Next week I am going to the opticians for the first time in many years, Im going because I know I finally need glasses.

I dont think I need them for riding yet but I expect once I get used to having clearer vision, I will want to wear them all the time.

What frames/lenses are best suited for riding,(if any)

Not putting a price limit on what im going to spend on these, cos if im gonna be a four eyed speccy **** then im doing it with style.

Get a cheap pair for riding, sweat makes them rust.
Also, don’t spend £600 on a pair then fall off in the ice and break them.
Who would be that stupid!

Depends how strong your prescription is. Too many variables.

I am pretty short sighted and wear my normal specs on the bike. My prescription doesn’t lend itself to wraparound style bike glasses. I have never had any problems although a nuisance in the wet – front mudguard essential. When trying them think about the spec legs and your helmet straps. I prefer close fitting legs and helmet on top.

buy two pairs – normal and riding.

and given you can buy a nice (bike) frame for the cost of my as specs, i’m not riding in them!

What frames/lenses are best suited for riding

None. Riding in glasses is completely and totally shite. You sweat on them, you can’t see. If it’s raining, you can’t see anything at all, if it’s cold they steam up, you can’t see anything at all, if it’s hot and dry you sweat on them a lot and can’t see anything at all.

If you can manage without, then do. If you can’t, get contacts. They were by far the biggest improvement I ever made to my riding. Better than fitness, fancy bikes, anything.

Just get whatever you like…also Get a copy of your prescription and buy some cheap ones online for biking and other things that might damage them.

Specsavers, buy one pair get one free. You’ll end up with two pairs for £125 which is the priciest range.

I’ve not got on with reactions/tinted lenses, so now I just go for two clear pairs. Take someone opinionated so they can tell you what suits.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of them, try some daily contacts for riding, I wear glasses all the time except riding when I’ll go for the contacts.

I ride in my everyday glasses. Never broken a pair in a fall and not had any issues with rust.

All I would say is go for the thinnest, lightest lenses you can afford/your prescription can support and choose some durable feeling frames that take large enough lenses to make sure you have decent peripheral vision and eye protection if that’s a consideration. Also make sure the lenses are toughened/scratch-resistant if that doesn’t come as standard.

Of course, you could always get a tough pair of sports (sun)glasses and get them re-lensed for riding duties. I never have as my prescription would make them a bit unwieldy due to the larger, curved lens area.

I dont think I need them for riding yet but I expect once I get used to having clearer vision, I will want to wear them all the time.

I got some reading glasses just over a year ago and don’t feel the need for wearing glasses when riding. Why not wait until the optician tells you that you need them. You’re thinking too far ahead, in my most humble of opinions.

We are introducing a mandatory safety specs rule at work so I am going for some of the S0220 safety specs which might be quite good for riding?

http://www.norville.co.uk/acatalog/Protective-Eyewear.pdf

have not got them yet. might be crap

I’m in the same position as the OP. I don’t NEED my specs on for riding but I like the better vision (I’m long sighted but have distance and near vision prescriptions)
I just bit the bullet and learned to wear contact lenses, which I only wear a couple of times a week when it’s convenient.
Apart from that I’ve always had Specsavers 2 for 1 glasses which are fine but I recently treated myself to some Oakleys (Tumbleweed 0.5) and they are sooooooo light and comfy, the difference is amazing. I got them from eyewearbrands.co.uk and saved over £100.

I wear glasses full time and, as above, they cost a fortune so I don’t wear them on the bike.

I ride in either an older pair that I’m not overly bothered about or I also have some Adidas Evil Eyes with prescription clip-in inserts or contact lenses with the Evil Eyes (without inserts obviously!)

Of the above options the contacts are favourite even though I don’t wear them at any time other than on the bike.

look at the two for one deals (smart and sports pair) and take a trusted female friend – as they will help prevent a dreadful fashion faux pas

consider weight and nose bridge size/style (as when it’s hot and sweaty you will possibly get nose marks/pain and down nose slippage where glasses slide down sweat – so make sure you get a fitting session – or a hairdryer – as you can heat and bend using that *Take care) -if you get the two blobs nose style they can dig in, my sports specs have a massive wrapround one piece entire nose bridge and extra long looped legs that gor right round ears – briliant for hockey – if you sail etc etc you can get laccy straps to go round back of head and hold normal glasses and I’d recommend this for any running/stopping etc sport – but not IMHO for biking).
I’m on titanium frame and plastic lenses (a lot lighter esp on thicker lenses) I get the protective lens coating to make them last longer

I prefer thin frames (less peripheral blockage/weight) and mine are set so I can slide them down my nose but they still stay hooked on – as in the wet I can view over the top of them and avoid fractal vision

*edit – learn the habit of putting them down lens up early (avids scratching)

Its mainly for driving and reading that I need them for, if I start reading a book then within a few mins its 6 inches away from my nose. and when driving, I cant see road signs till im right upon them.

Going to specsavers so Ill go for a 2 for 1 deal and see how i get on.

