New glasses time.
I use occupational lenses for day to day. However, I'm not enjoying riding in them and my longer vision is what's changed this time (particularly one eye).
6 years ago I got a cheaper first pair from independent local opticians - uncomfortable to wear as the bridge was too narrow and they were only close work. Within a few months I spent more on occupational lenses (Nikon) in some more comfy frames branded Converse. £220.
A few years ago I used Vision Express on the recommendation of a friend and spent £350 on what have been poor lenses (yellow, narrow field of view, really mark easily, coating now failed) and shonky Tommy Hilfiger branded frames.
I've bounced back to a local independent. However I'm baulking at £580(!) for lenses and another £120-250 for some branded frames that don't feel as well made as my unbranded frames..
Where to look for glasses that balance quality and not silly price?
Also, I have some decent Julbo Renegade sunglasses, one pair with photochromic lenses. I would like to keep the frames and get new lenses, ideally with the photochromic finish. Any suggestions?
TLDR: where to go for decent lenses at reasonable price, and can I get Julbo prescription lenses for my Renegades?
If it works for you, and it may not, my prescription Oakley Flak 2 photochromic were significantly less money than you are talking about.
Extreme Eyewear / York Opticians (they’re the same people) in Fulford York did them for £334.
I love them from a practical point of view - you do look like an idiot, but…
Of course I may have misunderstood the question
Folk have recommended these guys for lenses and prescription sunglasses too but I have used them
Other half uses Mojo Glasses for reglaze on his existing Oakley frames or treating himself for a new pair. They always have a discount code for lenses
He ordered a new pair of Oakley Hex Jector last week with varifocal and Transition Gen S lenses for £207 delivered.
He has also had a couple of pairs of Oakley Plazma riding glasses reglazed with them
Always had first class service and never had a problem with any new or re glazed ones
RAD8.CO.UK Mine must be about 5 years old, wear them for biking, running, general outdoorsy stuff. Wouldn’t hesitate to replace them with the same- have considered asking if they’d do a clear pair as well.
I've used RX Sports & Extreme Eyewear and they're both good. Probably prefer RX as I've had a couple of delays with Extreme but came good in the end.
Also used reglaze-glasses-direct for prescription lenses in Oakley sunnies (and normal glasses) and they've been great and would do your julbos.
Used RX and reglaze for varifocals, and had no problems.
I seem to recall a mag article on this a few years ago, and RX were recommended at the time. There's also Optilabs; got a pair from them as the shape worked better with the helmet I had at that point. Still in good nick after 5 or 6 years.
Ive no idea if they'll also reglaze frames that aren't 'theirs' but no harm asking.
I used RX last year (clear prescription Oakley Flaks for night riding), I think they sent them slightly ahead of the original quoted date so no complaints.
I’ve been after some varifocals for a couple of years and the quest keeps going.
Ive tried those Rad8s and the frame didn’t wrap enough.
Ive tried other ‘cheap’ alternatives
Ive had some Oakley Drop points for years. Oakley say they can do varifocals for them, but IMO they are shite. The lenses themselves are posh plastic not even glass. The lenses also completely changed the shape of the frame as the tolerance they were made to was poor
IMO I now need to find a shop where I can try frames on, difficult in rural Shropshire!
Should have gone to Specsavers. They have 2 for 1 deal most of the time, and if you’re not satisfied with the lenses they have off the shelf they will order in. Obviously frame fitting is very personal.
IME specsavers 2 for 1 deal ends up a lot more than you think if needing things like varifocals.
I've priced it a couple of times and then walked away to the Internet....
The lenses themselves are posh plastic not even glass.
Would glass lenses be suitable for riding? I think I’d be worrying about getting a shard in my eye.
I've bounced back to a local independent. However I'm baulking at £580(!) for lenses and another £120-250 for some branded frames that don't feel as well made as my unbranded frames..
