Prescription Glasses for Cycling

[Veloscot]

Hi. Can anyone point me to a good manufacturer / supplier of prescription eyewear? I am near sighted and have astigmatism and I found wearing contact lenses too uncomfortable because of it. So I'm stuck with expensive, prescription glasses. I used to have a set of Oakleys and latterly some Rudy Projects with inserts but these broke and I can't find a UK vendor now. Oakley no longer manufacture my prescription.

I recently went to Optilabs (http://www.optilabs.com/) who I must say pulled out all the stops to try and accommodate my prescription but in the end they couldn't do it. After several goes at getting it right, I gave up and had to return the glasses. A real shame because I loved the frame design so much.

Has anyone here faced a similar problem? It's mainly my left eye that's the problem - I need a -4.50 strength.

 

[ianrauk]

My right eye is a -4.50 and my Optilabs glasses work perfect.

What was the problem you had with them?

 

[HLaB]

I didn't think -4.5 was all that extreme, I'm minus 4.5 in my left eye and whenever I've looked manufacturers have them. At the moment I'm occasionally wearing contact lenses under any sunglasses or more often my normal glasses which I specced to be wide, short frames to give me reasonable protection and lightweight for comfort.

 

[Veloscot]

The

My right eye is a -4.50 and my Optilabs glasses work perfect.

What was the problem you had with them?

Hi. When i got the glasses from Optilabs, I first thought they'd got my prescription wrong. When I put them on, everything was blurred. So I returned them and asked them to verify the information I gave was correct. It was. They said that if I found them uncomfortable it might be to do with my astigmatism (the shape of my eyes). So they remade the glasses to a different shape and send them back to me. These were no better so I sent them back again. I went back to my opticians and asked for a re-test but the initial data I gave was accurate. Optilabs then said that the curvature of the glasses were probably too extreme for my level of astigmatism so attempted to bend the frame. This didn't work either and I just gave up. I figured there must be hundreds of other cyclists around with similar problem. Just wondering how they get around this?

 

[Veloscot]

I didn't think -4.5 was all that extreme, I'm minus 4.5 in my left eye and whenever I've looked manufacturers have them. At the moment I'm occasionally wearing contact lenses under any sunglasses or more often my normal glasses which I specced to be wide, short frames to give me reasonable protection and lightweight for comfort.

That's interesting but do you have astigmastism as well though? I think this is the crucial bit as it means that my eyes can't cope with the curvature of wraparound-style glasses.

 

[JtB]

I use these Osiris Sun glasses from Spec Savers.

I know there is a limit on the strength, but I can't remember what it is.

 

[ianrauk]

I also have an astigmatism.
When I first got the glasses it was like looking through a fishbowl. Made me feel a little queezy.
But Optilabs do mention this effect that the glasses do have with strong prescriptions, especially due to the wrap around style.
When I first tried them on it was enough to nearly put me off, but I did as they suggested and persevered. Took a week but my eye's soon got used to the effect. Now I can't do without them

 

[Veloscot]

I also have an astigmatism.
When I first got the glasses it was like looking through a fishbowl. Made me feel a little queezy.
But Optilabs do mention this effect that the glasses do have with strong prescriptions, especially due to the wrap around style.
When I first tried them on it was enough to nearly put me off, but I did as they suggested and persevered. Took a week but my eye's soon got used to the effect. Now I can't do without them

I am glad to hear that but there was simply no way I could cope with the glasses Optilabs sent me. It was better just to have no glasses at all!

 

[Dave7]

I use these Osiris Sun glasses from Spec Savers.

I know there is a limit on the strength, but I can't remember what it is.

+1. They are the best I have found for keeping the wind out of my eyes.......great for golf as well-although my scores haven't come down much
Boots also do some lovely looking 'wrap-around's' with insert lenses and they will get them in for you to look at with no obligations......the reason I went for Specsavers was purely to keep the wind off my eyes.

 

[HLaB]

That's interesting but do you have astigmastism as well though? I think this is the crucial bit as it means that my eyes can't cope with the curvature of wraparound-style glasses.

No but its interesting to read Ian's post. I hope you get it sorted, good luck!

 

[Veloscot]

Thanks everyone for the advice and help. I've just googled for Rudy Project glasses. It appears http://www.extreme-eyewear.co.uk do prescription versions with an insert. At least the insert allows me to go for a higher strength prescription that'll deal with astigmatism as well.

 

[Aushiker]

Thanks everyone for the advice and help. I've just googled for Rudy Project glasses. It appears http://www.extreme-eyewear.co.uk do prescription versions with an insert. At least the insert allows me to go for a higher strength prescription that'll deal with astigmatism as well.

One thing to consider with inserts (I am assuming it is the RX (?) insert that sits behind the outer lens) is that in wet conditions they can easily fog up. WIth mine I found it really hard to ride in the rain as having to try and clean the actual inserts was a frequent real pain. It was easy to apply a chemical (e.g., Rain-X) to the outer glass but it really had no affect on the inner lens. Hope that makes sense)

I gave up on them and now have a Timberland frame which is a partial wrap, but at least it protects my eyes quite well riding and will take my transition lens. My prescription is such that it cannot be fitted to wrap around frames.

Good luck.

Andrew

 

[Veloscot]

Thanks @Aushiker Yes you are quite right. I know about the fogging problem with RX inserts as I had Rudy Project glasses before. They did fog up in the wet but so do my regular glasses when I'm out walking so I just learned to live with it. I'm mostly a fair weather bike rider anyway so the fogging issue isn't a dealbreaker for me. What matters to me most is the prescription itself.

 

[BigTam]

I have used these guys.

http://www.uksportseyewear.co.uk/

 

[Veloscot]

Thanks BigTam. Looks good. The anti-fogging function looks interesting. How did you get on with your glasses?