I much prefer riding in sunglasses on my road bike as it shields my eyes and stops them watering.

contacts could be a possibility.

Reading … Yes
Riding … No
Trail side repairs … Yes
Stopping every time I need to check a map … Yes

^^This is a PITA when I get lost 🙄

Riding in glasses is horrible. Samuri will come along and tell you it’s fine but he’s nails 😉 But I hated it. Especially when it’s raining. I know a few who went down the adidas evil eye route with some success.

Contacts are fantastic nowadays. If you can get on with them. I came very close to causing a lot of eye damage by misuse of them tho. Latest ones seem to allow as much oxygen in as not wearing any so if you don’t mind prodding your eyeball with a finger, that’d be my choice.

As others have said, contacts are where it’s at for riding. Can’t break, they’re dead cheap, it’s easy to carry a spare set.

I wear glasses all the time but for riding and other sports (particularly climbing and waterskiing) I’ll always wear contacts.

I got the 2-for-1 offer from Specsavers as well, one pair of normal glasses for everyday use, one pair of sunglasses for driving.

I currently wear daily contacts and clear endura glasses for riding. There is no way I would wear contacts without eye protection. I’m not keen on getting crap in my eyes. This in turn limits riding, avoiding the really wet and muddy conditions.

How does anyone ride with just contact lenses? Surely they dry out and you risk getting all sorts of rubbish in your eyes / lenses and possible eye damage/infection.

Prescription sports glasses and sunglasses are on the cards for me.

My prescription is -10.5/-11 so I need glasses, contacts are out – my optician offered me the option of 3 month contacts that he would put in and take out, but after an initial test tussle, we’ve agreed never to mention it again.
I use Rudy Project Maya which are pretty good. I was in Italy in ’11 and saw them being launched and asked my opticians to get me a pair. It took them quite a while to persuade the UK importers to bring some into the country for me. They’re designed to be less disturbing when used without the outer photochromic lenses so are a bit more adaptable. However, I’m not aware of anywhere else in the UK that has supplied any – although you can order them from a shop in Switzerland…

I gave up on contacts when I got a bit of grit in there and had to ride home with one eye…

Its true though – riding in glasses crap. It has ruined a weekend away for me where, on the first day I was wiping my glasses so much because of the rain and muck that I knackered the coating and couldnt see for the rest of the trip.

The fogging up is a pain too.

Contacts – no glasses, yep most of the time much to the irritation of my optician. Only had a couple of incidents with grit – but with disposables, just chuck em away, clean your hands and stick a new set in. I did once have a lens taken out of my eye completely by a combination of mud and water. That was quite exciting..

I use ‘bob health anti fog’ on my clear glasses if I do wear them. Works great. For motorbike visors but just as good on glasses (note: not tried it with lenses with expensive coatings on them)

Get a cheap pair for riding, sweat makes them rust.

Complete rubbish. I’ve been wearing glasses full time for around 30 years, riding in all weathers. I have even worn them in the sea and in swimming pools. I have never had an issue with rust.

Anyway, get lenses with anti-fog and anti-glare coatings, as they make a lot of difference. I also seem to remember having a coating that prevents water from beading on the lens, but I may have dreamt this 😆

In general, ordinary glasses are rubbish for cycling in, but I can’t stand contacts so I’m stuck with them and have used them for years, riding in all conditions.

Oh, and whatever frames you get, make sure they are well fitting if you are going to use them for mountain biking. Maybe some rubber grips on the arms would be an advantage. I would recommend getting a separate pair for riding that are designed for the job, such the Optilabs ones, and carry your day-to-days ones in a case in your camelbak as spare in case of emergency.

Thinking about it, I need to get myself some new glasses 8)

Hated riding in contacts, fine in specs. But I’ve always worn specs so feel naked without them, probably different if you’re new to them.

Go to TK Max and buy a pair of sunglasses, pop the lenses out and get your optician to glaze them in the cheapest plastic. A pair of wraparound sunnies cost me £12.99 and the lenses £50.

Job done.

If you struggle to read road signs and also need a book close to read it, you could need a fairly strong prescription for short sightedness.

So you may want to ask about the likely lens thickness at the edges. Lenses get wider at the edges so if you choose a wide style the edges of the lenses will be quite thick, also if you go for frameless or half frameless these can exaggerate the thickness.

You will also find the nice light comfortable frames suddenly become quite heavy and slide down your nose once your prescription lenses are in. My lenses are quite thick and I was always steered away from paying extra for thin and light lenses, then I changed to a different branch of the same opticians and they actually recommended them. Made a huge difference in comfort and look, and the thinner ones came with a polished edge whereas the standard were matt finish on the edges which made them look even thicker.

You can go for expensive high-density plastics, where the higher density gives a greater refractive index and therefore a thinner lens and your optician will have charts showing the lines of increasing weight against reducing thickness, so that you can find the ideal density for your prescription, where the lines cross. Expect to pay in the hundreds of pounds for these though.

