[Closed] Do photochromic glasses work.....

My Oakleys do

My Enduras did until I faceplanted in them. They probably still do, but they're pretty scuffed up...

My Tifosi seem to, but maybe a bit slowly

I'm currently using some Endura Garoupa photochromic glasses. They react quickly and go almost clear in low light.

I have the Oakleys and they are ace unless you go from light to very dark really quickly - the first 10 or 15 seconds is a challenge!

+1 Shortcut
Used to use Oakly's but I find out in SE Asia the transition times between light and dark are so quick when riding in jungle that they never reacted fast enough so I have given up and just use cheap UVEX clear glasses now.
Same with goggles, just clear lenses, but TBH all the places I use goggles (typically with a fullface helmet) theres a lot of overhead foliage so clear is perfect anyway.

I've not noticed them changing unless the change is rapid. It did allow me to have one set of lenses that did 2 jobs. Clear and sun.

worn them as prescription lens for around 20years - so obviously i like them
downsides are despite all the "rapid" claims driving into a tunnel requires care and similar riding - one oddity is that I find phone / camera screens / gps hard to see detail on especially in sun so have to take them off when I'd rather not

OP I might be selling some Endura glasses.
Email if interested.

The specialized glasses were the best for changing tint quickly.

That's interesting on and on.
I have a pair of Helix and a pair of Arc Adaptalite glasses.
They are the only photochromics I have had ,so can't judge them against anything else,but I really like them.
The Arcs with no top frame are brilliant on the road when you have your head down.
The Helix are my day to day set and work well when dropping in to low light areas.
Shame that Spesh stopped doing glasses.

I have a pair of the specialized glasses that work well for me but I don't think they are especially quick to change. I like them because they don't go very dark so I can still see if I go from bright sun to under trees. They don't go totally clear either which is only a problem if I'm caught out as it goes dark. My favourites are some prescription lenses I had made which do go completely clear. I can wear them and barely give them a thought. Shame I don't need them any more.

Shame that Spesh stopped doing glasses.

Not found anything to replace them with yet.

Still have a air of Specialized as my off road glasses. Don't understand why they stopped making them.

Have a pair of Oakleys as well. They work. photo chromics are great for riding.

I lost my Specalized ones out on a ride a couple of years ago - was gutted and even more so now two years on as I've found nothing to touch them irrespective of price.

antigee - I suspect yours are also polarized - they properly trash your ability to see screen ( but are brilliant on water for improving your ability to see rocks etc).

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/endura-masai-glasses-2013

These look almost identical to the specialised ones I have anyway

I've a couple of pairs of specialized arc's. They look stupid, but they're super practical.
I hope they, or someone start making them again.

They do until you break or lose them. Or is that just me?

The Spesh ones I had were pretty good.

Another vote for the Specialized ones here - think I had the same as M6TFF. I still wear them, even find them to be good for skiing and the like. I never really notice the lenses changing tint; I'll just take them off and realise they're dark brown, from yellow when I put them on.

I have some photochromic varifocals tha my optician made up for me and they are excellent, the tinting looks strong when other people view them but the amount of darkening is just right; light levels never seem to change and on night rides the vision is superb.

Have some Tifosi Fototec glasses.

Find them really good

Takes about 9-10 seconds for them to go from one extreme to the other.

Had Endura Cuttle glasses.

They're not as big a range as some others, and it's hard to notice them doing their thing.

But they never seem to be too dark or too light, so maybe they just work really well.

Good shape and comfy too.

Rudy rydons with photo Rx work perfectly.

Tifosi light night here... pretty good change in 15 seconds or so

Uvex - love em

+1 chakaping,cheapish too

I have some Oakley photochromic radar paths and they work very well. A bit too well because you never realise they are doing anything which is disappointing at first. The light level is just perfect most of the time. The only negative is that they don't ho completely clear and are not as dark as dark lenses in extremely bright sunlight but they cover about 90% of the lighting I ride in.

Oakley here, don't notice any problems going from light to dark.

It's worth noting a couple of things.

- Photochromic can cover a very large range of darkness change - some barely change at all, some do much more so and they may vary in how fast they do it.

- Oakley do at least two models of photochromic lenses - I've had both that I know of. The persimmon-black (VR50?) ones don't go fully clear but go fairly dark. I have used them for night riding but I reckon they're just a bit too dark.

The clear-black ones I have now go near as dammit completely clear and just dark enough for sunny days but not as dark as most of the standard oakley lenses. I use these all year round now and only fit a darker (blue iridium FWIW) lense for rides where I know that it's going to be sunny the whole time and I probably won't spend any significant time under trees.

It's always hard to tell from pics but here's a comparison of the two oakley models (though not on the same day/conditions but I reckon it's about right

persimmon-black
[img] ?nocache=7580[/img]

clear-black
[img] ?nocache=1492[/img]

Some old Spesh El Toro Adaptalites here. They do the job very well. It's entertaining when you leave them in a mesh pocket on a sunny day, put them on, then wonder what the hell is going on before you realise.

Ok let me get this straight. [b]Clear[/b] transitions are the ones that go clear right? These:

https://www.sunglasses-shop.co.uk/oakley-lenses/racing-jacket/clear-transitions-41-785/39987.aspx

Rudy Project here. They work and I love them. As said above, different models cover different light ranges (e.g. clear to lightly tinted, lightly tinted to welding mask) so you need to work out what you want.

It's entertaining when you leave them in a mesh pocket on a sunny day, put them on, then wonder what the hell is going on before you realise.

I had a bit of a panic when I wiped mud off the lenses of my fancy new glasses and thought it had removed the coating. A few seconds later the clear patches had darkened to match the rest of the lenses and I calmed down again...

My Tifosis were really effective but I chose too dark a lens which was a shame. They do a pretty good range, if I was buying again I'd want something that starts basically clear.

Ok let me get this straight. Clear transitions are the ones that go clear right? These:

https://www.sunglasses-shop.co.uk/oakley-lenses/racing-jacket/clear-transitions-41-785/39987.aspx

Yes - clear-black transitions.

That's what my prescription Oakleys have. I use them at night and they are fine.

They can be a bit crap riding into the (low) sun, happened to me a couple of times. It's bright, so they go dark, but the bit of trail you're on is in shadow (hedge etc), so you can't see owt.