Sunglasses protect your eyes from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, reduce eyestrain in bright conditions and protect you from flying debris and other hazards when cycling. Finding the right pair is key to your comfort, whether you’re are racing off-road, racing or riding for pleasure- eye protection is key..
As the sun’s ultraviolet rays damage the tissue of your retina, you won’t have pain or feel anything. But especuially for most of us who cycle long daylight hours after the exposure, you could experience symptoms of solar retinopathy, including eye soreness and discomfort. It might take a few hours or days for symptoms to begin and to notice vision problems. All sunglasses we produce at galibier block 100% of ultraviolet light.
Types of cycling Sunglasses
Frameless: Lightweight Comfort: Without the additional weight of a frame, rimless glasses are often lighter, reducing the pressure on your nose and ears. This can contribute to a more comfortable experience, especially for those who wear glasses for extended periods.
Full frame shield sunglasses: Designed for specifically cycling- High-end frame and lens materials are more impact-resistant and rigid than frameless sunglasses. Modern frame materials have reduced the weight of framed glasses but the main advantage is a larger lens options to protect more of the face. They typically feature grippy nose pads and temple ends, a feature that helps keep the frames in place even when you’re sweating.
Why not use casual sunglasses?
Best for everyday use and basic recreational activities, casual sunglasses do an excellent job of shading your eyes from the sun while you drive to work and walk through town. Casual sunglasses are typically not designed to handle the intensity of action sports or deal with the sweat produced.
Sunglass Lens Features
High Contrast: how about cycling glasses that enhance colours and accentuate contrasts slightly to ensure better vision? High contrast lenses increase the perception of colours and depth while offering a natural perception of whites.
Photochromic lenses: Photochromic lenses automatically adjust to changing light intensities and conditions. These lenses actually get darker on bright days, and lighter when conditions get darker.
A couple of caveats: The photochromic process takes longer to work in cold conditions, and it doesn’t work at all when driving a car because UVB rays do not penetrate your windshield.
Visible Light Transmission
The amount of light that reaches your eyes through your lenses is called Visible Light Transmission (VLT). Measured as a percentage (and listed in the product specs on REI.com), VLT is affected by the color and thickness of your lenses, the material they’re made of and the coatings they have on them. Here are some general guidelines for choosing sunglasses based on VLT percentages:
0-19% VLT: Ideal for bright, sunny conditions.
20-40% VLT: Good for all-purpose use.
40+% VLT: Best for overcast and low-light conditions.
80-90+% VLT: Virtually clear lenses for very dim and night conditions.
Sunglass Lens Colors (Tints)
Lens colours affect how much visible light reaches your eyes, how well you see other colours and how well you see contrasts.
Dark colours (smoke/green) are ideal for everyday use and most outdoor activities. Darker shades are intended primarily to cut through the glare and reduce eyestrain in moderate-to-bright conditions. Gray and green lenses won’t distort colors, while brown lenses may cause minor distortion.
Light colors (yellow/gold/red/teal): These colors excel in moderate- to low-level light conditions. They are often great for skiing, snowboarding and other snow sports. They provide excellent depth perception, enhance contrasts in tricky, flat-light conditions, improve the visibility of objects and make your surroundings appear brighter.
Sunglass Lens Coatings
The more expensive the sunglasses, the more likely they are to have several layers of coatings. These can include a hydrophobic coating to repel water, an anti-scratch coating to improve durability and an anti-fog coating for humid conditions or high-energy activities.
Mirrored or flash coating refers to a reflective film applied to the outside surfaces of some sunglass lenses. They reduce glare by reflecting much of the light that hits the lens surface. Mirrored coatings make objects appear darker than they are, so lighter tints are often used to compensate for this.
Sunglass Lens Materials
The material used in your sunglass lenses will affect their clarity, weight, durability and cost.
Polyurethane provides superior impact-resistance and excellent optical clarity. It’s flexible and lightweight, but expensive.
Polycarbonate has excellent impact-resistance and very good optical clarity. It’s affordable, lightweight and low-bulk, but less scratch-resistant.
Acrylic is an inexpensive alternative to polycarbonate, best suited for casual as it has image distortion best avoided for cycling optics.
Cycling eyewear lenses are classified into five categories, from 0 to 4.
- Category 0: these are transparent glasses. The glass is white, as for glasses. These lenses are not intended to protect against UV or glare, but rather against wind, cold and rain. They transmit between 80 and 100% of the brightness.
- Category 1: these slightly tinted lenses provide visual comfort for cyclists because they improve contrast. Perfect in overcast weather, category 1 lenses transmit between 43 and 80% of the light.
- Category 2: it is the protection to be favoured in the off-season. Category 2 lenses offer good protection against glare. They are suitable for bike rides with average sunshine and when conditions are changing with alternating sunshine, cloudy skies, and cloudy spells. Category 2 lenses allow 18 to 43% of the brightness to pass through.
- Category 3: Widely used by cyclists in summer, these lenses offer protection and excellent comfort when the light is bright. Perfect for summer bike rides, they transmit only 8 to 18% of the brightness for your comfort. Excellent shields for your eyes in very sunny situations, category 3 lenses are also recommended for nautical activities and winter sports.
- Category 4: it is very unlikely that you will have to wear category 4 glasses because they are more intended for high mountains. These are very opaque glasses offering extreme protection. Transmitting only 3 to 8% of the luminosity, they are particularly suitable for mountaineers and nautical activities.
Sunglass Frame Materials
Choosing a frame is nearly as important as the lenses, since it contributes to your sunglasses’ comfort, durability and safety.
Metal is easy to adjust to your face and less obtrusive to your field of vision. It’s more expensive and less durable than other types, and it’s not for high-impact activities. Keep in mind that metal can get too hot to wear if left in a closed-up car. Specific metals include stainless steel, aluminum and titanium.
TR90 glasses are supremely lightweight. The TR-90 material allows for an extremely comfortable, all-day wear. Because it’s an ultra-lightweight material, more so than any acetate frame, and possesses a rubber-like texture, the consumer will feel like they aren’t even wearing glasses..
Acetate: Sometimes called “handmades,” these variations of plastic are popular on high-style glasses. More colour varieties are possible, but they are less flexible and forgiving. Not intended for high-activity sports.
Sunglass Fit Tips
Here are some tips when trying on a pair of sunglasses:
- Frames should fit snugly on your nose and ears, but not pinch or rub.
- The weight of sunglasses should be evenly distributed between your ears and nose. Frames should be light enough to avoid excess friction on these contact points.
- Your eyelashes should not contact the frame.
- You may be able to adjust the fit of metal or wire-core frames by carefully bending the frame at the bridge and/or temples.
- You may be able to adjust nosepieces by pinching them closer together or farther apart.
Shopping online? Look for product descriptions that include fit guidelines measurements to compare to sunglasses you already own.
HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR CYCLING GLASSES?
During a bike ride, even without mountain biking, the glasses get dirty. Rain, splashes, dust, the lenses are dirty but also the frames due to perspiration. So how do you maintain your cycling glasses? To clean your glasses, we advise you to run them under water. Rinse all the glasses: lenses, temples, etc., and pay particular attention to the lenses because they are the ones that get the most dirt. Cleaning with lukewarm water is sufficient, no need to use soap and especially no dishwashing liquid, for example. The solvents it contains would damage the glass.
Once the glasses are clean, take the provided microfiber cloth to wipe them.
When your glasses are dry, store them in their case. A hard case is recommended: it will avoid scratches but also any risk of crushing and therefore breakage if you store your glasses in a closet, drawer or glove box.
