Buyers Guide to the Best Mountain Bike Glasses

I try to wear glasses all the time. As a short-sighted blindo I am used to such face furniture. The best mountain bike glasses are few and far between in my experience.

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By ben_haworth

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Buyers Guide to the Best Mountain Bike Glasses

I assume all the above are available with prescription lenses ( as you are short sighted) and the prices quoted are for normal lenses?

Never seen the point of having to switch out lenses.

One minute you’re riding open trails in the sun, then about to go into a worded area. Do you stop & change lens?

I’ve had Specialized Singletrack glasses (photochromic) and they’ve been ace.

Another +1 for photochromic! Never have to think – year round they’re just always ‘correct’

Second the query around prescription glasses. I’m also shortsighted and keen to find a set of glasses that offer coverage without needing an insert!

I use optilabs and am happy with them but am always interested in what else is available.

I need quite a strong prescription so can’t have contact lenses or the official Oakley prescription glasses. I have used optilabs and got on well with them. I have now used reglaze direct to put prescription lenses in a pair of Oakley chainlinks. They give advice on which frames would work for your prescription and do different things, varifocals, etc. I have been very happy with mine.

I’m really liking my Viris Raptor glasses, they’re £60 come with a good variety of lenses too. Just waiting for them to offer the tinted lenses as spares as they only offer the clear ones as spares

For those asking about prescription (blind like me) check out rad8 not on the list above but you’ll find a review on here and I xannot rate them ir their customer service (when I headbanged a pickup) higher.

Used to use Oakleys, but even with photochromic these rad8’s are better (in my experience) and much cheaper too.

James

Another shout for Rad8 glasses. Been using the latest 507 glasses for nearly a year and they’ve been awesome.

rad8 prescription user here too, absolutely love them for sunny days and nightriding, the transition is quick and they go absolutely clear

I have Rudy Project Rydon direct glazed (Gen8) from rxsport and although pricey they’ve been great for me.

So which with best when you can’t use a brown based Len’s because of colourblindness

I got Rad8 based on reviews on here, and they’re nice enough but definitely not fogproof. They fogged up on my second ride, and most rides end up on my helmet because of this. A bit disappointing given the claims 🙁

Found my Rad8 ones fitted very close so no airflow to keep them from getting fogged up. Replaced with Melon Optics Alleycat which I’m fully satisfied with.

No links to the reviews of these?

As usual with MTB websites’ “best something” pages, it’s a weak claim when many popular options haven’t even been reviewed.

I’m a fan of the Banana Industries glasses. Decent quality and a good chunk cheaper than bigger brands.

I wear contact lenses for cycling, with some eyewear over-the-top, as it were. The glasses in this guide are all plain non-prescription glasses. We shall be doing a prescription riding glasses guide at some point later this year though. Thanks to all the prescriprion glasses users for their input so far!

Sorry for the confusion. I have updated the intro just now.

I’m a fan of cheap, clear glasses for riding and what I’d really like is some of the big, goggles-sized ones for £15 rather than £150.

Any options like that yet? Needs someone like PX to get on it.

Anyone tried the Sproggles? Might be another way of skinning the same cat.

chakaping
Free Member
I’m a fan of cheap, clear glasses for riding and what I’d really like is some of the big, goggles-sized ones for £15 rather than £150.

I’d imagine those Madisons are about as close as you’ll get. I’ve got the Madison Enigma’s and for me they work as well as my Oakley Race Jackets (if not better as the Oakleys are pretty worn), think the Crypto’s are a bit bigger and can be had with a single lens for around £30 e.g. https://www.tweekscycles.com/madison-crypto-sunglasses-4000550/

Cheers, I wasn’t aware of them.

£30 is justifiable if they’re a bit nicer quality than safety specs.

Though with a name like Crypto, are they going to plummet in value next week?

chakaping
Free Member
I’m a fan of cheap, clear glasses for riding and what I’d really like is some of the big, goggles-sized ones for £15 rather than £150.

I have bought some Julbo glasses a couple of years ago, on a whim as I used to have a pair 20 years ago. They are often in the sale and seem very good for the £30 I paid for them.
e.g.
https://www.outdoorgb.com/p/julbo_outline_sunglasses_with_spectron_3_lens/

Bolle safety glasses start from around £1.99 and they have a huge range of styles. In the £8 – £12 range they have tinted lenses, hydrophobic and scratch resistant coatings, comfortable nose, ear and brow pads etc. that I find every bit as good as cycling glasses but at a fraction of the price. Available from Screwfix, Toolstation, online or even free from many employers 😉

The intro mentions a prescription lens glasses review to come, but to get in early, discovering a couple of months back that you can get off-the-shelf bifocal (with clear uppers, and reading lowers) safety specs has been game changer for me as my age-related long-sightedness means I struggle to use my GPS or phone for nav these days without my readers. These, at ~£20 are ace: https://www.voltxsafety.com

Another vote for Rad8, prescription lenses.

@reeksy – are yours prescription Rad8s? Mine are and I was disappointed to find they don’t have the anti-fog treatment that the non-prescription ones have (although I have no idea how good this is). Emailed Rad8 and they apologised, sent me some antifog spray and said they’d update the description on the website to make it clear. The antifog spray wasn’t very good though so now I use Zeiss stuff, works well but need to remember to apply before every ride.

Other than that I’m well pleased with them, work perfectly in all light conditions and I think they have improved my riding as I always used to struggle, having astigmatism meant weighted contacts which would jiggle around over rough ground. The only thing I don’t like is that photochromics always look a bit “special”, IMO. I also had a frame break for no apparent question but Rad8 sent me a replacement without quibble

Another vote here for Rad8 – have been wearing their standard lenses for years and this summer I had some varifocals made up, an absolute game changer for me and they were well worth the money. Their customer service was amazing with extremely prompt reply emails and they were so helpful when I needed to chat through a query. Can’t rate them highly enough! 🤓😀👍🏻

great article, thanks.

I have a pair of Sutros, and an older pair of Jawbreakers. I just love them. They’re the first riding glasses I’ve owned that I don’t need to touch from when I start riding to when I stop.
the trail torch lenses seem pretty good at coping with both sunny and (very) grey conditions.
i also own a pair of Flak 2.0 Photochromatic ones. I really like them, but they let too much air around my eyes, so my eyes water. Also, they stick out at the sides, so seem to interfere with the straps on my bike helmets. Ideally, I’d like to change them for a clear or photochromatic Sutro for winter uk riding.

Optilab Flow, varifocals, photochromatic, Brown lenses, Anti-glare & scratch coating….. never mist up, great Optilab service.