sunglasses for riding?

[brucey]

Just wondering if anyone has advice on what type of sunglasses work the best for riding? Lens color? Polarized?
I wear a full face helmut with a clear shield.

 

[SweaterDude]

Anything with straight arms. polarized/not is more of a personal preference, personally i dont care. Blue lenses will give the most clarity in the rain and super bright light, without "turning off the lights" when its dark. Orange/pinkish lenses will block the most direct light. personally i didnt feel like paying for all of that so i have some regular grey lensed Spy's. but my helmet has a blue visor, so im good.

 

[Icarus89]

I wouldn't wear polarized just because I find there tends to be a little bit of light diffraction when wearing them underneath my helmet. I usually use sport sunglasses with plastic frames.

 

[Ransom]

I have one pair of each of these. They work great with your face shield open or closed. With the foam lining it really cuts out the wind. They are also cheap!

Bobster Foamerz II Sunglasses - Street Bike - Motorcycle Superstore

 

[Piotrek]

I have one pair of each of these. They work great with your face shield open or closed. With the foam lining it really cuts out the wind. They are also cheap!

Bobster Foamerz II Sunglasses - Street Bike - Motorcycle Superstore

These are inexpensive.

How about high humidity days, or cooler days? Do they fog?

I use clear visor and Ryders sunglasses, tired of changing visor when I need to ride in the dark.

 

[Motogiro]

I found some wrap around sunglasses at Mega-Lo-Mart(Wally World) $45 dollar frames and got my prescription put in and they are great! They have straight flexible arms so they slide in easily.

I can tell you don't get sun glasses with the skull type bowed arms that are metal. I have that type in some Oakleys and they won't bend enough to go into my helmet. Also Polarized lenses would be okay for driving in the car but not behind a face shield. Light interference and refractions occur that you will absolutely hate!
These are them...
Edit: They're called Recspecs Biker! By Liberty #61017-130 cs

 

[Ransom]

These are inexpensive.

How about high humidity days, or cooler days? Do they fog?

I use clear visor and Ryders sunglasses, tired of changing visor when I need to ride in the dark.

I was out riding with friends earlier today while wearing the tinted ones and it rained on us and did not fog up on me, HOWEVER I did have my face shield cracked to keep my face dry and keep the shield itself from fogging up. They may have fogged up some if I did not have the shield cracked, but so far I have not had it happen.

Cooler days I have not had that problem at all.

I am sure there are ones that are more fog resistant for just a little more cash or you can buy that spray that is suppose to stop or reduce fog and apply that to your current classes.

Hope that helps

 

[cranduit]

I wear polarized just about everywhere normally, but I do not like them behind a shield as much due to the different stresses in materials. My mom had a Toyota that I couldn't even wear them in because I couldn't see through the pattern on the windows. But the one she test drove of the exact same car/year was perfectly fine.

I would stick with normal lenses for that reason alone as you wouldn't want to buy some nice sunglasses and not be able to use them.

 

[agf]

I was going to buy a nice pair of motorcycle oriented sunglasses and the guy at Peter Stevens said save your money. They break just as easily as cheap glasses and the stresses of puttinig them on and off weakens the arms quite a bit. He reckons try on something to find if its comfy, with the helmet on and don't spend more than $40.
personally Ihave a pair of Polaroid wraparounds with straight arms they are optically sound no distortion... and I bet when I want to replace them Iwont be able to find that model anywhere!!!!

 

[Smersh]

I have Oakleys Flak Jacket XLJ - I know they are ridiculously expensive, but all parts are replaceable, and the number of lenses they have is overwhelming. I use polarized grey lenses for day riding (in combination with helmet's dark smoke shield ), and persimmon lenses for night riding, or any other activity that requires eye protection without decreasing the light (shooting, working with power tools)
There is definitely some additional stress on the frame of the sunglasses when worn under helmet, but it's been 3 years and no problems so far.

I have a history with sunglasses - the really cheap ones would bother me and I would even get headaches. So I went to more expensive ones - well, I also tend to do things like leaving glasses on driver's seat and then sit on them - that's how Ray Bans went. Then I got ridiculously expensive Revos. Had them for a week, went jetskiing let off the throttle too quickly, the glasses just went flying off my face and into water. Another time, while whitewater rafting, poured a helmet-full of water on my head, and off the glasses went.
Now that I have Oakleys, I've already sat on them, dropped them many times - they are still going, and if they break, I can just replace the part that is broken. Oh, and they have some weird compound on the arms that sticks to your skin a little.

