I need to buy some sunglasses for use when riding my road bike. I would like them to also be suitable for daily use as well. Anyone have a fave set they could suggest that won’t look ridiculous when not on a bike?
Well, what is your price range?
These are the type I have: Smith Redline. They have interchangeable lenses for different light conditions.
I used to have these: Smith Toaster. Also interchangeable, just from the top.
Yeah, depending on price range, I love love love my Rudy Project ones, Kalyos
For road cycling I would probably spend money on a decent pair of glasses, as recommended above.
Just so you know, though, all the big safety companies (pulsafe, bolle, dewalt etc) now do safety glasses that look pretty good, and cost peanuts. I use these as essentially disposable items for mountain biking, where glasses get beaten up a fair bit - (I’m also in Scotland where there is no sun, so the lack of a quality lens is not that important).
The big issue with cycling glasses is fogging, at least it is on the trail. I assume the road is similar - you want a pair that can circulate air effectively around the frame. This can apparently be a problem if you wear contact lenses.
I’m a “Sunglasses by the dozen” kind of guy. My current dozen are XPORTZ blade style. These are the ones you see on displays in supermarkets/drug stores/gas stations/shady (hehe) stands in tourist areas.
Decent glasses, though you get one with an optical flaw once in a while. Probably won’t hold up to heavy impact, but work great for what I need. And at $3.33 each pair, I just discard when they get scratched up. (I’m on my 3rd pair in 5 or 6 months. I wear them whenever outside and the sun is up.)
They don’t have heavy frames, are comfortable, and also don’t have frames along the outside edge, or bottom. Seeing the frame annoys me.
I ended up getting some Bolle Shiny Espresso Limits. So far so good!
I may be dating myself, but I think Ray-Ban Wayfarers are pretty much the best all-around sunglasses on the market. The frames are nearly unbreakable. I don’t think they look ridiculous (depending on the shape of your face, of course), and they’re still worn by enough people that they won’t stand out as anything unusual.
They’ll work well on a road bike. The frames do a pretty good job of protecting your eyes from wind. I’ve worn them with an open-face helmet while riding a motorcycle at pretty high speeds, and they’ve been fine.
Ray-Ban lenses are pretty high-quality. The only drawback (if you care about this) is that Bausch & Lomb lenses are glass, which makes for very high optical quality and scratch resistance, but isn’t nearly as shatterproof as polycarbonate. For me, this doesn’t matter - I need prescription lenses, so I can have plastic or polycarbonate lenses.