For those of us that wear eyeglasses Pt II

Not So Fast

Member
The time has come for me to use prescription eyeglasses for bike riding. I used to use contacts but it is time to move on. I have a bad script in the neighborhood of -6.50/-7.50. I’m trying to balance several needs here. 1. I need to be able to see, obviously. 2. The glasses need to be shades. I will use them for road as well as mountain. 3. The glasses need to have good ventilation. 4. The eyeglasses need to look good

I’ve looked at several brands but due to the script the more sporty (curved) glasses, are not recommended by Optometrist due to distorted peripheral vision. I searched here http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=668151#poststop and found a good resource however it is somewhat dated. So I’m looking to open up an updated discussion. Please add your comments. :cool:
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
I am blind. I have a few dozen pairs of prescription Oakleys. While riding I use Flak Jackets with clear prescription lenses more times than not. Also I have a few older pairs with VR28 lenses. They rock out loud, albeit at some point I'd like to get zapped:D

19756_1353373596354_1291834825_1046185_54725_n.jpg


-Jim.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I've gone through this myself. I think I'm getting Lasik because of it. :)

My prescription isn't as bad as yours but I still have the same issue that I can't get the curved glasses. You CAN however get curved glasses that have inserts. I actually have a pair of them.

I bought a pair online, similar to :

http://www.eyebuydirect.com/sport-glasses-marcion-black-p-2453.html

The ones I bought were hideous (80's wrestler ugly) however. They worked horrible for me. I could see far GREAT but had no depth perception close up. I crashed pretty bad actually because I couldn't see the side of a road and dropped my front tire off the road in Moab. :(

Hiking was a major issue, I couldn't see where my feet were, sticks/logs 10 feet in front of me looked 9 or 11 feet away, etc.

I don't know if it was an issue that they were the wrong prescription or if my brain was freaking out by the polarization. I can take two pairs of glasses with the same exact prescription and switching in between them takes awhile to get used to. I think the same thing was happening but to an extreme.

I may give it another shot, I'm not sure. Probably something like the link I posted. Prescription glasses are pretty much free compared to Lasik.

-Steve
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
i use maui jims. i love 'em. they don't move off my face at all, they have a good tint, and they are pretty solid. they weren't cheap. they are great for fishing too - polorized. they don't fog, and i have no distortion.

glas.jpg


if i am not wearing my sunglasses because its dark, i just wear my old prescription regular glasses. maybe not safe, but better than being blind.
 

Mr.Moto

Well-Known Member
I've just spent a large amount of time researching and doing the same thing as you. My prescription is also in the same range, so finding a pair of prescription sport glasses has been difficult to say the least. I didn't look into Oakley's because of the cost. Not sure if they could do the precription either. Everything that I have read said that most labs can not produce a 6 or 8 base curve prescription as you noted with peripheral clarity.

My search included many brands that could hold a prescription. I finally narrowed it down to Rec Specs / Liberty Sports.

http://www.libertysport.com/products_sunperformance.asp

I stopped by a local optics store that carried them and talked to the Optometrist. Apparently he has a strong script also and suggested one of the Liberty Sports models (Choppers) he has himself.

I have my concerns, but took a chance and ordered a pair. I think they had problems on the first go around so I'm still waiting. They are suppose to be completed any day now, so I will let you know how they work out.
 

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
Question: What's wrong with wearing contacts? I haven't had any problems biking in mine the past few years. I always wear sunglasses so I have the eye protection.
 

Mare

Well-Known Member
Another vote for RX Oakleys. I typically wear my contacts, but if I ever need to wear glasses on a regular basis, I am getting Oakleys. They are very durable...I know someone that wore regular glasses (Mike...go ahead and chime in) who crashed, his glasses cracked, and cut right near his eye pretty bad, and was lucky it wasn't worse. I am always afraid now when I do have to occasionally wear my glasses because they are more fashionable than safe.

Impact Resistant: Oakley premium eyewear surpasses the protection requirements for high-mass impact, as defined by The American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Oakley premium eyewear also surpasses the ANSI Z87.1 test for high-velocity impact protection.
 

mwlikesbikes

Well-Known Member
Yeah, for years I would just wear my regular prescription glasses while riding until I got lazer surgery 5-6 years ago. My prescription was about 6.75, pretty bad. I couldn't function without them.
Like 12-14 years ago I had an endo at ringwood while wearing my prescrip sunglasses (standard aviator style frame) when I went down the edge of the coke bottle lens gashed my right eyebrow pretty good. I've still got the scar.
Years ago you didn't have the choices in RX riding specs that you do today. shop around and find something you like........or just get your eyeballs zapped like I did. :D
 

Maurice

New Member
Question: What's wrong with wearing contacts? I haven't had any problems biking in mine the past few years. I always wear sunglasses so I have the eye protection.

