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Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,147
10,696
AK
Add dust to the list for those of us in dry climates. So much dust...

I'm one of those people who doesn't have a choice and needs to wear glasses. And my prescription is so strong that none of the fancy prescription sports glasses come close. I've tried a few "OTG" (over-the-glasses) goggles over the years but have yet to find any that don't fog up almost immediately. It's especially fun when your glasses AND your goggles fog up.
Don't you know?, if you wear glasses you are supposed to play chess or something, not sports.
 

chuffer

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2004
1,793
1,141
McMinnville, OR
I've tried goggles with my full-face twice. Fox & 100%. I couldn't stand it. With the helmet fitted properly the goggles pushed down on my nose so much that I couldn't breath comfortably. I think I gave the Fox goggles to a grom in the lift line after one run last summer...

Other than ordering one of every brand of goggle from Jenson, trying them all and returning the ones that don't fit, any advice on goggles to try? I don't know if I want something with a wider nose opening or shorter distance from the top to the nose opening...
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
2,070
1,440
SWE
With the helmet fitted properly the goggles pushed down on my nose so much that I couldn't breath comfortably
Same here! I did cut off some of the foam around the nose on my googles. It is still tight, there is no gap, and the pressure is less. Maybe combined with nasal strips it would feel like like breathing normally?

Nowadays I run mostly large sunglasses when riding at the bikepark. It works as long as it is dry and not too dusty. The fashion police hasn't stopped me yet! :dirol:
Screenshot_20240628_013025_Gallery.jpg
 

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
17,341
14,174
Cackalacka du Nord
I've tried goggles with my full-face twice. Fox & 100%. I couldn't stand it. With the helmet fitted properly the goggles pushed down on my nose so much that I couldn't breath comfortably. I think I gave the Fox goggles to a grom in the lift line after one run last summer...

Other than ordering one of every brand of goggle from Jenson, trying them all and returning the ones that don't fit, any advice on goggles to try? I don't know if I want something with a wider nose opening or shorter distance from the top to the nose opening...
just don't wear goggles?
 

SylentK

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
2,642
1,094
coloRADo
Add dust to the list for those of us in dry climates. So much dust...

I'm one of those people who doesn't have a choice and needs to wear glasses. And my prescription is so strong that none of the fancy prescription sports glasses come close. I've tried a few "OTG" (over-the-glasses) goggles over the years but have yet to find any that don't fog up almost immediately. It's especially fun when your glasses AND your goggles fog up.
Just curious. Since I'm practically blind without help. What is your Rx? I'm -6.5
 

SylentK

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
2,642
1,094
coloRADo
The biggest issue with goggles IME is fogging. The biggest reason you use them is watering with mud being a pretty close secondary. The issue with fogging though is this isn't like motorsports or even skiing, our exertion screws the entire thing up, skiing you are going downhill all the time, as you work harder on mtb, in cooler places, you start getting fog. Unless this somehow magically stops fog, which every single thing that makes that claim doesn't deliver on, I don't see the point.

Plus, these make fuck-all allowance for people that have to wear glasses. I did start using contacts for similar reasons, but not everyone can.
Yeah, the fogging thing is real. So is dust. How does a company solve for both? Seems like a foam/seal possible humidity thing. So it would depend on climate as well? Which would maybe add to a variable in the equation? Which maybe Fox is trying to address? Maybe? I hope?
 

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
17,341
14,174
Cackalacka du Nord
Pretty much my solution…but I’d actually really like to find some goggles that fit, bc sometimes it rains here in Oarahgone.
maybe i'm just weird. being nearish to snowshoe, i ride downhill in mud a lot...i've still never felt a need...but again, i'm weird. don't wear gloves...ride flats..have had one bike to rule them all for years, etc...
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,147
10,696
AK
Anything high speed is goggles-territory IME, but the fogging issue is a bitch. Glasses with OTG is horrible for fogging. Regular goggles will fog up here too, but not as much as trying to run glasses underneath. We have the worst possible conditions, relatively high humidity, high pressure and cold temps. If it's not fogging, it's moisture freezing instantly and creating a frozen film. Then you add high exertion like mtb and it's just horrible. Even regular glasses will fog up at times IN THE SUMMER when it's cooler in the morning with higher humidity. It's hard to win this one without contacts and in the winter it seems like the warmer winter temps bring out a lot more people with goggles. They seem to do this because they wear goggles for DH skiing and think it should be the same thing? I'm either with regular glasses or contacts and riding sunglasses, either orange or clear now. You definitely need some sort of eye protection, but the warmer temps seem to bring out the people in droves with goggles and puffy jackets overheating like crazy riding at 4mph.

