt.
is that first pic your local butcher?
Does he have a nice sausage?

“Oh no, someone is doing something I don’t do or disapprove of”…

“Oh no, someone is doing something I don’t do or disapprove of”…

Oh the ironing….

Why do you not approve of it Al?
Not enough spoons?
Not enough “i’ve been at it longer than you”?
Not enough “you live in the wrong area and your riding is shit”?

I get i bit confused about which chip is on your shoulder these days.

I wore goggles for endooro races purely for the avoidance of muck-in-eye because it pretty much stops it completely where glasses (or no glasses) doesn’t. Err, so I guess that’s my point – apply to kids riding dh bikes in pyjamas as you like.

As someone who sweats profusely I can see the point of wearing goggles instead of glasses. Sweat runs down the inside of glasses and obscures your vision, this does not happen with goggles. That said you could only use them on the downhill bits as they would be too hot for anything else.
Personally I only use goggles with a fullface and don’t bother with glasses or goggles with an open lhelmet.

Goggles and OF not uncommon around Cannock but almost without exception the riders are going very very fast indeed. I reckon the combo supresses some the sensations of speed without the hassle of a FF

Iin the dim and distant days when I did such a thing I would wear goggles. They keep shit and wind out of your eyes better than glasses. And I had them. This was only in places like Afan. Fail to see need for FF unless its silly down hill anyway

I’ve never worn goggles on an MTB only a motorcycle but from that experience I’d guess the wearers like that the goggles block all wind and muck from their eyes and are less likely to get lost, broken or do them an injury in a crash. Seems reasonable to me.

On a DH track in pissing down rain, goggles with tearoffs are great.
Otherwise Bolle safety glasses are the way forward on the trail.

Do you go back and pick up your tear offs?

I’ll often do this if I’m going somewhere with big descents. I favour goggles over glasses mainly due to better field of vision and keeping the wind out of my eyes. I’ve developed very watery eyes in the last few years so end up losing speed if I can’t see properly.

But ultimately, personal choice innit.

The ACU has banned the use of tear-offs in Enduros and next year MX.Not like the FOD where there are loads of them on the D/H trails.Should use a roll-off system.

^^That was the point I was hinting at. ^^
Half the speed but dying for the Moto look. 😆

Al, I was asking as I was curious. I tried the goggles and open face once a couple of years ago but found they fogged badly on everything apart from dh stuff so seemed pointless for general riding. However, it seems to be coming more popular in the real world (as in not just magazine photos) so was wondering if there was a benefit, particularly as it seems to negate some of the advantages of modern bikes. From what’s been said it seems for general riding it’s more a fashion thing

Andyrm, I have the same problem when snowboarding so now always use goggles. I was riding in the FOD today so definitely not big descents! Tear offs and rubbish is definitely a problem on the trails here, maybe worth starting another post 😉

Maybe also a shift in what “trail riding” is? I.e. not riding a route like an xc ride non stop, but winching up, pausing and then attacking descents, in other words, more like how you’d do an enduro race. And with 160mm bikes being the biggest MTB growth sector right now, that would be a logical conclusion.

Allows you to have the benefits of goggles (better field of view, better protection etc) whilst having the ability to breathe better than you would be able to with a ff (admittedly without the chin protection). Also gets you serious enduro points.

i wear goggles and a skid lid had not really thought too much about it until i had a major off a few weeks ago and the goggles saved my eye but I’ve now got a scar under my eye, theres a chance if i wasn’t wearing them it could have been worse.
when I’m wearing glasses the mud flys up under them and goes in your eye.

Open face and goggles was brilliant when riding The Gap descent back in November, which was basically like riding down a loose rocky stream as fast as possible. Goggled up at the top, degoggled at the bottom.

Mind you, just after Xmas I did a ride over the South Downs wearing my fullface because it was bloody cold and windy…

singlespeedstu – Member
Do you go back and pick up your tear offs?

Of course the tear offs are picked up at the end of the day.
What kind of dirty bastard leaves them ?

Goggles are great with dust, and i find my fullface doesn’t work well with glasses, but I’ve never got the open-face-and-goggles thing. Tried it, didn’t think it did anything better than glasses, and obviously quite a few things worse. Sure, goggles might keep more mud out of your eyes but with a decent mudguard that becomes a nonissue anyway (In bad weather I often race without glasses or goggles, but with my enormous mudcanoe guard, because it stops rain on the lenses being an issue)

But! Today I got caught out in a crazy burst of snow in the pentlands, and man what I wouldn’t have given to have had my goggles with me, I was pretty much blind. I saw one very enduro looking dude riding along the river path and was tempted to mug him.

Maybe also a shift in what “trail riding” is?

Really?
Most people I know that “trail ride” still do the same thing they always have.
Try and beat each other whether it’s up down or sideways. Then have a couple of beers and take the piss out of each other.

Of course the tear offs are picked up at the end of the day.

By you I hope.
You dirty bastard. 😉

By you I hope

My Butler runs behind me (probably as quick as my descending velocity) 😆

SSSTU im sure I saw you wearing goggles today as you rode In front of me ON THE PAVEMENT

Some people I know have been wearing goggles since before the word “Enduro” was invented for MTB. It’s more to do with keeping weather out of your eyes on big mountain descents, rather than mud.

I find them really useful in the winter as cold wind really hurts my eye sockets and the goggles keep them warm/protected. Wear cheapo ebay safety glasses the rest of the time.

Teetosugars – Member

“Oh no, someone is doing something I don’t do or disapprove of”…

Oh the ironing….[/quote]

Reference?

ideal for commuting

At risk of enraging the op

Can you get goggles that will go over regular ophthalmic specs?

I have a super wierd prescription so have real issues getting sports specs.

As a result crap gets in my eyes from all sides and I really do subscribe to function over image so if goggles and open face let’s me see better then bring it on!!!

Houns.
My goggles were sporting roll offs with no roll in them. 😛