 

[Downs]

I have those same Oakleys and love them. Just watch out when buying lenses there are some no-name aftermarket lenses out there that are marketed to fit the Flack Jackets that don't.

Anyway I stopped wearing sunglasses years ago and just dealt with switching visors when I wanted to keep the sun out. Those F'in visors take up a lot of space in the ol'tank bag so I started buying helmets with the internal sun visor that flips up and down with a lever.

After having those for the past 5 years or so I'll never go back to a helmet that doesn't have that feature. Right now I'm using a Scorpion EXO-500.

 

[texcollect]

I just went to Amazon and swerved for tinted safety glasses. I bought a pair of Smith and Wesson which fit great in the helmet and they cost me all of about $8 including shipping. I also bought a roll of static cling limo tint for cars and cut out a piece to fit my visor as a sun shadeView attachment 42069 so if it does get too bright I just told my head a little and all is good. It cost me $16 for enough to tint a small car so I've got plenty spare.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[brucey]

I'm glad I asked for advice, thanks guys!

 

[RJ2112]

Just wondering if anyone has advice on what type of sunglasses work the best for riding? Lens color? Polarized?
I wear a full face helmut with a clear shield.

I generally ride wearing a pair of polycarbonate safety glasses under my FF helmet. Amber for low light, and tinted for full sunshine. I am not fond of the film type polarization they put on glasses now. That 'oily rainbow' effect is really distracting.

Walking into a big box home improvement store or a local hardware store, I can by eye protection that is safer than sunglasses, and as comfortable for around $15 USD. Auto parts stores generally have pairs on sale for around $5-7. If they fit, do the job and are comfortable.......

The nice part about the safety glasses is you know for a fact they are impact resistant, and are generally designed to reduce the chance of getting sh*t into your eyes when there is stuff in the air. They're so cheap, you can toss them without worry if they don't work out well.

 

[Spideyrex]

I used to ride for years with polarized sunglasses and enjoyed the lack of glare. But the rainbow effect was pretty strong and I found it distracting. Once I moved to WA state, it was a no go. The combination of the rainbow effect and the type of tar they used to repair potholes made it look like there were a ton of puddles on the road. Even on a sunny day, it was very distracting. Once I went to a tinted shield it was a revelation, everything was so clear! I'll never go with polarized again under a helmet.

 

[MattR302]

I used to use the cheapo $10-15 cvs/walmart/biglots sunglasses, but i would be replacing them a couple times a year since I'd just throw them in my helmet with my gloves when not riding and they'd get broken.

Since then I've been using these. McMaster-Carr They're cheap, I get free shipping to my work, and been using the first pair since last summer. And like a previous poster said, they're actual safety glasses, so less likely to shatter if you're riding with your visor up and catch a rock.


The "mirror" version of them is a very light mirror / light tint. They don't work well as sunglasses, but for evening or at night, they're not bad.

 

[Cali rider]

I generally ride wearing a pair of polycarbonate safety glasses under my FF helmet. Amber for low light, and tinted for full sunshine. I am not fond of the film type polarization they put on glasses now. That 'oily rainbow' effect is really distracting.

Walking into a big box home improvement store or a local hardware store, I can by eye protection that is safer than sunglasses, and as comfortable for around $15 USD. Auto parts stores generally have pairs on sale for around $5-7. If they fit, do the job and are comfortable.......

The nice part about the safety glasses is you know for a fact they are impact resistant, and are generally designed to reduce the chance of getting sh*t into your eyes when there is stuff in the air. They're so cheap, you can toss them without worry if they don't work out well.

+1 on every word written! This is the specific safety glass product I use, for $6.00: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Uvex-S1731-Espresso-Ultra-Dura-Hardcoat/dp/B0001YXGV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336495120&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Uvex S1731 Bandido Safety Eyewear, Black Frame, Espresso Ultra-Dura Hardcoat Lens: Home Improvement[/ame]