[Closed] Contact lenses / sports specs for riding.

Hi Mick

they do sports specific lenses which have a bigger diameter or something

i got a trial pair of monthly sports lenses and just kept them for about 4 months for riding only until i got bored of them

i use disposable contacts - and then wear non-prescription glasses over the top (clar lenses at night)

protected from muck in your eyes - and it means you avoid the cost of changing prescriptions. Mine changes every year or 2 and it adds up if you need to replace "normal" glasses and riding glasses. Plus scratched lenses will again cost more to replace if they are prescription

Worth looking in different places for the daily disposables. High street opticians are expensive. Both Asda and Tesco now do contact lenses. I use Asda, use the inhouse optician for eye tests etc. then order my lenses from them via the internet.

Contacts are definitely the way to go and I would recommend the daily dispoables over ones you need to clean. I wear my dailys every day.

Focus Daily Torics - daily disposable lenses about £1 a pop, 30 lenses for £30ish online. Wear mine with regular riding specs.

[url= http://www.lensway.co.uk/kassa.jsp?groupid=100012 ]Lensway [/url]are doing a deal atm

I use 14 day torics. they're about a 1/3rd of the price of daily disposables (about £30 for a 3 month supply) and the cleanign fluid is peanuts.

I got std cheap monthly disposables and they are fine - Vision express cheapo's.

I need Toric's but couldn't get on with them. So I just use standard daily contacts for riding and to be honest as long as I don't try to read anything for too long, they're absolutely fine.

I then wear glasses the rest of the time.

daily disposables from contactlenses.co.uk. cheap as chips, huge variety of lenses. i buy posh ones because they're so cheap online and are really comfy.

"Also, can you get to borrow trial frames from Optilabs?"

I believe so. Give em a call.

i wear disposable lenses from D&A. Worn them for about 15 years for sport and 'going out' purposes only. wear specs the rest of the time. About £15 pm for 10 pairs. They arrive by post

They are great, fit and forget then throw away come the end of the day.

I used to wear protective shades over the top but suffered with them fogging up as per your comments. Now i just ride with no protection and it's much better (ooh err!).

do it!

Contacts are just so much better than glasses - especially nowadays when they're way better (tougher and much better at stopping your eyes drying out) than the disposeables that I started on about 15 years ago.

I almost always wear glasses over though (M-frames FWIW) just to avoid getting any grit in but on the occassions when I haven't worn glasses I can't say that I've actually had any problems.

Can't comment on toroidals, etc as mine are just standard. As above though. shop around and you can get lenses much cheaper.

I gave up contacts after a corneal ulcer some years ago. So I use Optilabs photochromics, which work OK - mine are the Blaze frame, I think. I'm old, so I need bi/vari-focals, and have an astigmatism (as I guess you do if you need torics) so my prescription is not simple. Still mist up when you stop at the top of a climb, but as long as you are moving they are OK. The Optilabs people are very helpful, and will mail out trial frames. I dropped in to their shop when I was down that way seeing a client, but their remote support has been good too.

+1 for Optilabs. Very helpful service - suggest a phone call.

I use contacts, monthly disposables. When I started wearing contacts my prescription wasn't available in daily. I only wear contacts for riding (or other sports), glasses the rest of the time so a pair actually lasts for about 2 months.

I always wear my riding glasses (Oakley Half Jackets) over the top.

Specsavers for me, always had really good service from them.

I have recently switched to wearing contacts to ride in. Coming from riding & racing DH with glasses or goggle inserts, it's affected my riding no end.

The irony is, i'm now just getting back up to the speed I was before. I can now see properly, with proper peripheral vision and no distortion and a 'true' depth perception. its amazing how the body adapts to what it has to work with, but I feel as I continue to improve with more usage I have the frustration of why I didn't do this years ago.

Also on daily Toric's. May switch to bi-monthly's after a while, will see how I get on with these for the moment.

Do it. 100% recommendation 🙂

Mick,

only thing I would say is I had a pair of optilabs with photochromatic lenses, great specs but the lenses are/were very prone to scratching, lasted me about 12 months then too scratched to see with

Another +1 for Optilabs.

I used Adidas Evil Eyes and Gazelles from GoSportSpex for years for both cycling and sailing, and had problems with the insert steaming up, or water getting between the insert and the outer lens. An enormous pain in the bum. (I should say that GoSportSpex have been absolutely fantastic as well - unfortunately my prescription is too strong for Rudy Project or Oakley direct RXes).

I bought a pair of prescription glasses for £150 from Optilabs, and will be buying another pair soon - the first pair are transitions lenses, which don't work too well on water, so I'll be getting some proper high glare jobs as well.

The frames are comfortable and light, and the lenses perfect. I still get a bit of a misting problem, but use demister stuff from an opticians' which works a treat. I used to use fairy liquid on a pair ages ago (Eassuns, back in about 1994) and these scratched up very, very quickly. I'd suggest using proper demister fluid - Optilabs can no doubt recommend some.

I don't get on with contacts at all, and have never worn them, but if you do want to go for specs, definitely give Optilabs a call. I was able to go in and visit the showroom in person, and service was excellent.

