Does anyone ride MTB with variofocals?

The inevitable decline into old age means I have finally been recommended to wear variofocals. I have always been short sighted, currently with a Left eye of -8 and a right of about -6.25. Reading and close work has been getting increasingly difficult with advancing years, so my optician has recommended i try some variovocals. My only worry is with the distortion playing havoc with my mountain biking. I still enjoy riding very steep technical trails and cracking on down the rough stuff. The more challenging, the better. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of riding in varios? I know I could keep a set of single visions just for riding, or wear contacts (which I do when it is wet), but since I tend to live and breath every waking second wearing my glasses, I kind of prefer to just fit and forget.

All opinions welcome

wf.

I wear varifocals for everything. For riding, mtb and road, I have varifocal RX inserts. For non-riding I have them in both normal and sunglasses.

I find them fine for riding,no problems at all. When I first moved to varifocals I took to them straight away and never had any problems getting used to them.

I echo masterdabber I have had varifocals for the past 10 years and took to them very quickly and have never had a problem whilst riding. I very soon got used to moving my head in a subtlety different way to keep the distance portion in view at all times. The immediate advantage was that every time I needed to do any close work such as fixing anything out on the trail, or looking at the phone etc. etc. Was so much better.
I do think adjusting to varifocals seems to depend on whether you have been wearing glasses full time for years before the change over. I have been wearing glasses for short sight and astigmatism since I was 5. I have known a couple of people who have only recently changed to full time glasses wearing and then tried them to have real accommodation issues.
Edit: I have continued to use normal glasses for riding, admittedly ones with relatively small light lenses and have never had a problem with vibration or losing them on rough ground. I have never got on with contacts

My other half has been wearing them for a couple of years. I think he has got faster down the steep techy stuff. Main thing for him was getting some that didn’t move about on the rough stuff.
Ended up having some put in his Oakley glasses.

All very positive so far, thanks for taking the time to reply. To be fair to my local family run optician they have said I can try them, and if I don’t get on with them can change back to single focus and have my money back. So nothing to lose by trying really.

I wore them for 10 years without any issues, yes the first hour or two took some getting used too so I’d suggest not driving to the opticians (or wait until you get home before putting them on).

I have ridden with varifocals for more than 20 years and have had no problems once I got used to the change in depth perception. The only time this is an issue is when walking where you are picking your way down uneven ground.
I wear my normal varifocals to ride to work and a prescription Oakleys for other cycling.

-5 and -6 here started wearing varifocals last year.
Did not notice when riding I think muscle memory kicks in after a few weeks and you automatically tilt your head slightly.
Only notice when slouching on the sofa and the tv gets blurry.

I’ve been on them for about 30 years with no problems apart from being a PITA when it’s raining, but that’s the same with any specs.
Sometimes I wish I could use contacts but I can’t get away with them.

Yep – varifocal Oakley iridiums when the sun is out and “normal” glasses with Oakley clear VF lenses when the sun’s not out. Both work fine for riding.

I got mine through an online optician and the Oakley iridiums inc. frame were about £200 less than the high street going rate.

I’ve been using varifocals for 4 years, not had any problems at all, I’m 53.
I have a mate who has oakley racing jackets with a fairly complex prescription, they work well and look great. His were done at a local optician in aberdeen, mine were from vision express.
We’re both coach drivers, so obviously any glasses have to do their job well.

On my second set, first pair were perfect and wore them for 5 years (probably 2 years longer than I should have). Got some new ones before Christmas and not sure they are quite right (side vision when driving does not seem as clear – might go back). But no problems for MTB ing, they probably work better with the riding position, as I suspect I look out of the top part of the lense anyway when ‘attacking’ difficult bits. You can then focus when you need to fix something close up during the ride.

I’m one of those who could’nt get away with varifocals. Tend to wear distance contacts for everything, riding, walking, driving, all day at work. Carry a set of cheap ready readers to wear over them if I need to read, do repairs etc.

Wear them all the time for the last 8 years, no trouble biking, including (mildly) techy stuff. Took about three weeks to get used to them after reading glasses. I need them for driving, telly watching and reading and can get away without them in most of the rest of life, but cant be bothered with the on/off business. I tried riding without them and found it weird and nauseating – felt way too close to the ground!

