My regular glasses don't keep the wind out of my eyes and they water badly on fast downhills. Has anyone found a solution to this problem? I can't be @rsed with contact lenses and googles are a bit over the top.

Optilabs. You need your pupil to pupil distance, or something like this that is not often on the "your prescription card"
I tried the prescription insert route and prescription whole lens is the way to go.

I got prescription Oakleys (Half Jacket XLJs). Best bike-related purchase I've ever made.

I've got some prescription Oakley Straight Jackets, from RX Sport. I use them for everything, including on-bike duties. Money very well spent.

I used them before and they were okay until it rained – I moved over to daily disposables and they've been awesome. If not, +1 on oakleys!

I've been using Rudy Project Exceptions with the red photochromic Impact-x lenses for the last 3 years. Best specs I've had sunglasse or not – recommended.

The Oakley's looks scarily expensive, but thanks for the ideas. Any body use anything cheaper?

The Oakley's looks scarily expensive, but thanks for the ideas. Any body use anything cheaper?

Eyesight is not worth scrimping on, IMHO.

Has anyone gor the lenses that darken in brighter conditions- if so how do they manage sudden changes in conditions?

What's your prescription?
All the other decisions come after this.

I have the Oakley transitions. There's a couple of seconds needed to adjust, but otherwise they are just fine. They go clear enough for night riding too.

Don't know my prescription, but it's not to extreme. Think I may go and talk to my optician again about contact lenses, that may be the answer.

Still not a cheap option but I do like my Adidas Elevations. Got replaceable lenses which is good, I've had mine years and last well, cost per wear is coming down.

I tried contacts, but found that I kept "crying" them out if I got a breeze in my eye.

aP speaks truth. Anything above +/- 5 and it gets tricky.

I tried a pair of adidas glasses with an insert but they were so close to my eye my lashes brushed them when i closed my eyes, irritating me more than the occasional bit of dust ever did.

I've got quite a high prescription though, my choices are limited.

+1 for optilabs.
£150 for polycarbonate photochromatic prescription lenses.
Lots of style choices as well.

My prescription is -11. I have discovered what doesn't work, I have a pair of cycling glasses with what I'm told is one of the highest that Rupp+Hubrach have produced and I currently use Rudy Project Exception.
Go to a proper optician and ask their advice. I can recommend one in London if you're interested as I've pushed them to deliver what I want and they're now delivering this to others

I'm using Adidas Evil Eye 2's – reckon they are excellent – very comfy on as the legs and nose bridge can be adjusted slightly for a better fit, I've not been able to steam them up and they keep my eyes from watering (although I don't really suffer from that) – I've a strong prescription so tend to wear small glasses otherwise the lens manufacturing costs get prohibitive.

The Evil Eyes cost me £90, the insert £20 and the lenses were another £120 – wasn't expecting the lens cost to be so high but they are very good (although I still think I was ripped off for the lens!).

I tried Oakleys and unless you have a perfectly shaped head, they don't fit properly…some people consider them to be the best, but I'm not so sure…you pay a lot of cash for what you get and they aren't really any better than the competition these days (although for number of styles they probably are the best), I can't tell any difference between the clarity and distortion free claims on Oakleys to any other named brand so I reckon it's all marketing hype – but if you've got the cash to use then go for it.

The idea of no cost for eyesight is just daft to me – especially for cycling gear – if you wear glasses for everything else then you have already spent the cash on glasses – so really there shouldn't be any need to burn a shed load on glasses you use for cycling – I've never had a pair of glasses bounce off my bounce or bounce around to make my vision blurry – if they do bounce and shake then I'd suggest getting them fitted properly in the first case.

The cycling glasses are good – various solutions from inserts to full lens ideas – it's up to you on how much you want to spend and whether or not being with the 'crowd' matters to you (if so, it has to be Oakley – nothing wrong with them other than being overpriced for what you get when the competition is just as good (although styling could be a winning factor)).

Get to a good optician's and have a chat, that way you get the correct prescription and some good advice on the various solutions – I went for inserts as the cost of the full lens (and weight of it) was too much (I did get quoted £350 for the lens at one place – reckoned that was way too much!), insert works for me and I've got the glasses adjusted so my eyelashes don't touch the lens, I've got long eye lashes so I tend to experience that often. The Adidas range is very good with various options, depending on what you go for it could be expensive. The Oakley range has a huge offering in styles but they are expensive and the optical lens aren't cheap either. There are others but I can't recall them or the range they offer.

If you can get your prescription and details you may be able to get them cheaper by ordering online but you may loose the advice on fitting and the likes.

For on-the-high-street opticians I found Black & Lizar to be the best for advice and range on offer – but they were slightly more expensive than the likes of Specsavers – but I did feel as though I got a better service from them.

Don't buy Evil Eye with inserts. Thankfully mine were free (Vision Express had discontinued my plastic made to measure – similar to Sven Goran Ericssons) so under the insurance they offered me anything else upto the same value. I chose Evil Eyes.

Firstly the plastic lens pick up scratches very easily.
The frames themselves are difficult to seat. They can sit at an angle on your head. I think its down to them being made very cheapily- the quality (for me) isnt at the price that they are asking.