Ouch! My lenses are stupidly expensive because my vision is shit so I need really high refractive index to make them look even vaguely normal in a typical frame. I can justify paying £700 on glasses as I wear them every waking minute and expect them to last two years so it’s £1/day. However for sunnies I’ve not gone as crazy as that - The tint makes the thick lenses less obvious, nobody can see my eyes and sunglasses styles often have chunkier frames to hide the thick lens too.
anyone charging that much will surely re-glaze your old frames. I don’t think they would be at all surprised if you said “I was hoping to spend a lot less - what are the options”.
online places are cheap but you compromise on fitting/adjustments trying on. I personally like the service from an independent rather than a chain although last time I was in he tried to sell me some which were hand crafted from buffalo horn and would need oiled every few weeks to keep them looking good… the frames were four figures! He obviously has me down as being a STW fool with too much money!
You say you use occupational lenses – if they are needed specifically because of the work you do (ie, working at a computer all day), your employer (assuming you have one) should contribute towards the cost.
Should have gone to Specsavers.
I went to Specsavers, they had three goes at making my varifocals - even giving me a free upgrade to their best lenses after assuring me that the 2nd best would be fine. They tried and were very nice but I ended up getting money back and going back to my local independent. I'd paid just under £400 at specsavers compared to just under £600 at my local place but the difference is night and day (sic). The locals use Rodenstock lenses which are shaped to your eyes using laser scanning and results in seamless transitions as you move between the zones, where the specsavers "best" had a very narrow middle zone and trying to look to one side resulted in the everything going wibbly like in the Twlight Zone.
As above it's a lot of money but I wear my specs all day every day and I value being able to see WAY more than having a few extra quid in my pocket.
As for the "sunglasses" part I moved to photochromics a few years ago after decades of paying extra for 2 pairs with extra-thin lenses, there is no way I would ever go back.
My solution is
- pay the money to a local independent for all-day every day varifocals
- a pair of basic single vision glasses for screens/work (which were pretty much covered by the £100 allowance work give me for such things)
- cheap (like about £40) varifocals from Goggles4U for riding in. One pair clear, one pair tinted. The lenses are fine, not as good as my 'proper' ones but good enough for riding/driving/walking around on holiday, and if/when they get scratched/dropped or I fall off I'm not worried about the cost of replacement.
The lenses themselves are posh plastic not even glass.
Isn't that true of almost all sports glasses though? Polycarbonate IIRC (much stronger than glass, just less scratch resistant)
I wear glasses all day, and I've been on varifocals for more than 20 years. Specsavers have been fine for me. I buy their most expensive lenses and last time I paid £299. I tried the independent that Mrs Onewheel uses and they charged 50% more and in the end gave me my money back because they couldn't get them right. I had the same result with one of the online suppliers frequently recommended on here - can't remember which one it was. For riding I use Rudy Project Rydons with photochromic lenses and a bifocal insert. My prescription means that I can't get prescription wraparounds so this is the best compromise, although inserts are less than ideal on wet winter days.
Having been disappointed by various glasses from cheap to distinctly not cheap, my rules for glasses are as follows:
1) only buy frames from a Brand that is primarily a glasses manufacturer, e.g. Oakley or Ray-Ban. They seem to last significantly longer and are more comfortable. Currently have Oakley Chamfer Squared as everyday glasses and have a pair of Oakley Metal
2) Don't buy the cheapest lenses but don't buy the most expensive. Save the money for a reglaze when you inevitably scratch them.
3) Sunglasses - Oakley Frames (not too sporty in polished black currently using Oakley Targetline which are discontinued I think) and Oakley Prizm Grey/Black lenses.
4) Riding Glasses - I have stopped using prescription lenses for mountain biking, they only made a difference on Open/Fast stuff and if I'm riding with a Full Face and Goggles I have goggles that allow me to wear glasses underneath, if I'm not I'll just slow down a bit.
Should go without saying but Glass lenses should not be used when your riding your bike.