I tend to trash a pair of riding glasses every couple of years through wear and tear, so I don't think it's too much to ask for the amount of use I get out of them - the Evil Eyes got over 80 days on boats (racing and training, not bumming around with a blazer and a G&T, before you ask) and weekly use on the bike - usually at least two rides a week - and they're still going, but quite tired.

My Optilabs glasses are a very close fit and do steam up a bit when you stop - called them and they sent me some anti-fog stuff FoC.

Monthly disposables here, cost £20 a month get them through the post. Have worn contacts all day every day for about the last 20 years, never had an issue, I do have regular check ups with optician though. In 15 years of off road riding, I've had one occasion when I've had to take a lens out, and a quick "rinse" in my mouth and it was back in. Don't always wear glasses over the top, but I do try to remember...

[i]I don't get on with contacts at all, and have never worn them[/i]

how do you know if you get on with them or not?

I use daily disposable lenses for weekend rides and have some Oakley Flakjacket XLJ prescription glasses for the commute so I don't chew through my contacts too fast. The oakleys offer near complete coverage of any area I can see clearly and are great for riding, albeit not cheap. As they are not a lens behind a lens they have never given any hassle with fogging. I only use the contacts at the weekend as it gives me lens colour options on my 'normal' riding glasses

I never got on with contacts, had a trial years ago. Tried EvilEyes but got the steaming up and my luscious lashes scraped against them every time I blinked so gave up on that. This year I bit the bullet and bought some prescription sports specs, Rodenstocks. Brilliant, should have done it years ago, but stupidly expensive with curved high index reaction lenses.

I mainly use daily torics and get on with them ok, but do find that they tend to rotate sometimes which puts things a bit out of focus. Not much of a problem most of the time, except when you're booting down a rocky descent, and you can't see the rocks as clearly as you'd like!

Does anyone with toric lenses know how to prevent this?

I also have the Adidas Evil Eyes with the insert and use them for shorter rides, but they're not great in the rain.

Lastly, I have some Oakley Pro M-frames with clear lenses that I sometimes where over the contacts as they give better protection from mud than the Adidas. Oakley do a prescription implant in the M-frame lens which is brilliant, as it gives great vision, and doesn't have the problem of the double lens. I used to have a tinted one some years ago, but it was very pricy (about £350 I think). I haven't seen the Optilabs before, and they look like a good option.

AndyP - Member

I don't get on with contacts at all, and have never worn them

how do you know if you get on with them or not?

I've got a ridiculously strong eye reaction, and can't get the buggers near my eyes. I've worn them for a few minutes - but it too 45 minutes to get them in. Believe me, I've tried. I'm in a rather weird situation where I can (and have) dissected several eyeballs, but can't bear to talk about eyes. I'm not generally squeamish, but talking about eyes, or trying to stick anything anywhere near my eyes, gives me the heebie-jeebies in a major way.

Yes, I am a wuss. 😀

I'm supposed to wear a toric in one eye, but I was never really happy with it, it was always moving when I blinked... So I just ditched it and went with a plain one, I can barely tell the difference and it saves a fair old chunk.

Thing is, very few people find it easy the first time, you're putting a bit of plastic in your bloody eye, it's insane and disgusting 🙄 I just couldn't do it, tried til my eyes were totally red, no luck... Tried again, got one in... Eventually got them both in but found it really uncomfortable... It took a long time before i really got on with them but now I wouldn't be without them. Bit like beer.

I destroyed the coating on my Specs lenses on the first morning of a very wet Afan from constantly wiping (with a sandy rag ) After having the rest of the W/E tarnished by cloudy vision I decided there and then to get into disposable contacts just for riding. Had an initial consultation in the high street but now I order online through Optic Rosmus; seems reasonable enough.

NB I have Non toric in One eye and Toric in the other. The Non-toric is easier to get inside out and can jump out of your eye if you have it wrong. Have no issues with the toric. Once you have had some practice it is all good.

Dont go out on my bike without contacts, now. (its also nice not seeing the rim of your specs when you look hard down/. left/ right)

nb Havnt had any mud in the eye yet...

nb

, cost £20 a month get them through the post

do you mind if i ask where from?

I wear spec savers disposable ones for riding, 30 pairs for about £20. As I only wear them for mountain biking, a box lasts about 4-6 months.

cheap as chips.

I wear Ed Bike Coop glasses with changable lenses depending on the weather

I used to ride wearing my hard gas permeable contact lenses, but that was 5 years ago and after too many incidents of gritty, dusty eye leaving me blind in one eye for a ride I went back to wearing my everday spectacles. I now have terrible problems with these steaming up in the cold and rain when we stop riding, lack of airflow I guess?.

I'd love to try some proper prescription cycling glasses but as I have quite a strong prescription -9.25 it would be an expensicve experiment.

I wear Vision Express disposable ones for riding, 30 pairs for about £20. As I only wear them for mountain biking & footie, a box lasts about 3-4 months.

cheap as chips.

I wear M-Vision DArcs glasses with changeable lenses depending on the weather to keep the crap out 🙂