Prescription riding glasses issue

JPark

JPark

Well-Known Member
I bought some prescription riding glasses. My eyes aren't that bad, but I wanted to be able to see more detail further up the trail, especially in lower light.
I used them for the first time yesterday and found that it threw off my depth perception a little. It was tough for me to judge the trail obstacles as they got nearer so I took them off halfway through my ride.
Is this something I will get used to or could there be issues with the glasses? Everything looked sharp so the prescription was correct.
I got them from an optometrist.
 
Are they the same prescription as your normal glasses? Are your daily glasses trifocals? That's the only thing I can think of.

Are they tinted? What kind did you get? I'm thinking about getting some myself?
 
JPark said:
I bought some prescription riding glasses. My eyes aren't that bad, but I wanted to be able to see more detail further up the trail, especially in lower light.
I used them for the first time yesterday and found that it threw off my depth perception a little. It was tough for me to judge the trail obstacles as they got nearer so I took them off halfway through my ride.
Is this something I will get used to or could there be issues with the glasses? Everything looked sharp so the prescription was correct.
I got them from an optometrist.
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Do you normally wear glasses? From what your post indicates, you do not. It will take a little time to adjust to a new prescription.
I've worn glasses for a long time and found I don't do well wearing tinted, polarized lenses in the woods. The shadows and light from different angles will mess with depth perception.

Lastly, if you don't need to wear glasses don't start. Your eyes will become dependent on them.
 
Are they curved sport style frames ? I found those to be horrible for offroad use but fine on the road bike . Making any change will certainly take time to adjust. My rx is also borderline Mr magoo so I don't have the option to remove my glasses and ride , prob why I don't get along with curved sport style lenses
 
Did you always ride without glasses previously? All glasses have a bit of distortion, and may be worse with the more extreme curvature of most sport glasses. With any new glasses, even more so if you prescription changed, it will take some time getting used to them. I spent some good money on a set of prescription Oakleys and the first ride was a little strange, but that's normal with any set of brand new glasses. Look through the glasses and don't worry about the weird steps you see in your peripherals.
 
I'm blind as a bat without glasses so I have to wear them. I tried getting prescription "sports" glasses like Oakleys but with my prescription they can't curve the lens that much. I tried the type with the prescription insert but I really don't like them. After trying different options, I just decided to get dedicated pair of glasses just for riding. I picked a more rugged plastic frame than the ones I wear all the time so they'll have a better chance of surviving a crash so maybe just get a pair of regular but rugged glasses just for riding... unless you want to go for the "look".
 
I normally just use reading glasses when I'm at my computer. My distance vision isn't that bad but it's not what it was when I was younger. In the shadowy woods it's tough to tell if the rock 20 feet up the trail is going to throw me OTB or if I can ride over it.

The glasses are Liberty Sport, no tinting or polarizing. The lens is not a wraparound but the frames are thicker than I'm used to so maybe it's interfering with peripheral vision.
I was thinking the lens size was a little small so maybe I'm seeing too much outside the lens? The Dr's office didn't have any sport glasses with big lenses.

The glasses work great when I'm looking way up the trail but when I need to do a log-over or anything where the trail feature is right in front of you I was misjudging the distances.
 
My vision sucks so I've worn corrective lenses for most of my life. When I went to contacts it took about a week to fully adjust and the times I've switched back to glasses, same thing. I think it has something to do with the distance between your eyes and the lens that does it but I'm no expert(although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express one time).
 
jklett said:
My vision sucks so I've worn corrective lenses for most of my life. When I went to contacts it took about a week to fully adjust and the times I've switched back to glasses, same thing. I think it has something to do with the distance between your eyes and the lens that does it but I'm no expert(although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express one time).
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If you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express you're an expert in my book!
 
I've also worn glasses most of my life. Boy, do I hate them with a passion when riding and would give damn near anything to be able to wear contacts (but I can't). Now in 50's, my glasses are also progressive bifocals. Yay. Yes, you'll get used to a new prescription. I also agree with the sentiment that if you don't have to wear them, don't start.

Glasses also limit the goggles I can wear - so far, only the Scott OTG (Over The Glasses) model works for me. Barely. And even then I only wear goggles when it's cold or when I know I'll be doing a lot of sustained runs without stopping. Most of the time when I'm doing park laps with friends and we stop a lot, I don't bother with goggles.

My head shape also limits the style of frames I can wear, which adds even more headaches. For me, plastic frames don't work well with bike helmets and even less well with full-face helmets.

I get about two years out of a set of lenses before my eyelashes wear off the inner coating when I blink. Then the lenses become a constantly dirty mess.

Did I mention I hate glasses?
 
Progressives is what did it for me as I got older. That or contacts. Even with contacts now I need readers. Sux.
 
Ian F said:
I've also worn glasses most of my life. Boy, do I hate them with a passion when riding and would give damn near anything to be able to wear contacts (but I can't). Now in 50's, my glasses are also progressive bifocals. Yay. Yes, you'll get used to a new prescription. I also agree with the sentiment that if you don't have to wear them, don't start.

Glasses also limit the goggles I can wear - so far, only the Scott OTG (Over The Glasses) model works for me. Barely. And even then I only wear goggles when it's cold or when I know I'll be doing a lot of sustained runs without stopping. Most of the time when I'm doing park laps with friends and we stop a lot, I don't bother with goggles.

My head shape also limits the style of frames I can wear, which adds even more headaches. For me, plastic frames don't work well with bike helmets and even less well with full-face helmets.

I get about two years out of a set of lenses before my eyelashes wear off the inner coating when I blink. Then the lenses become a constantly dirty mess.

Did I mention I hate glasses?
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Didn't know eye lashes could do that much damage!
 
JPark said:
Didn't know eye lashes could do that much damage!
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Over thousands of "blinks" each day and every day, it's essentially the same as water through the Grand Canyon - tiny actions over time. My plan over the next couple of months is to get a new pair of glasses and get new lenses for the current ones and use them for riding. I may skip the progressive lenses for the riding glasses as they do distort my near vision.
 
Ian F said:
Over thousands of "blinks" each day and every day, it's essentially the same as water through the Grand Canyon - tiny actions over time. My plan over the next couple of months is to get a new pair of glasses and get new lenses for the current ones and use them for riding. I may skip the progressive lenses for the riding glasses as they do distort my near vision.
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Could you get glasses that rest farther away from your eyes so there is no contact?
 
JPark said:
I normally just use reading glasses when I'm at my computer. My distance vision isn't that bad but it's not what it was when I was younger. In the shadowy woods it's tough to tell if the rock 20 feet up the trail is going to throw me OTB or if I can ride over it.

The glasses are Liberty Sport, no tinting or polarizing. The lens is not a wraparound but the frames are thicker than I'm used to so maybe it's interfering with peripheral vision.
I was thinking the lens size was a little small so maybe I'm seeing too much outside the lens? The Dr's office didn't have any sport glasses with big lenses.

The glasses work great when I'm looking way up the trail but when I need to do a log-over or anything where the trail feature is right in front of you I was misjudging the distances.
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I also have liberty frames but with progressive lenses, to me it took a little to get used to the progressive lenses, I wouldn’t say it affected my ability to OTB in any shape of form.
 
JPark said:
Could you get glasses that rest farther away from your eyes so there is no contact?
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I've tried. They cause my eyes to strain. 40+ years of the lenses being in a certain spot. Not so easy to teach old eyes new tricks.
 
My progressives work fine - I move my eyes more than my head

Flat ray-bans
 
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