Contact Lenses

[tymensen]

Does anyone here ride with contact lenses. I don't currently ride with my glasses (my eyes have not been too bad) but lately they have gotten worse. I think I need some kind of correction, especially riding early morning / evening. The glasses I have now won't fit under my helmet. So I have to either buy a new helmet that my glasses will fit in, buy new glasses that can fit under my current helmet, or try contact lenses. The contacts seem to be the cheapest option, but I am concerned about them drying out when I'm on the highway. Any thoughts or experiences with riding with contacts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ADVdrming]

tymensen: I wear contacts all day, and ride with them as well. Have not had any issues whatsoever. There are obviously many brands out there, some advertise to have better breath-ability and moisture for the eye. It shouldn't be a problem at the end of the day.

Hope this helps.

John

 

[rchamberlain]

I wear bi-focal contacts 12-14 hours a day with no problems. On dry or dusty days I may have to put in some wetting drops a couple of times but that is easily done when off my bike at work or before I leave for a ride.

 

[CHEMIKER]

I wear contacts as well. I don't know if I have sensitive eyes or what, but it took a long time for my eyes to get used to them. Not with respect to riding a motorcycle, just in general, my eyes were dry and irritated for weeks.

Even now, on the motorcycle my eyes get pretty dry, especially at highway speeds with my visor up and sunglasses on. I like the fresh air, so I still leave my visor up, but I blink a lot LOL. It's never unbearable, and I always make sure to have rewetting drops with me. My favorite (and I've tried them ALL) is Visine for contacts. Your results may vary.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that if I'm not in the mood to deal with dry eyes, putting my visor down helps a lot. I was assuming that you were talking about drying out with your visor up.

 

[Kazza]

I wear contacts/glasses.

When I wear my contacts (they are the breathable type) I can't have my visor open at all - dries my eyes out.

With my glasses, I have a pair of Oakley straight arm glasses - I can wear them comfortably under my Shoei RF-1000 helmet, but it was just about the only helmet I could wear glasses under.

 

[tymensen]

I have straight arm Oakley glasses as well, not the wrap around sport sunglasses style though. I have tried a lot of different helmets and can't get them under any of them. Have not tried the RF-1000 though. I think I'll try the contacts out, I usually ride with my visor down anyway, too many bugs on the highway in the summer up here. Hopefully I can avoid having dry eyes, especially on longer highway trips.

 

[Kazza]

Yeah, the Oakley glasses work well.

I don't wear sunglasses ever when I ride - I just have a tinted visor. Works just fine :thumbup:

 

[Mugwump]

I wear contacts when I ride and usually wear sunglasses as well. Always worrying about the wind drying my lenses but with the sunglasses I can ride up to 30mph comfortably with the visor open, past that and my visor goes down. Using contacts also means one less item to fog up when it is cold:thumbup:

 

[sxty8goats]

I wear 'Acuview Oasis" type lenses. My eyes water in the wind. Less so in hot weather.

I actually wear them for @ 2 weeks before I take them out. Not necessacearlly the recomended time but I love waking up and being able to see.

Newer lenses are awesome. They breath much better so your eyes don't get 'dry' like they used to.

 

[KenpoTex]

no issues with my contacts and I wear them all the time. I tend to leave my visor open and just count on a pair of oakleys for eye-protection.

 

[JustinID]

I'm in a similar boat as others. If I'm not wearing my glasses, I wear contacts and sunglasses as needed. With the sunglasses on, I can go about 30 MPH before I have to close my visor. I have yet to go on any rides longer than a couple of hours, so not sure how well they'd do on any sort of marathon drive. Eye drops are probably essential at that point.

As for anyone riding with the visor open and no eye protection at all, you're begging for a bug or rock to make you go permanently blind. It's almost as bad as not wearing a helmet, maybe worse since you're probably going to crash into someone else after you suddenly lose your eye.

 

[Kriswithak]

I wear the monthly lenses, which are great because they are designed to last so long and don't need to be taken out very often (maybe once a week for a clean) and they breath really well. (You sleep with them in)
I normally get 2 months out of them pretty safely for $$$ reasons, and haven't had issues.

I don't wear glasses anymore, but find the contacts are great.
I have oakleys that I can wear under my helmet that are good for longer riding, but at a pinch can ride without glasses or with the visor up and full wind in my face. Its not pleasant but as long as the sun isn't in my face its safe.

The biggest issue that I have with the lenses that I talked to my optomitrist about is that at night they increase the glare from lights, particularly the new lights most cars have that are much brighter.

 

[Goop]

I wear contacts with no problems. I carry a spare pair with me when riding, along with a small bottle of solution.

I wear these:

AIR OPTIX Brand Breathable* Contact Lenses by CIBA VISION

 

[CHEMIKER]

I wear contacts with no problems. I carry a spare pair with me when riding, along with a small bottle of solution.

That's a great idea - you can totally avoid having a situation like this:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/main-lobby-new-member-section/4719-one-contact-none.html

 

[necrotimus]

Same wear contacts all the time... going to look into surgery soon.

 

[neos]

Hi,
I use extended wear contacts (on for 30 days and 30 nights) and have never experienced a problem. use the bike daily for a short commute, but even when on a long journey, like a few months ago a 5000km return trip through Europe, I did not have any trouble with the lenses.

pointers:
- ride with the visor down or some sort of biker goggles to avoid dust/dirt
- use eye drops before a long trip


Neos

 

[dean2287]

Man, if I didn't have my contact lenses, I wouldn't be riding at all. Glasses don't do it for me, too much correction needed.

 

[keira]

I wore contacts from 14y.o. til I was 26, when I switched back to glasses for convenience and health issues (I was overwearing my contacts and my eyes were not happy). Other than getting a pair of prescription sunglasses this year I have not missed the contacts.


then again, I have a kid-sized head and don't have trouble getting glasses on under my helmets. I do enjoy always having eye protection, so I can flip the visor up on a nice evening without worry.


I may also look into LASIK if I ever can get out of debt.....

 

[Popeye70]

I only ride with contacts (1-day Acuview Moist) - riding with glasses is not an option for me. My left eye is -8.5 and my right is -9.0, so my glasses have too much unwanted viewing "distortion" outside the central focus point. I wouldn't trust my peripheral vision with glasses on while riding.

I keep an extra set of lenses on the bike (and on the boat, in the office and car and so on), so if anything happens I have spares available.

I never ride with the visor up, btw. Not because of watering eyes or risk of getting anything in my eyes - I just prefer riding with the visor down.

 

[tymensen]

Just got a trial pair of contacts, went for a 200km ride. I did not have any major issues, but of course the visor was down the whole time, and I was wearing shades. Thanks for all the input, I made my decision to try them based on your responses.