Having been stung by a nettle and then sratched by a thorn across my eyelid on Sunday (seriously, same eye – how unlucky?), I’m for the first time going to get some on bike eye protection. Normally I wear Oakley sunglasses off the bike, but frankly £200 for Radars is taking the piss, especially when they are going to get scratched by wiping mud off at some point. So, looking to spend a bit less (say £50?) and want something that I can wear in overcast conditions as well so not too much tint. Thinking something like the Endura ones maybe, possibly photocromatic. Anyone have any experiance / suggestions?
Oh, and I can get free safty specs but they are uncomfortable and don’t fit my face well enough so am prepared to pay to get something a bit better!

Lidl or Aldi’s cycling spec’s? M8 loves his.

(I wear glasses so can’t comment myself)

Try the bolle safety specs

You can get cheaper oakleys (m-frames?) if you look around.

eg http://www.polimil.co.uk/acatalog/Oakley_S_I_Eyewear___Accessories.html

Mine seem to last about 10 years before any scratching is noticable.

I’ve been using Oakley half jackets for a few years now, paid £120 for mine with a second set of lenses. No scratches on mine yet, and very comfortable. Quite often come up second hand on ebay too.

I’ve never scratched a lens of any of my Oakleys

I picked up some Specialized Chicane adapterlite jobbies a couple of years ago for less than your budget. I don’t think I’d get anything that was not photo-chromatic now for mountain biking, especially if your go in and out off wooded areas on a typical ride. I also find the lower speed of some off road riding over road riding means that some cheaper glasses fog up very fast on slow max effort assents.

I’ve never scratched a lens of any of my Oakleys

Do you actually wear them while riding…?

Yes, in all conditions, also the pair i keep in the car and throw in the glove box etc is fine

Blimey, I’ve yet to have a set of lenses that has survived a winters use.

I’ve got an Oakley Persimmon lens for my M/ProM Frames which is well over ten years old. Given that it’s used almost exclusively in winter/bad weather, you can imagine what it’s been through. It’s fine.

Can’t really see why I wuold want to ride in anything other than Oakley, unless I wanted to follow TJ’s example and look like a nerdy lab tech! 😉

I’ve ordered some Endura Mullets from Primera. Can’t tell you what they’re like as they haven’t arrived yet.

CFH some of the bolles are not nerdy. However all oakleys scream more money than sense winker 🙂

I’m happy with that…! 8)

I’ve been riding for years without Oakley’s, buying £20 ones here, losing them, £30 ones there, not caring for them!

Until I thought, just get Oakley’s. I take a lot more care of them knowing that they cost more, and never let them out of my sight.

I got Jawbones for £126 so you can get them cheaper if you look around (Cheshire Oaks -Oakley store).

They look posey, but I don’t give a hoot!

+1 for Bolle safety specs.

Get the contour in plastic (£6) or metal (£9) and have a choice of plain, tinted or ESP (tinted anti-scratch) lenses.

Or if you are commuting and fed up with fumes: http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.co.uk/p/1069458/jsp—filterspec-eye-respiratory-protection—en1661f-en18271999a12009—black-with-3-filters—smoke-lens—choice-of-configuration—js-asf124-125-800.html

get rid of the dewalt logo and no-one will know they are safety specs: http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.co.uk/p/4307333/dewalt-dominator-safety-glasses-with-uvauvb-protection—en-1661f—sa-dom.html

I love my Endura Pirhanas as much as my Oakley Half Jackets. The photochromatic thing isn’t great to be honest, but they’re the glasses I ride in most of the year. Very comfy, unlike my Endura Sharks.

I use a set of Bloc Shifters for riding, and off the bike. You’ve got 4 sets of lenses for riding in any conditions. The lenses don’t scratch and they’re cheaper than Oakleys, but damn good quality (£70 IIRC)

To be honest, i went my LBS, and bought some BBB sunglasses. £25 got me some sunnies, with 1x clear lens set, 1x yellow lenses, and 1x mirror lenses. Spot on.

I’ve got some flak jacket XLJ Polarized jobbies for the road bike though.

Don’t folk get their glasses all scratched up? I’ve had the same pair of Oakleys for years but I don’t wear them on the bike as I think they would get wrecked, hence the five quid bolle lab specs. Is the reality different? I would have thought a few wipes with a gritty/muddy jacket would ruin them.

Yep +1 for Bolle. I’ve used the Spider frames with the ESP lenses and they are great. My favourites are these though. No point paying more.

The first day I got my oakley flak jackets, I was carrying my bike through a gate when my front wheel caught the fence and spun my handlebars round, hitting me square on the left eye. It was quite painful.

First, if I hadn’t been wearing the glasses, I think it would have been a lot worse, and second, I was sure I had broken / scratched my glasses, but there was not a mark on them. I also have to wonder if a cheap lens would have shattered? IMHO you get what you pay for, and I’m sticking with what I have proven to myself to be a quality product that does what I need it to do.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-bolle-contour-smoke-lens-bolle-spider-clear-blue-lens

These of any interest to you?

The best I have are some Oakley half X metal gigs. Nice but a bit dear. Cheshire Oaks god bless your Oakley retail shop.

I also like my decathlon Btwin? Cycling glasses. Clear or sunny lenses, very comfortable too. Best if the cheap lot I bought by a long shot.

Endura Piranah are ok too

+1 for Bloc

I use the Leopards; 3 pairs of lenses for £40. Lenses are indestructible too.

I’m another for Bolles, I’ve twice now made the mistake of buying more expensive “proper” cycling glasses and getting no real benefit, then breaking or losing them…

Only drawback of the Bolles is that they scratch quite easily. But then since I can afford 65 pairs of the ones I use for the RRP of a set of Radars, that’s not such a big deal really.

ive used http://www.eyewearoutlet.co.uk/
a couple of times, they do oakley, much cheaper than list, although mostly seem to be last seasons stuff.
very much a turn up and see what they have in stock place though.
i wear a pair of optical frames that ive fitted with lenses from 1993 frogskins, theres barely a scratch on them.

IGMC

If your sunglasses are gonna get scratched and muddy etc. i would just get an old style cheaper pair. Just as good but you’d pay less. Try and find some on sale etc. http://www.sunglassesdiscountcodes.com have a collection of offers and codes for some good sites.

Must admit that because I am a tight arse I use safety specs. Oregon chainsaw specs are great. Plenty of coverage and they don’t steam up for me. The orange tints are nice. I would like a pair of photochromatics for the road but won’t pay the prices.
Anyone seen any of the 40 quiders in a sale?

Bolle safety specs for me too… got various pairs on the go at the moment.

Only scratch i’ve got on my jawbones is a small one from accidentally dropping them from the passenger deck to the car deck on a ferry. that was a worry second or two as they fell down thought they were going in the clyde!

never had any problems with scratching from riding. i generally dont wipe mud from the lens (due to it smearing) so if they have mud specks on them i want to clean i would run them under water first before cleaning with the cloth…that probably makes a difference.

Do you actually wear them while riding…?

Scratches on mine come when I drop them or don’t put them in a case or clean them badly. Mudguards help keep the mud off them and when they do get muddy I clean with soap and water before using a cloth on them – dried mud is the way to scratch them badly.