But now I look back on all the advertising, all the frontrunners and winners...I realize that it's either contacts or perfect vision. They don't really consider people that wear glasses. Pretty much any solution for that apart from contacts is total crap. Glasses with inserts (fog much more), OTG goggles (fog much more) all suck. I can't count how many times winter before last I would just be standing and swearing on the trail, trying to wipe the frozen mess off my glasses. I also should have tried contacts a lot sooner.
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
5,328
2,423
not in Whistler anymore :/
Just curious. Since I'm practically blind without help. What is your Rx? I'm -6.5
-6 something and a bit less on the other eye. i got some rudy project sunnies with inserts. inserts were fucking expensive because thinnest glas available from carl zeiss were chosen. i can wear them and seldom touch my eye lashes on the glas. i did that a lot with my old adidas evil eyes. the rudy project inserts sit super tight, and the optician put some see through rubber thingies inbetween so they dont scratch up. highly recommend.
image.jpg
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,147
10,696
AK
Yeah, I just don't fucking get it. Why can't we get glasses that have the right Rx without an insert?
 

pe6u

Chimp
Apr 19, 2013
30
30
I've tried goggles with my full-face twice. Fox & 100%. I couldn't stand it. With the helmet fitted properly the goggles pushed down on my nose so much that I couldn't breath comfortably. I think I gave the Fox goggles to a grom in the lift line after one run last summer...

Other than ordering one of every brand of goggle from Jenson, trying them all and returning the ones that don't fit, any advice on goggles to try? I don't know if I want something with a wider nose opening or shorter distance from the top to the nose opening...
I felt the same with 100%, Smith are much better to my nose.
 

konifere

Monkey
Dec 20, 2021
607
753
I felt the same with 100%, Smith are much better to my nose.
Since I have a tall nose, I tried 100% junior goggles and I couldn't see a difference in field of view compared to the regular adult version, but they push much less on my nose.Plus they were cheaper. I wish more companies made goggles for smaller faces and//or taller noses, but I'll keep the Smith in mind for the next pair.
 

SylentK

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
2,642
1,094
coloRADo
-6 something and a bit less on the other eye. i got some rudy project sunnies with inserts. inserts were fucking expensive because thinnest glas available from carl zeiss were chosen. i can wear them and seldom touch my eye lashes on the glas. i did that a lot with my old adidas evil eyes. the rudy project inserts sit super tight, and the optician put some see through rubber thingies inbetween so they dont scratch up. highly recommend. View attachment 213990
I just got new Rx glasses. From Oakley. Surprised by the quality these days for my coke bottle ass. You can pretty much get any frame as an Rx now. Which didn't exist before.

I got these guys. So lightweight for my Rx its awesome. But I did buy all the bells and whistles. I could totally ride in these if needed.

 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
Guys. I need advice. No shit!??? Hhahah.
Now I need glasses for driving I should be wearing them to ride too. But just can't get on with them for proper mtb riding. Contacts go blurry too often. and distance glasses correct my vision perfectly but completely fuck up my sight for judging distance and perspective. and it only gets worse for drops, like I can't even judge the landing distances on even tiny step drops.
I had a pair of AliXpress photochromatic sports sunglasses made with my distance prescription and wear them driving and commuting daily where they work great but I've pretty much given up trying to mountainbike in them. Over the last few years I've steadily begun to actively avoid wooded trails with poor or dappled tight caused by tree cover as riding at speeds I should easily be comfortable with the realisation that it's just plain dangerous as I'm basically riding blind has begun to hit home. Opticians I've spoken to really haven't really been much help at all and many don't even seem to understand what I'm talking about in regards to not being able to judge distance with glasses. many just saying I need to get used to it. Glasses do sit fairly far out from my eyes as I have fairly high bridge so pushing them closer brings them up too high on my face. could this be part of the reason I'm having so much trouble judging distance when looking downwards?
Distance prescription is -2.5 reading -3.5 so I can still read my phone/garmin with distance correction.
These:
initially when I first got contacts the optician suggested wearing one distance and one reading contact. walking around etc. and reading this was great but when I tried this riding DH with mates I almost died so many times on the one run I had to stop and remove the reading lens half way down just to make it to the bottom. Again when speaking to the optician about this I was told my brain just needed to get used to it. Walking around, yeah. My brain seems to do a fine job but at on a bike with lots of information to take in at speed. No fucking chance while wearing two prescriptions. I'm also ADHD AF so maybe that's also a factor?
From the amount and regularity of minor injuries I've sustained throughout my entire life while doing every day shit and my general overall clumsiness I'm beginning to think I might also be a touch dyspraxic. Weirdly I'm not clumsy and don't sustain many injuries at all while riding bikes despite having always been somewhat of a risk taker whenever I'm on a bike. I'm not particularly clumsy working on them in the workshop either. I put this down to bikes giving me the exact amount of hyperfocus and dopamine. Even commuting for me is like a hyperfocused video game.
Doesn't seem that uncommon with dyspraxia and ADHD to be able to hyperfocus away the dyspraxia in certain (enjoyable) tasks. Eg. My youngest daughter's older brother is the most dyspraxic person I've ever met. like shoes on the wrong feet. wearing his sisters T-shirt oblivious that it's not his and standing on his phone with his fingers caught in the door hinges level dyspraxia. Basically had a season pass for A&E as a kid. is an adult now and very good Chef so uses super sharp knives, super hot stuff etc. for long shifts in busy kitchens and rarely has accidents there. He's also always been very ADHD and his hyperfocus has always been food and cooking same as his Dad.

