One indispensable element of your cycling equipment is glasses designed specifically for cycling. Contrary to the opinion of many people, they aren’t a simple fashion accessory, but rather an essential gear offering protection for our eyes when we are riding a bike, whether it’s road biking or mountain biking. While cycling, no matter the weather conditions, it’s really important that you are protected from any possible risks. Not being able to see because of the strong sun or because of dust flying into your eyes, can put you in real danger. Moreover, small particles, branches and insects can not only blind us temporarily but also hurt our eyes.
So, as it turns out, it may be as important to wear bike glasses as it is to wear a helmet. Style matters for most of us, and like with any other type of equipment, whether you’re your mountain bike shorts, your cycling jacket or your helmet, the design of your sunglasses for bikes is important. Nevertheless, the most important factors that you should consider to choose the best option for yourself include their weight, the comfort they offer, the lenses and, obviously the protection they offer.
Lenses
The quality of the lenses is probably the most important factor since they are basically what will ultimately protect both your vision and your eyes. While how protected your eyes are may not depend on the type of lens you choose, it will make a huge difference in your eye comfort.
Primarily, like any type of sunglasses, bike goggles should protect against ultraviolet radiation. But, aside from that, with so many different types of lenses for glasses for cycling, it can be difficult to decide what is right for you, even though depending on the type of cycling you are practising, the weather conditions, the routes, and so on, some lenses may be more suitable. Nevertheless, the options are vast.
Lenses can be divided into three categories in terms of how much light they can absorb. You can get photochromic lenses that offer maximum eye comfort in different light conditions. Within this type, there are again different qualities. The best photochromic lenses change from clear to dark and the other way around fast. This way your eyes are protected against getting something inside them, even when it’s dark, without the need for changing glasses.
There are also polarized lenses that can protect you from the flashes and brightness that can be caused by glowing, reflective surfaces such as snow or water. Lastly, you can get monochromatic cycling sunglasses, which can be considered to be the most convenient option.
Ventilation
Imagine having to stop all the time to clean out the fog while riding. To avoid this inconvenience and annoyance, good quality cycling goggles offer full ventilation. In other words, the air should be able to freely circulate between our face and the lenses. To be extra sure, you can also opt for anti-fog lenses.
Grip and Impact Resistance
To be more dependable, your bike glasses should fit you well so that they offer superior grip, so they can stay secure on your face while riding on any type of surface, and of course, they should be impact resistant, in case they fail to do so. It’s also important that you choose a pair that will fit under your helmet.
Impact resistance depends on the quality of the materials, the quality of the lenses, and the quality of the production. If your cycling glasses can break easily, in case of fall, you will be more vulnerable to the dangers on your vision that we mentioned earlier. In terms of how cycling sunglasses fit your face, there are several things you need to take into account, apart from the size.
Good quality cycle sunglasses are made from soft materials that can adjust to your facial features. But most importantly they are also equipped with high performance, reliable grip on the bridge of the nose, as well as on the temples and the earlobes. This makes it harder for them to fall off your face, but it will also affect how comfortable they are. If your biker sunglasses can’t adjust to your face’s curvatures, not only can they fall off your face, but they can even be hurtful to wear. So, comfort is another crucial factor to take into account.
Size and Weight
It’s clear now why your cycle glasses are an important part of your protective gear, and as such, you should make sure that the pair you are buying will offer maximum protection, an uninterrupted field of view, without any blind spots and absolute comfort. Aside from how they adjust on your face, the grip they offer and how comfortable the material is, size and weight are two other very important factors that you also need to consider in terms of comfort, but again also in terms of protection
When we talk about size, we are referring to the size of the lens surface. Sunglasses for bikes should offer the maximum field of vision. Blind spots can be very dangerous, especially when you are going fast, or when you are riding on rougher terrains.
Weight
The weight of any equipment you buy affects your comfort during cycling. So, the best sunglasses for cycling are lightweight. The idea is to hardly even notice that you are even wearing bike glasses. This translates to maximum comfort. Nevertheless, sometimes a little weight can be safer, especially when there are more chances for bounces and impacts, like during mountain biking.
