MTB/Skiing goggles for road riding?

[GrasB]

I normally wear glasses but today I was brought down to a craw by the falling snow blinding me glasses on or off. So my attention goes to bad weather eye protection & quickly ends up looking at MTB & skiing goggles. What do people think to this? My impression is that MTB goggles are designed to grip on a full face helmet where as skiing goggles may be better as they're designed to go around a hat. My concern with skiing goggles is that they don't appear to have the ventilation of MTB goggles. Ideas & recommendations please.

 

[Ashaman42]

I normally wear glasses but today I was brought down to a craw by the falling snow blinding me glasses on or off. So my attention goes to bad weather eye protection & quickly ends up looking at MTB & skiing goggles. What do people think to this? My impression is that MTB goggles are designed to grip on a full face helmet where as skiing goggles may be better as they're designed to go around a hat. My concern with skiing goggles is that they don't appear to have the ventilation of MTB goggles. Ideas & recommendations please.

What about some wraparound clear sunglasses/safety specs?

I'm thinking of getting some, should be better at keeping the snow off than my 'proper' glasses but hopefully less prone to fogging up than goggles would be.

 

[palinurus]

In falling snow I wear a cycling cap, otherwise the stuff settles on my glasses (wraparound prescription cycling specs.)

If you wear a helmet it goes like this: Buff, cap, helmet. If the cap is large enough it can fit over one of those skullcap things.

 

[nickprior]

The other problem with alpine ski goggles (fogging up being my main gripe with them) is the loss of a great swathe of peripheral vision. I hate using the things when I'm skiing. The idea of using them on a bike on the road in traffic leaves me cold.

Cross country skiing goggles though could be viable - something like these maybe?

 

[HJ]

I find ski goggles tend to fog up when skiing, so I wouldn't recommend them for cycling where you are working hard. The Nordic ski goggles which nickprior suggest could be a good solution.

 

[slowmotion]

The other problem with alpine ski goggles (fogging up being my main gripe with them) is the loss of a great swathe of peripheral vision. I hate using the things when I'm skiing. The idea of using them on a bike on the road in traffic leaves me cold.

Absolutely. I've never found a pair of ski goggles that doesn't fog up in bad weather. I think your vision would be so restricted that it would be almost impossible to make a useful "lifesaver".

 

[Fab Foodie]

I used ski-goggles and a Balaclava back in the early 80's and they seemed to work fairly well in the very cold weather. Fogging can be an issue, but I found many glasses back then inneffective (compared to today) and a bit of fog was better than looking through constantly watering eyes!

 

[Zoiders]

I just wear my wrap around clear lenses, they work fine in the snow.

Failing that there is a hell of a range of balistic eyewear that does both jobs at the moment

Heinnie seem to have a good selection.

http://www.heinnie.com/Eyewear/Bobster-Eyewear/c-1-427-428/

 

[szygy]

I would just go to a safety supplies shop and get some yellow wrap-around safety specs. These will cost about £5, they don't fog up and the yellow improves low light vision and prevents glare from headlights. If you want to be fashionable Cebe make safety specs also.

 

[zizou]

decent ski goggles are double glazed so tend to deal with misting better than mtb goggles when the weather is really cold and snowing.

mtb goggles will be better for milder temperatures but unless its downhill mountain biking when you want the extra protection then i dont see any advantage to them than wearing normal glasses

 

[GrasB]

My problem was that the snow was falling very slowly & swirling around everything including the glasses so getting onto both sides of the lens & also into my eyes. If it was just getting onto the front of the glasses then everything would have been solved with a brush of the glove every 30-40s or so.

szygy, most safety glasses simply don't cut the mustard in terms of anti-misting & those that do are just as expensive as cycling specific glasses. I've got some very nicely ventilated cycling specific wraparounds that I normally wear, compared to safety glasses they offer much better ventilation at the disadvantage of making my eyes water quite a lot at the start of the ride. Ventilation is key for me as until it gets down to around -3C I'm still able to push out over 300w of power if dressed properly. That means I'm dripping with sweat & still needing to drink about 750ml of water every hour to avoid dehydration (this requirement is rather demanding in its self). Quite often I find that ice is forming on the INSIDE of the lens after much over 2 1/2h of cycling. If the lens is that cold & I'm pushing hard no anti-mist coating is going to work end of story, the only solution is good ventilation.

zizou, thanks for your insight, that's quite useful information. I agree with you with regard for goggles for normal riding, but I'm looking at the more exceptional riding.

 

[szygy]

GrasB, the safety specs I have dont fog up at all, but I suspect that this is due to their generous ventilation. They look like wrap around shades. They have fogged up when I was wearing a scarf over my mouth and nose though.
They wont stop fine snow particles gowing round the sides though.
If you dont mind looking around, the best snow glasses I have had were Bolle glacier glasses (with the leather bits on the sides), but this style seems not to be made anymore. The perforated leather stopped all snow, but allowed the lenses to stay clear. Not cheap though.
My current glasses are Bloc mountain glasses with polarized lenses. ALWAYS get polarized lenses if you can afford to, well worth it in the wet, snow,and when the sun is low and reflecting off cars and the ground.

 

[Arfcollins]

I rely on my trusty Turbo-Visor:

here

 

[BSRU]

I wear razor ski goggles in this weather and wrap around specs at other times, if I didn't my eyes water like crazy and I cannot see anything. They do reduce peripheral vision, need to turn my head further back to see behind, and they did steam up until I taped over the vent holes on the bottom of the goggles.

 

[Flying Dodo]

The best sort of googles would be a pair which includes a GPS readout - like these googles Only £450..........