However basic cheapo plastic will be strong in an accident and a small lens shouldn’t shatter and as long as the frame isn’t too big the edges will be tolerably thick, as in my pic above. The technician will chamfer the edges so they won’t look too bad.

I wear varifocals (marvellous invention) but my riding glasses are single-prescription because I seldom need to read while out riding; I carry my proper varis in a rigid case in a jersey pocket on long rides.

It’ll depend entirely on your actual need, but assuming they’re suitable for you, I’d highly recommend contacts. Perfect field of vision, no restriction on what you can and can’t wear, combine with your preferred sunglasses or clear glasses or goggles freely without spending extra.

All my glasses have 1.7index and higher lenses and my everyday lenses are also bi-aspheric. Whilst these reduce weight and edge thickness I also take a lot of time to find appropriate frame shapes/ sizes. My opticians then calculate the edge thicknesses so that we can then have sensible conversations about appropriateness. If you do go for high index lenses then you will need to be careful with high base frames and the inherent chromatic aberrations in such lenses. Something I’ve found recently is that it’s fashionable to polish the edges of the lens which for me produces substantial internal lenses reflections. However these are all problems that I’ve found out over the last 20 years or so, and I’ve worked with my optician on them – they developed a sports specialism because I was asking them to do things with lenses and frames and they were working with both frame manufacturers and lens companies, they’ve also looked at lens placement in frames (in front/ behind), focus position, having lenses designed and manufactured specifically for frames. Most opticians won’t have done this so you may find things don’t work out first time round.

Most people ride with protective riding glasses on. There’s no difference! Just get a crud catcher or bender fender to keep most of the crap off and don’t think about it. Mine have fallen off only when I fall off. So I try not to. Never had a problem with misting, as I go for style with ‘vents’ between the lens and frame. Never had rusting. Contact lenses are ace, but in crap weather when you get grit in your eye you’ll be putting your specs back on, which hopefully you’ll have in your bag.

I’ve used contacts only for the last 20 or so years. I only recently got some glasses as I’m doing more overnight flights for work recently.

I reckon I’ve had about 10 incidences of bad grit in lenses in that time and all of them sorted by a rinse in my mouth or with a few drops of camelbak water. ymmv.

I pretty much always ride with riding glasses though oddly if it’s really wet I’ll take them off and never seem to have a problem.

I ride / ski with Optilabs prescirption sunglasses. Have a dark pair and a reactolite / transistions pair for sunny / dark days. I also quite often just ride in my everyday Gant glasses and don’t have a problem off road. On road, my eyes get a bit dry wearing normal glasses, but off road they’re fine.

OK, not strictly rust, just damage to the coating on the frame. Always goes around the bridge, where the frame just touches my nose, hence (I’m guessing) the sweat does the damage.

Always goes around the bridge, where the frame just touches my nose, hence (I’m guessing) the sweat does the damage.

then pick different glasses. I have never seen this happen, and having worn glasses for 36 years i have had plenty of opportunity. Admittedly the current pair of specs which i think are 12 years old, could be more, are Titanium.

What frames/lenses are best suited for riding,(if any)

contact lenses work for me. that way i can use whatever other cheap glasses/sunglasses I want to wear

I’ve been riding with contacts and for nearly 20 years.
Last 10 years with riding glasses too.
Had a few dust grit issues over the years but nothing major.
Last summer’s holiday in Italy was really dusty.
My eyes got pretty badly scratched and it took about three weeks to recover.

I went to the opticians to see if they could do photochromic prescription riding glasses but because of my prescription +4 the choice was very limited and getting the wrap around next to impossible
I’m currently exploring laser treatment or implantable contact lenses
Kind of had enough of specs and contacts now.
It’s not suitable for all but I hope it works for me.

Top contacts tip is extended wear aka night and day contacts. You can leave them in a whole month (if your eyes can handle it) and I forget about glasses and contacts completely until the end of the month. Except first thing in the morning when my eyes are dry.

Went out on the road bike in the pouring rain this morning. Disposable contacts and Evil Eyes with the amber lenses in, usually a brilliant combination.

But, after about 16 miles they had got to the stage where I could hardly see through them – first time it has ever happened, fogged up and water droplets staying on the lens. Took them off for the remainder of the ride with no issues. Rain was so heavy I don’t think the dust and grit stood a chance 🙂

Going to give the lenses a thorough clean to see if that was the issue.

I’ve been riding in prescription glasses for the last few years and was perfectly happy with them, apart from having scratched the lenses when cleaning off the mud mid-ride (before I learnt the Camelbak trick). Rode in contacts with safety glasses about a month ago and it was a revelation – didn’t realise how valuable having useful downwards peripheral is. Contacts only henceforth, often with safety glasses over the top.

While not as myopic as aP, I also have to take care when selecting specs and lenses. However, this is due to an eye injury which has left me reliant on the other eye for detailed vision.

I wear contact lenses when riding, but rarely any protective glasses over the top. Given my sight issues, I ought to be more careful..!!!