Then we get onto the inserts- with the amber or clear lens you look seriously special. As was pointed out to me countless times last night 😆

Optilabs- I had a set from them and the curve of the lens along with the prescription gave me problems with depth perception.
(my prescription is distance and not overly strong)

I'd be interested to hear/see other recommendations though. Otherwise its contact lens and Endura glasses for me.

At the other end of the cost and technology scale, I just got a pair of titanium rimless ones from asda as a 'spare pair' for those quick blasts when I can't be bothered opening a new set of daily contact lenses.
They have quite a big lens so good for keeping the wind out and I've not suffered any eye watering yet. And they are SO light. I'm really impressed.
Best of all though, they cost only £20 on top of the pretty girlie specs I was buying anyway. (£90 for two pairs) so I figured they were worth a go, being almost disposable at that price…

i have rudy project perception (two pairs in fact)
the perception has a "flip-up"; yes, it sounds like something an american would use on a european vacation, but it does come in very useful when going from a bright open area to a dark wooded area! (also handy for driving when going though the dartford tunnel!)

i bought the glasses from my LBS and had them glazed at specsavers
glasses cost ~60 quid (including the Rx insert)
extra lenses are ~ 15-20 quid depending upon colour. i have clear, yellow, and "light grey". the glasses come with mirror
glazing cost ~ 99 quid IIRC, but I had medium index lenses with an AR coating
my prescription is approx -4.25 on both eyes

Hora, probably a daft question but have you adjusted the leg angles to fit your head? They have 3 settings on the legs (lower, middle and upper) – I'm sure you know this already but you push the leg open and then push it up or down if you need to adjust the arm position. The nose piece also has some adjustment to allow for closer/further fitting from the eyes.

Clearly it's down to personal preference, but I reckon they are very good – not been able to scratch my lenses in the 3 years of owning them and the insert is easy enough to install and the lenses are quite simple to remove and seem very secure once fitted.

pop larkin – Member

Has anyone gor the lenses that darken in brighter conditions- if so how do they manage sudden changes in conditions?

I went through all this a while ago. I need bifocals. I got custom lenses made for Tag frames. It took a while to get them made but they are brilliant. I don't even notice I've got them on. Mine do have a light permanent tint (out of choice) but I could have had them clear. They change rapidly.

Go to a decent optician with the knowledge to get it right.(I got 'plummers draw' at 3 before Toni & Guy Opticians, Newcaslte, sorted me out. Excellent service.

They were £400 though.

I got some osiris glasses from specsavers. Im very very happy with them so far. They worked out at about 160 pounds, with traqnsition lenses. Although as Hora says, unless its sunny I look 'special' wearing them…

Dick I think it could be personal preference. I find the insert/keeping it clean etc to fiddly. Will have a look at the arms later- ta. One could have been set out of synch to the other..

had the evil eye explorer with inserts thought they were great, rarely steamed up and fitted my bonce well (though I think they were the smaller size, just what they had in the shop at the time)

but lost them.

Just got a pair of climacool frames half price from gobikespex.com get on fine with them so far. though the insert design is not as good as the evil eyes.

for me inserts are better my eyes are not too bad but getting slowly worse. Had bought a pair of oakley half jackets with a view to getting lenses for them but not worth it at the minute, if my eyes level out then definitely will get the lenses done.

@hora totally agree with the "special" look, when wearing them with the clear or orange inserts. I get very strange looks from the "kids" when riding a lefty fork and clear inserts.

i use rudy project Ekinox SX with inserts. The changeable lenses are nice and tough and available in plenty of different colours, i use dark, clear and yellow. the inserts are available from good opticians and are a pattern that can be manufactured using a decent lens, i chose nikon lenses. Think the glasses were about £230 all in with 3 sets of lenses and the inserts.

+1 for Oakleys from H.Dickinson & Co

I have some Osiris frames with grey transition lenses. Came from specsavers and are very good. Was going to go down the daily disposable route but these changed my mind.

Optilabs here as well. Get on fine with them, but again, not an extreme prescription.

I've probably mentioned this, but when I broke one oft he arms, Optilabs replaced it for the cost of postage "under warranty", which was outstandingly sweet of them. 🙂

I got soem osiris from specsavers also
Went for yellow so a bit ali g

Osiris- which ones? I cant find them on the site. Just the standard ones.

Must admit my cheapy backup Osiris's have outlasted everything and gone strong for over 3yrs without any failing.

I use these with a set of £50 Oakley Fives (i've not found anything that's as clear as Oakley lenses)-

http://www.daysoftcontactlenses.com/

They're a fiver a box and if you just use them for biking they last ages. They stay in longer than my old Focus Dailies ones (which were £30 a box!) and are less prone to falling out.

Optilabs not only do a great product(s), but are also fantastic on service. Give them a call, they are very strightforward and honest.

I once had prescription Oakleys and they made me feel giddy, whereas my Optilabs glasses are just perfectly natural and I forget I have them on. They can mist up because they are very close fitting, but I do have a very narrow nose bridge, plus I could have chosen another style. They will send you frames to check out.

Hello Hora, can't get the link to work but if you Google ( specsavers 1002560 ) you will see them. Mine are black.

As someone said above, RX Sport are the geezers.