Yeah. Way too much sharing. Sorry. Not sorry.
 
Last edited:

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,828
7,075
borcester rhymes
Guys. I need advice. No shit!??? Hhahah.
Now I need glasses for driving I should be wearing them to ride too. But just can't get on with them for proper mtb riding. Contacts go blurry too often. and distance glasses correct my vision perfectly but completely fuck up my sight for judging distance and perspective. and it only gets worse for drops, like I can't even judge the landing distances on even tiny step drops.
I had a pair of AliXpress photochromatic sports sunglasses made with my distance prescription and wear them driving and commuting daily where they work great but I've pretty much given up trying to mountainbike in them. Over the last few years I've steadily begun to actively avoid wooded trails with poor or dappled tight caused by tree cover as riding at speeds I should easily be comfortable with the realisation that it's just plain dangerous as I'm basically riding blind has begun to hit home. Opticians I've spoken to really haven't really been much help at all and many don't even seem to understand what I'm talking about in regards to not being able to judge distance with glasses. many just saying I need to get used to it. Glasses do sit fairly far out from my eyes as I have fairly high bridge so pushing them closer brings them up too high on my face. could this be part of the reason I'm having so much trouble judging distance when looking downwards?
Distance prescription is -2.5 reading -3.5 so I can still read my phone/garmin with distance correction.
These:
initially when I first got contacts the optician suggested wearing one distance and one reading contact. walking around etc. and reading this was great but when I tried this riding DH with mates I almost died so many times on the one run I had to stop and remove the reading lens half way down just to make it to the bottom. Again when speaking to the optician about this I was told my brain just needed to get used to it. Walking around, yeah. My brain seems to do a fine job but at on a bike with lots of information to take in at speed. No fucking chance while wearing two prescriptions. I'm also ADHD AF so maybe that's also a factor?
From the amount and regularity of minor injuries I've sustained throughout my entire life while doing every day shit and my general overall clumsiness I'm beginning to think I might also be a touch dyspraxic. Weirdly I'm not clumsy and don't sustain many injuries at all while riding bikes despite having always been somewhat of a risk taker whenever I'm on a bike. I'm not particularly clumsy working on them in the workshop either. I put this down to bikes giving me the exact amount of hyperfocus and dopamine. Even commuting for me is like a hyperfocused video game.
Doesn't seem that uncommon with dyspraxia and ADHD to be able to hyperfocus away the dyspraxia in certain (enjoyable) tasks. Eg. My youngest daughter's older brother is the most dyspraxic person I've ever met. like shoes on the wrong feet. wearing his sisters T-shirt oblivious that it's not his and standing on his phone with his fingers caught in the door hinges level dyspraxia. Basically had a season pass for A&E as a kid. is an adult now and very good Chef so uses super sharp knives, super hot stuff etc. for long shifts in busy kitchens and rarely has accidents there. He's also always been very ADHD and his hyperfocus has always been food and cooking same as his Dad.

Yeah. Way too much sharing. Sorry. Not sorry.
That's a lot of information.

I have struggled with prescription lenses in the past. My script is light so I typically ride in non-prescription sunglasses or goggles, and will occasionally wear my glasses in the early morning or when I can't get a set of sunnies to fit. I hate no glasses, as bug in eye, so I always wear something.

I wonder if the script is too strong or the astigmatism is wrong? From personal experience, I had a set of glasses made that was fine for derping around the office, but I wore them once on the trail and it seemed like I couldn't put my tire where I wanted it to go- like my coordination was off. This was the first time I had ridden with these glasses. It could be that I suck at bikes, which is a reasonable assessment, but I went back to the eye doc (a different one this time) and found that my script was weaker than the previous, and the astigmatism was slightly different. So, I ended up with a weaker script that was closer to the one I had before these "bad glasses".