Im a varifocals user. For riding I use contact lenses set to my distance prescription. Im on a monthly subscription that I pause for about 3 months of the year as I end up with too many lenses. I then wear whatever normal riding glasses or goggles are appropriate for the day. If I want to read anything then I have some tiny fold up glasses that cost £5 with the prescription to allow me to read with my lenses in
Btw, optilabs supply the prescription lenses for Rad8 from memory
My top tip would be Asda opticians. Not the best choice of frames, but 100 notes all in regardless of spec. So I get strong prescription varifocals with high index lenses for £100, which were about £400 last time I went to specsavers.
Optilabs for my riding glasses. One pair of photochromic and 1 pair clear for night riding. My lenses were scratched after about 8 years of riding, but I was able to order just replacement lenses from them.
Tried some glasses with inserts, but couldn't see a thing when it rained, especially at night!
My solution is
- pay the money to a local independent for all-day every day varifocals
- a pair of basic single vision glasses for screens/work (which were pretty much covered by the £100 allowance work give me for such things)
- cheap (like about £40) varifocals from Goggles4U for riding in. One pair clear, one pair tinted. The lenses are fine, not as good as my 'proper' ones but good enough for riding/driving/walking around on holiday, and if/when they get scratched/dropped or I fall off I'm not worried about the cost of replacement.
I'm close.
Went back to the independent who did my eye tests and bought some of thier more affordable variocal lenses wrapped in some reasonable price RayBan frames.
As part of the deal they are going to reglaze my Julbo's for free instead of a half price second pair.
However, I like my photochromic lenses in one pair of Julbo's more than the plain tinted old pair.
So I'm assuming it's worth paying £75 for Transitions upgrade...? Are Transition brand ok, and anyone know how they compare to Julbo Zebra photochromic?
I’ve been after some varifocals for a couple of years and the quest keeps going.
IME varifocals aren't great for riding - riding glasses, for me, best single vision and the lense set up so that it's adjusted to how you ride, not read.
I got varifocals for daily use. Specific single vision enhanced lenses for using the comps at work (dual screen makes varifocals a pain). And single vision / sporty Oakley wrap arounds for on t' bike. Oh and some single vision Randolph Engineering aviators but I can't see jack as they aint my Rx. They just look cool AF 😀
Should go without saying but Glass lenses should not be used when your riding your bike.
Is that a fact?
Genuine question. I've recently had to start using both short and long glasses but the ones I have ordered are glass as they had nothing else.
I wonder if there are any decent opticians in Manchester with stock of frames to try
I was knocked off my bike by a Post Office van once, while wearing glass glasses.. I was picking glass out of my cheek for several years afterwards.
In the laboratories at my workplace all safety glasses have to be rated for low energy impact (EN166F), so glasses wearers can either buy a pair of prescription safety glasses to this rating (we use a service provider for that) or wear appropriate over-glasses. Ordinary glass spectacles are not allowed. There’s a good reason for this, illustrated by the comment above. I can’t find the video that we were shown, but there are many on YT that illustrate this, and this one seems pertinent:
Like you OP I have "interesting" eyes and hence prescription and same £700 for last lenses alone in my wear all the time glasses (yikes) and Specsavers (my local) who I had been with previously for years missed something pretty important for my eyes so I won't go back to them again but now I can see fine.
The local independent does give the best advice, service, and backup in my experience, and yes I know I pay a bit more for it but it works and they are there when i need them and have even referred me into hospital when i first went there (all good now).
I've been on Rad8 glasses for some years, varifocal (no problems riding in them for me) and photochromic too (again no issues riding) and I've probably done thousands of miles in them each year and one major crash.
The crash is worth a mention as I wrote off one arm, one lens and Rad8 sorted out the arm I needed and the reglaze really quickly and really well without rolling their eyes and going new pair please, just an arm and lens - ace! Subsequently have bought another pair from them since - really nice people that give a sh!t, far better than Oakley direct who managed to completely muck up an order of mine, so I will stick with Rad8 for now as better service, more reliable and as a bonus cheaper too!
James