If your current glasses are ok on a computer you can probably get away with bifocals for a few years. These are cheaper and don’t distort. But I’ll be varificals in future as the PC is going blurry too

just bought some varifocals yesterday, going to take a couple of weeks before I pick them up. I am a full time contact lens wearer though. I am long sighted +4.5 and +3.5 so reading a map/computer whilst out was impossible with out taking some reading glasses, more so when I used ride/race enduro (motorbikes), never really got on with glasses under goggles. When my distance started to get worse too I tried varifocal contact lens which has helped a lot, being able to see everywhere is a real bonus. I don’t mind wearing glasses at home but further than that was not really possible without taking two pairs, driving also not being possible as I have the choice of seeing inside the car or outside. Not sure what whether my ramblings are relevant other than if you don’t get on with the glasses and you can use contacts, try a varifocal lens or 2

Another one here no issues to report, sometimes wear my site safety VFs at home to annoy the Mrs.

I have been wearing varifocals for about 10 yrs, have similar prescription ad OP. Have had no issues whatsoever until recent new lenses were changed from long to medium corridor. Was very difficult to indicate what was wrong but couldn’t see depth very well esp just in front of wheel. When corridor changed back to long all fine again. I found link below from Laramy-K Optical very informative.

I’m a contact wearer and yesterday the optician suggested going to one lens only. As opposed to varfocals. But to be fair my sight is not too bad at -1.

I wear varifocals all the time. For riding I use contact lenses set on my distance prescription. I then bought some supermarket cheapies that fold up that I carry that have the reading prescription in adjusted to assume I have my contact lenses in for when I want to read anything. My optician told me what that prescription needed to be

Been wearing varifocal glasses for several years and most of the time when at home but also wear multi-focal soft contact lenses at other times and always on the bike. These give me great distance and near vision balanced between both eyes. Work really well for me. Don’t seem to have too much of a problem switching between the two. Probably a lot cheaper option than prescription riding glasses which you might scratch or your prescription changes but I do know people who didnt get on with multi-focal lenses at all.

I’ve a similar prescription to the OP plus astigmatism, and ride in VFs, regular glasses, and soft contacts. Not all at the same time. VFs are best. Contacts for rain (and surfing) never feel quite right and do reduce my confidence a bit.

What distortion?

I went from contacts to varifocals about 15 years ago. For the first week it was odd if I turned my head, but that passed. No problem riding in them. The only time I notice any effect is walking downstairs; I think looking down at the stairs through the close up bit makes them seem the wrong distance away (but it might just be ageing legs).

The pattern of variation over the lens is something worth considering; your ophthalmologist will advise on that. I have a pair of full varifocals that I use for driving and a pair of ‘computer’ varifocals I use for everything else. There’s a lot more of the field of view biased towards closer distances. If I get in the car with the computer ones I immediately realise the edges of my vision are blurred; if I look at a screen with the full ones it’s a strain.

I’m on variofocals as well but not glasses but contact lens’s. Work really well and with my job being out in the Welsh countryside a lot I needed something that wouldn’t fog up or be effected by rain. So if contacts suit you it is the way to go. Only ever had one problem when it was below freezing in the Dyfi forest and on the final descent of the ClimachX. Because I don’t blink much they froze so I couldn’t blink and when I did manage too the contact lens went flying out of my eye and scratched the eyeball. Not recommended and I now consciously blink a lot when I’m riding!

I do…not found them an issue whilst biking – not as happy with them for anything else but seem fine for biking.
My prescription is almost same as your’s.

I always say say the same thing when this comes up, buy Oakley Rx frames new off eBay, then take them to Asda, they do some good deals on 2 pairs of VF. I have -6 and -7 eyes. Make sure you see the proper optician. Good results here.

Other opticians are available.

Only time I consider putting my contact lenses in is when it’s pouring

I’ve been wearing them for everything apart from riding, for the last 2 years.

I’ve tried riding with them on but I end up feeling nauseous on anything other than wide open space or roads.

Maybe I need to try again. I use contact lenses generally for riding.

Is this something that could be rectified through eye laser surgery?

Is this something that could be rectified through eye laser surgery?

Short/long sight and astigmatism are corrected by laser surgery, but presbyopia or accommodation which is the usual need for varifocals is much less likely to be fixed as it is an ageing and hardening process of the lens. Some companies do seem to offer the option of correction of one eye for distance the other for closer vision. Not sure that I would like that.

I had that when I tried contacts – right eye for distance, left eye for close up. Was weird for first 2 days then seemed fine. Didn’t last as my eye hurt as I’ve a recurring dry eye issue and the contact lens made that worse.