Anyways, all this is to say that maybe your script is wrong or the glasses were made incorrectly, or the alibayexpress shades have some distortion going on. I'd check with the optometrist to get his thoughts, and if he/she says "you just suck at bikes" then try a different one and start off by discussing your issues.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
Thanks. In might try a different optometrist. At the moment I just ride Waaaay less mtb. Which can't be a good thing
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,828
7,075
borcester rhymes
Thanks. In might try a different optometrist. At the moment I just ride Waaaay less mtb. Which can't be a good thing
I htink it's worth a shot, or even contacts. I haven't gone to contacts yet but as I get older I will probably need them to see correctly while riding. That dappled light you speak of is a real challenge on the potholed roads out here. Less so on trail because speeds are slower, but I chicken out on our local TT loop because I can't make out potholes from leaf spots. This is all without any kind of script.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
21,976
21,500
Canaderp
Thanks. In might try a different optometrist. At the moment I just ride Waaaay less mtb. Which can't be a good thing
Definitely get a second look at the eye balls.

Also aliexpress for precription stuff? :busted:

I wear glasses and need them for distance. But I NEVER wear them for riding. I am purely on the contacts boat.

I only put on clear protective glasses when I'm doing DH or super long descents. Regular trail riding its just too much fucking around with blurry lenses, fog, etc etc
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
I htink it's worth a shot, or even contacts. I haven't gone to contacts yet but as I get older I will probably need them to see correctly while riding. That dappled light you speak of is a real challenge on the potholed roads out here. Less so on trail because speeds are slower, but I chicken out on our local TT loop because I can't make out potholes from leaf spots. This is all without any kind of script.
We have some of the most fucked roads in Europe (not that we're fully in that anymore) and I generally commute between 70 and 160miles a week depending on laziness. it's never been an issue on the bike but for sure easier with corrected sight. Commuting while wearing the sports glasses I linked is like having a superpower (or being 30 again). eg. I can't see drivers from their wingmirrors while filtering without them. and that's the only way to pre-empt being "doored" or "cut up" by the dumb cunts! Also allows me to see what's happening waaay further ahead.
Got shouted at by an elderly couple yesterday for not stopping for them at a crossing I was actually stopped at. I'd simply seen them from miles back while filtering and braked fairly late for the stop line because disc brakes. But obscured by the truck first in line they hadn't seen me at all. So shat themselves when they saw me stop. You couldn't make the dumb shit up I hear from pedestrians and drivers almost daily.
 

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,192
1,160
I have a high, thin bridge on my nose and Smith goggles fit great. Oakleys do not (too far down by the nostrils, constrict airway a bit), and also somehow also manage to block my field of view around my nose more.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
Also aliexpress for precription stuff? :busted:
Not as dumb as thinking Oakley etc. is something premium in anything but cost to punter ;)

Should have said. My normal distance specs from the optomitrists (2x different pairs) give the same effect on drops etc.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,828
7,075
borcester rhymes
Definitely get a second look at the eye balls.

Also aliexpress for precription stuff? :busted:

I wear glasses and need them for distance. But I NEVER wear them for riding. I am purely on the contacts boat.

I only put on clear protective glasses when I'm doing DH or super long descents. Regular trail riding its just too much fucking around with blurry lenses, fog, etc etc
A lot of the aliexpress glasses ship with an empty insert. You can take that to a legitimate optometrist to have lenses cut. Putting $300 luxotica lenses into a $20 set of rockbros is another thing, though.

That being said, the hot shit is zenni optical, which is all made in china and shipped to the US. They've become my favorite way through the monopoly
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
looking like I should persevere with contacts. maybe all I need is clear riding specs over to stop the wind/blurring.
Fuck. Gonna end up looking like an Enduro cunt!
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
21,976
21,500
Canaderp
looking like I should persevere with contacts. maybe all I need is clear riding specs over to stop the wind/blurring.
Fuck. Gonna end up looking like an Enduro cunt!
The clears with contacts is the way to go, especially if you ride fast stuff or get grit in the eyes.

I posted some clear glasses in the aliexpress thread a while back that are pretty minimal and only cost a few dollars. I got 4-5 pairs and they've lasted. Also don't look totally douchy like those huge tinted goggle glasses that peeps wear.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
thanks I'll have a look. an AliXpress peruse always makes me feel less poor with the added bonus of a complete surprise delivery a few days to a few weeks later.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,735
1,247
NORCAL is the hizzle
Just curious. Since I'm practically blind without help. What is your Rx? I'm -6.5
-10.5. In my good eye.

Yeah, I just don't fucking get it. Why can't we get glasses that have the right Rx without an insert?
The main reason I've heard for years is that the surface area is so big that to get a heavy prescription to work the lenses end up too thick and heavy due to the need for curvature, etc. You'd think someone would have figured out a better solution by now but apparently not, even so-called high index lenses still have that issue.