Genuine lenses offer protection against harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays that can result in pre-mature cataracts or pinguecula within the eyes. Apart from that, they reduce the glare that we experience from sun light bouncing off shiny surfaces that might distract us during our rides. It also acts as a physical barrier against bits of debris on the road that may be kicked up by car tyres or sand falling off over-filled lorries (personal experience). So, in the event your budget allows it, invest in a decent pair of sunglasses.
My first and current pair are the Rudy Project Noyz. They're a relatively conventional looking pair of cycling sunnies, nothing over the top or too gimmicky. I bought them around the middle of 2015 and have used them for both mountain biking and road cycling, as well as the occasional run and when I'm driving, but more on that later.
The pair you see here has a matte black frame along with what they call 'Smoke Black' lenses that are photochromic and polarised on top of having the conventional UV-protective properties. They cost me about RM1100 ($275 according to current exchange rates) which is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a pair of sunglasses but I'll try my best to explain why I made the purchase and how I fell about it one year on.
First off, I wear prescription spectacles because of my myopia (short-sightedness) and slight degrees of astigmatism. Contact lenses just never appealed to me as they're relatively high maintenance and require a degree of patience and care with them that I just could not be bothered with. So, when I was on the look out for a pair of sunglasses, I had to take into account prescription lenses. After a decent few months of research online and going to a couple of stores, I learned of another issue, curvature.
If you've ever wondered why most spectacle lenses are relatively flat even with their convexities or concavities, it's because it helps in optimizing light refraction. Most cycling-specific sunglasses that don't have prescription lenses and, instead, have extremely curved lenses when compared to a pair of spectacles. This is probably for aesthetic reasons, better aerodynamics as well as greater peripheral coverage. This was also a problem as in order to have proper vision with a pair of sunglasses, special lenses had to be crafted in order to compensate for the excessive curvature of the frame. After digging around with major sunglasses brands like Oakley, I learnt that such special lenses had to be made overseas and then imported in to Malaysia, which of course adds to the cost. A pair of Oakley M2s would cost approximately RM1400 once the imported lenses were installed, a hike of almost RM900 from the normal RM500 plus price, which I thought was a ridiculous amount of money to spend on any one thing, let alone a piece of plastic that sits on your face (you can thank those Luxotica bastards for that).
My pair of Noyz actually cost around the realm of RM800. However, what made this particular model appealing, or rather the Rudy Project brand in general, was that they had clip-ons that mounted conventional prescription lenses onto the nose piece of most of their sports sunglasses. So theoretically, you'd be able to experience optimum vision whilst still wearing curved cycling sunglasses. Boy was I wrong.
Within moments of putting them on, I realised what a big fat mistake I had just made. The curvature of the frame was still too extreme, so much so that the prescription lenses on the clip-ons were not only touching the sunglass lenses at the edges, but we're being forced or flexed into the same curvature as the frame. After a couple of minutes on, my vision adjusted but there was this strain in my eyes that would never go away. It's gotten better now and my eyes are almost instantly able to adjust when i swap my spectacles for sunglasses but the strain is still noticeable. Everytime I finish a ride and swap over to my regular spectacles, I can't help but feel slightly relieved and annoyed at the same time.
Remember when I said the prescription lenses were coming into contact with the sunglass lenses? Well after a year of usage, this small amount of contact has resulted in a decent amount of the lens tinting being scraped off. Yup, Rm800 worth of lenses just fucked (excuse my German) because of a shitty design.
Apart from that, they're a hassle to clean after a ride. You've gotta remove the sunglass lenses and then the prescription clip-ons, clean them both, them assemble them back together. All the while scraping off more of the lens tinting with each clean. And because there are 2 lenses at work on each side, when ever sweat gets in between the sunglass and prescription lenses, it's just a plain pain in the ass as you can't just take em off, wipe the lense with your shirt and keep on going as you would do for a pair of regular sunglasses or Spectacles. You've either got to bare with your already shitty vision being obstructed by sweat or stop by the road side, remove the sunglass lens, clean, reattach then go.
Next is fogging, it happens so fucking often, especially on those blistering hot afternoon rides, like the cherry on top of a cake for possibly the shitiest pair of sunglasses out there.
As for the photochromic properties of the ridiculously expensive but now scratched to shit lenses, it's virtually nonexistent anymore. Take a bright white torch light and shine at a spot for a couple of minutes, nothing. It still retains its polarising properties, both the lens and how they make me feel.
Also, i don't quite know why and I can't quite remember when it started, but lately I've noticed that bring objects such as the white lines at the sides of roads appear blurry, almost like a double-vision sort of experience. The only other time I've experienced this is with badly scratched spectacles. I've always cleaned the sunglasses and prescription lenses with the supplied microfiber bag cloth but it appears this pair of sunglasses really wants to be a champion at being the most fucked up (forgive my Russian) pair of sunnies out there.
Long story short, stay away from this route if you're in need of prescription sunglasses. get a pair of conventional sunglasses with relatively wide lenses and make a tinted pair or prescription lenses with UV-PROTECTIVE properties and save yourself the trouble, time, inconvenience and money wasted. If you're willing to splurge a little, go with the imported lenses option.
Writing this post has got my blood boiling just thinking about the piece of shit (pardon my French) I wasted so much money on. I hope a decent number of people can take something home from my misfortune and make wiser decisions when picking up a pair of sunnies. Don't make the penny wise, pound foolish mistake I made.
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