What color tint for sunglasses?

qclabrat

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
I typically wear glasses or clear lenses on the trail and an amber tint for the road when I'm wearing contacts. It's been a while since I've bought new sports related sunglasses and there are now so many tint options. I know some prefer clear everywhere, but for those with tints, what are you using for trails and roads?
 
I bought these and they have been a good mix for trails and road. They’re pretty fair price for quality glasses. When the sun is bright though, I’ll wear darker shade sunglasses.

ride.shimano.com

TECHNIUM L CE-TCNL2

Lightweight high-performance cycling eyewear
ride.shimano.com ride.shimano.com

These rockbros are also great and cheap. They’re kind of big though, so they may hit the top of your helmet which is very uncomfortable because it pushes down on your nose. But if they fit, they’re all you need.

 
Billiebob69 said:
Any downsides you can think of? I can see how they would be very useful going from bright light then going clear in a forest.
Are yours polarized as well?
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I don't bother with the polarized for riding since the prescription lenses are expensive enough and I inevitably scratch them the first day I wear them.

I don't see any downsides beyond cost. I mean, they're not going to instantly change color as you go from woods to open areas, but I never notice that while riding.
 
i wear oakleys and their 'trail' and 'daily' tints are what i wear depending on if im on the trail or the road (or just around, since my pretty glassse are also daily tint) the trail tint is high contrast which is always a plus when riding in the woods.

i do have a pair of the oakley photochromatics (their term for transitions) and they work well when going from day to night rides, but if the light is consistent (meaning your not starting in daylight and ending with your own lights) they tend to mute the contrast for me (as noted they dont react instantly to the light changes)
 
When I was riding with prescriptions, I just used 80-85% transmission yellow lenses. Cheap(er), good contrast, bright light was just something you adjusted to.

I have several pairs of sunglasses now. Blue or green for driving (these are fashion glasses, not being used for "performance", whatever that would mean for driving a car normally).

I still use yellow lenses (these are commonly available as shooting glasses) for evening/night on a bike.

During the day, I've settled on cinnamon/orange lenses, again 80-85% transmission. I find that I'm not staring at the sun, so more than that really isn't necessary. I never had particularly light sensitive eyes before vision correction, and I don't particularly have sensitive eyes after. Dry as fuck, but not light sensitive. Very few of our MTB parks are open enough that you get whacked with lots of sun in the eyes.

If it's an unusually sunny day that I'm riding on the road 99% of the time, I'll use photochromic grey lenses.
 
shrpshtr325 said:
i wear oakleys and their 'trail' and 'daily' tints are what i wear depending on if im on the trail or the road (or just around, since my pretty glassse are also daily tint) the trail tint is high contrast which is always a plus when riding in the woods.

i do have a pair of the oakley photochromatics (their term for transitions) and they work well when going from day to night rides, but if the light is consistent (meaning your not starting in daylight and ending with your own lights) they tend to mute the contrast for me (as noted they dont react instantly to the light changes)
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I picked up a pair of Oakleys with the trail torch lenses and I'm really impressed. It seems like the regular trail is potentially a better choice for the east coast but, at least for me, they are actually helpful in making it easier to see trail detail while still cutting down on the brightness when out in the open. I've had previous glasses and couldn't deal with the slight distortion but no issues so far with these. Only downside so far is that I feel like I'm this guy:

1712455391059.png
 
Photochromic (transition) glasses are what I use, as well. I don’t even notice them while riding most of the time. The only thing I do miss is the “pop” some of the non-transition lenses give, but I prefer the transitions since my rides are in and out of the tree cover a lot.
 
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I go clear at this point 90% of the year. Tree cover takes care of blocking the sun in NJ.

I do have a Oakley Prizm trail lens I'll throw in occasionally which is pretty solid as well.
 
Are you guys/gals finding lense color doesn't matter on the rides? I never used red or green lenses but considering them
 
i definitely notice a difference between different tints (both on and off the bike), the prizm trail that i use in the woods vs clear/gray/photochromatic is HUGE, especially since the prizm trail is a high contrast tint, I can definitely recommend high contrast tints (but then i have terrible vision and wear contacts all the time so maybe someone without corrective lenses would have a different experience)
 
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