I concur. I there anything that prevents you from using them? I don't even wear glasses when things turn really nasty like a good muddy cyclocross, and usually blink away stuff when it ends up in my eyes. Crap may even keep coming out for a whole day afterward.

The trick is to find the right material, for me it's Biofinity. I had Acuvue once for a couple weeks when I ran out and during a race one popped out on its own... Of course, YMMV. I also have a huge fear of being in the 1 or so percentile that gets his eyes light-sabered. Not only that, but vision keeps changing so eventually it's back to glasses...
 

Not So Fast

Member
Question: What's wrong with wearing contacts? I haven't had any problems biking in mine the past few years. I always wear sunglasses so I have the eye protection.

I’ve worn contacts over 35 years. The problem for me with contacts is I can no longer focus on objects that are close, for instance reading. Therefore, I require what are known as progressive eyeglasses. These eyeglass lenses are similar to bifocal except that the line commonly seen on the bi focal lens is not there and the lens allows for distance, medium, and close sight. Contact lenses are now being made to allow for distant, medium and close sight. I’ve tried those contacts and was not happy with them. I had problems with distance and close up vision.
 
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Mr.Moto

Well-Known Member
Sorry it took so long to get back to this thread. It took an additional two weeks longer than expected to get these done.

So here is the scoop - my prescription is around -7.25 / -7.50, so we're talking a strong script. I have read and have been told that you can not get lenses made for frames with a 6 base curve let alone an 8 base curve. I took a chance on the suggestion from the optometrist at the optics shop and had him make up a set of Liberty Sports Choppers. These are frames with an 8 base curve. The results I have to say are very good. The clarity is better than the glasses I wear every day. These have very minimal peripheral distortion while I get a bit of distortion in the peipheral view with my regular glasses. Pretty impressive.

Some additional notes:

The lense edges still need to be polished on my lenses.

I went with polycarbonate lenses for shatter resistance, but should have gone with the high index to reduce the thickness. Even with the AR coating, they still looks like Coke bottles.

The lenses bow the frame and arms out a bit wider than normal, but these frames come with a strap that attach to the arms so I'll use that to keep them on my head. They will supposedly relax a bit over time, but I'm not sure about that.

I just got them and have not actually used them for riding yet, but I am very happy with the results. I got a reasonably sporty pair of glasses I can use for my outdoor activities. Although they are not perfect, they are what I expected for a prescription like mine. I am quite impressed with the clarity, however if you are expecting perfect peripheral vision, you will need to consider other options.

I would certainly recommend the shop I got these from (Haskell Eyecare). They ordered the lenses from the lab that they were required to with my eyecare program. When the lenses came in, they were not satisfied with the quality of the work, so they requested new blanks and sent them to their own lab to have them cut, tinted and coated.

I took a few quick pics to get you an idea of what they look like.

I'm looking forward to hitting the trail with them.
 

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soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I've gone through this myself. I think I'm getting Lasik because of it. :)

My prescription isn't as bad as yours but I still have the same issue that I can't get the curved glasses. You CAN however get curved glasses that have inserts. I actually have a pair of them.

I bought a pair online, similar to :

http://www.eyebuydirect.com/sport-glasses-marcion-black-p-2453.html

The ones I bought were hideous (80's wrestler ugly) however. They worked horrible for me. I could see far GREAT but had no depth perception close up. I crashed pretty bad actually because I couldn't see the side of a road and dropped my front tire off the road in Moab. :(

Hiking was a major issue, I couldn't see where my feet were, sticks/logs 10 feet in front of me looked 9 or 11 feet away, etc.

I don't know if it was an issue that they were the wrong prescription or if my brain was freaking out by the polarization. I can take two pairs of glasses with the same exact prescription and switching in between them takes awhile to get used to. I think the same thing was happening but to an extreme.

I may give it another shot, I'm not sure. Probably something like the link I posted. Prescription glasses are pretty much free compared to Lasik.

-Steve

I just bought the one you posted and they totally messed up the prescription. I was so dizzy and I thought I was gonna throw up after riding for 5 minutes. The glasses are cheapish plastic but they will do the job. I just gotta get the prescription re-filled.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I just bought the one you posted and they totally messed up the prescription. I was so dizzy and I thought I was gonna throw up after riding for 5 minutes. The glasses are cheapish plastic but they will do the job. I just gotta get the prescription re-filled.

Sorry! Did you email them? You're the first time I've heard someone (personally) that had this happen.

-Steve
 

soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Sorry! Did you email them? You're the first time I've heard someone (personally) that had this happen.

-Steve

I'm actually kind of wary of getting my prescription filled through mail, so I think I'm just gonna take it to a local place. I haven't seen any insert type sunglasses for less than $35, so I'm good with what I paid for it even w/o the RX lenses.
 
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