[rideit]

So, I am relatively new to contacts, and it was an eye opener (groan) as to how much it helped my riding. However, I find that my eyes get blurry and irritated when riding super-chunk, or especially dusty conditions. Enough so that it affects my riding speed.
It honestly reminds me of those awful early rigid bike runs on Porcupine, where you had to run 40 PSI, and your eyeballs would rattle.
What do you folks that require vision correction use?
Are hard contacts better than soft for this?
I really don’t want prescription sunglasses for a few reasons, but maybe that’s the way?

EDIT: Hauling Ass is, of course, relative.
We all have asses, and haul them around.

 

[Jm_]

You are riding with protective glasses/sunglasses/goggles, yes?

I don't seem to have that problem when I wear my contacts. I do notice that I do occasionally get some blurred vision and have to blink a little more, it seems to be dependent on conditions and how dry it is/my eyes are. I feel like my contact prescription is 98% of the way there, but not quite right either. I think this causes a little of it. We tested + and - and it's "in the middle" like it should be, but it's not *quite* as good as glasses...but it's real close. I started wearing the contacts for big (summer) races and for anything winter.

Prescription glasses fog up way too easy and may not even block the wind great, it just depends on the exact glasses IME. Hell, even a guy with goggles had to take them off in whatever hot-ass temp it was this weekend in the heat dome because they were fogging. Like at least 80 degrees.

Again, I'm assuming you are using some eye protection? This just doesn't seem like a problem when using eye protection.

 

[rideit]

Yes, I always, always wear sunglasses, even clear at night.

 

[Jm_]

Yes, I always, always wear sunglasses, even clear at night.

Maybe play around with those? At a certain speed my prescription "sport" glasses get pretty terrible and water my eyes a lot. Actual riding glasses seem better to me.

Maybe go back to the doc too and see if they have any ideas? The "eyeballs shaking in sockets" sounds a bit odd. I use the dailys, so same soft lens.

 

[rideit]

To be clear, the sensation vaguely reminds me of those days, it’s not actually like that.

 

[bullcrew]

So what if I want to talk about them while sitting down and not hauling ass?

 

[Gary]

Just talk. It's good to talk. Even if no one's listening.

 

[6thElement]

Prescription glasses, pick up some "cheap" from Zenni. I have sunnies and transitions for riding.

 

[Andeh]

I wore soft contacts for ~25 years until I got Lasik 4 years ago. I never wore hard lenses but heard from my brother who had them that they moved around when doing rough activities (MTB, snowboarding, offroading), plus they're more sensitive to grit/dust. I never noticed that bouncing effect with soft lenses unless my eyes were watering heavily. How good do your riding sunglasses seal off wind?

Lasik is pretty incredible and I wish I'd done it earlier, but it costs as much as a nice new MTB if you get it done at a highly reputable place. I tried to get it done out of college but was told at the time they couldn't handle my high correction. When I went back 15 years after that, they said, yeah, no problem. Computers scan the eye, then compare the shape to a national database of eyeball shapes and correction profiles, then generate one for your eyes. Plus the precision is better.

 

[Sandwich]

I have regular glasses that I wear on dark mornings or evenings. I find that it helps a lot with visual acquity, and since they sit far from my face, they do not fog.

I am #blessed that my vision is not bad enough to need correction for sunny, normal day riding. I used to wear prescription sunglasses but switched to goggle with no lenses for DHing as I couldn't get my lenses to fit. To be honest, I've never messed with contacts as I am so ugly I could use the coverage that glasses provide. I always wear something over my face.

So I guess this probably doesn't help, if your problem is directly related to contacts

 

[SkaredShtles]

After about 30 years I gave up contacts except for skiing. There was no solution to the blurry/irritated eyes that I ever found that worked for me. Not sure that helps.

 

[Jm_]

So what if I want to talk about them while sitting down and not hauling ass?

Get some ass looser, we are going hauling!

 

[Andeh]

One other thought I had was that if you're wearing dailys, they might not quite be as secure a fit as quarterly or annual ones. It'd be worth asking your optometrist about that. I always wore quarterly lenses.

 

[jstuhlman]

huh. i wear contacts (soft) and have for years. never wear goggles or sunglasses. never really had a problem with them. i suspect some of it has to do with how dry each person's eyes tend to be.

 

[Gary]

Hmm... No shit?

 

[Jm_]

huh. i wear contacts (soft) and have for years. never wear goggles or sunglasses. never really had a problem with them. i suspect some of it has to do with how dry each person's eyes tend to be.

I think this is a big part of it. I notice this is more of an issue (still never horrible for me) if my eyes are drier. The contact lenses do act like little mini-glasses and give you some protection. I and others ride in the cold at times w/o glasses due to this, taking off something that's fogging up. It's still a little shield over a part of your eye. I do wear protective glasses over though, there's just too many things here that can take an eye out and then the added wind-blocking is helpful. I find big speed changes seem to exacerbate watering and that's where more blocking is nice. Again, I notice more "blurry/can't focus" when my eyes are drier, so maybe take some eye drops with you and put some in right before or even during?

 

[Gary]

One other thought I had was that if you're wearing dailys, they might not quite be as secure a fit as quarterly or annual ones. It'd be worth asking your optometrist about that. I always wore quarterly lenses.

I'm only quite new to contacts but having tried a few different brand dailies. There's definitely a difference in both fit/comfort and ease of fitting between different brands. So my noob advice would be to try different brands.

 

[SylentK]

Well you can wear glasses. But they tend to bounce. And your vision gets weird. Contacts do not. Either way, you get used to it.

I've been wearing glasses/contacts for over 30 years. And mtbing and other sports that same amount of time. Axtually even moar.

Getting older my eyes are drying out. My opto will confirm. So I tend to do a lot more eye drops during rides. Especially before descents. And take out the contacts around dinner time. With more drops.

Following the bros brings up so much dust. So try to lead or stay waaaaay back. Lube eyes often. Can't stress that enough.

Goggles help. Last season I was just hauling ass. With regular sunnies. Lift service in Vail. Blinked hard and my contact came out. I got it back in. But that was a first for me. You can just use your saliva or water from anywhere if you need to relube your contacts. Not optimal, but yeah, Just saying.

Pro tip

 

[SkaredShtles]

huh. i wear contacts (soft) and have for years. never wear goggles or sunglasses. never really had a problem with them. i suspect some of it has to do with how dry each person's eyes tend to be.

Also living somewhere with 100% humidity all the time probably has an impact.

 

[canadmos]

I wear monthly contacts and notice that they get worse as they get older. Duh. I only use them for riding, so I usually push keep them for long than a month. But there's definitely a cutoff point where they get dry/irritating too fast.

 

[boostindoubles]

Prescription WileyX's for daytime

OVO glasses for night time/indoors

I noticed my vision has been getting wonky. Turns out my prescription has changed and I need new lenses.

I wore contacts for years but had too many problems considering I was always working outside in the dust and in dirty warehouses.

 

[Kanye West]

If your eyes are blurring like that when riding, the root cause is your posture/tension in your whole body, not the corrective lens.

 

[canadmos]

Yes, relax the butt hole.

 

[Oz_Goose]

I'm up to 31 years wearing contacts. I always wear sunglasses but occasionally find the wind can dry the lense a fraction. When that happens it becomes blurry, but closing that eye can re-moisturise the lense. It becomes a bit sketchy when that happens mid downhill run.

I'm running daily disposable lenses these days, I've found them to be the best for my eyes. Also remember that contacts are personal, what works for me may not work for you, and it can also change over time.

Main thing is to look after your eye health as long term contact lense wearing does come with some risks.