Optilabs photochromatic lens

Next question :-)

Having realised that I really do need to wear glasses whilst on my MTB
(I've only been wearing them generally for about four months), I've been
looking at the Optilabs Rapide or Blaze glasses. The photochromatic
lenses sound ideal for what I need - going from sunlight to shady
woodland and back again. The sales blurb conjures up images of MTBers
flashing in and out of sun-dappled woodland with glasses instantly
responding, but that certainly ain't how I remember them from the 1980s!
Have things improved drastically in the meantime?

Otherwise, it's mirror lenses, I think. Catch is, I can only really
afford to get one pair of glasses that have to be good in gloom as well
as sunlight, plus I don't want to have to keep chopping and changing.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

On 14/07/2008 21:47, Paul Boyd wrote:
Having realised that I really do need to wear glasses whilst on my MTB
(I've only been wearing them generally for about four months), I've been
looking at the Optilabs Rapide or Blaze glasses. The photochromatic
lenses sound ideal for what I need - going from sunlight to shady
woodland and back again. The sales blurb conjures up images of MTBers
flashing in and out of sun-dappled woodland with glasses instantly
responding, but that certainly ain't how I remember them from the 1980s!
Have things improved drastically in the meantime?

Not really, but the Optilabs ones are pretty good. Combined with a
peaked cycling cap I find that they're good for most conditions short of
low sun (particularly reflecting off a wet road).

Otherwise, it's mirror lenses, I think. Catch is, I can only really
afford to get one pair of glasses that have to be good in gloom as well
as sunlight, plus I don't want to have to keep chopping and changing.

The mirrors are no good in gloom. If you can only afford one pair then
I'd have no hesitation in recommending Optilabs photochromics. If you
can stretch to two pairs, then I have no regrets about buying
photochromics and mirrors.

Is your mum still in Kingswood? You'd be welcome to pop round and take
a look at them some time.

--
Danny Colyer http://www.redpedals.co.uk
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"The plural of anecdote is not data" - Frank Kotsonis

Hi Danny

Not really, but the Optilabs ones are pretty good. Combined with a
peaked cycling cap I find that they're good for most conditions short of
low sun (particularly reflecting off a wet road).

I've since found a discussion on BikeRadar that has given me some more
insight into photochromatics. My specific problem is that I can ride OK
without glasses in average daylight, but when I hit the woods my eyes
just lose focus very rapidly as the light level drops - I really can't
see the ground properly! My prescription is actually only -0.25 in each
eye, but there's some astigmatism correction going on although I don't
fully understand all the numbers!

The mirrors are no good in gloom. If you can only afford one pair then
I'd have no hesitation in recommending Optilabs photochromics. If you
can stretch to two pairs, then I have no regrets about buying
photochromics and mirrors.

I must admit that despite my first paragraph above, I'm coming around to
the possibility of two pairs. Being relatively new to SpeccyWorld, the
idea of a total of four pairs of glasses that may or may not work in a
few years time is worrying :-) If I do go for just one pair for
cycling, then *I think* that although mirrors will cut the light down
even further in the woods, the fact that I should still be able to focus
will solve the problem. I think...

Is your mum still in Kingswood? You'd be welcome to pop round and take
a look at them some time.

Well, that threw me! My mother now lives in Lincolnshire since
retiring, and I'm in Weston-super-Mare. She went up to Lincs on a
couple of cycling holidays and liked it so much she moved there!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd wrote:

I must admit that despite my first paragraph above, I'm coming around to
the possibility of two pairs. Being relatively new to SpeccyWorld, the
idea of a total of four pairs of glasses that may or may not work in a
few years time is worrying :-) If I do go for just one pair for
cycling, then *I think* that although mirrors will cut the light down
even further in the woods, the fact that I should still be able to focus
will solve the problem. I think...

I have a pair of Rudy Project specs with an optical insert and
interchangeable lenses. I can swap in whatever outer lenses I want from
clear to mirrored or take out the optical insert is I'm wearing contacts
(though my contacts really aren't odd enough for cycling.) The outers
flip up out of the way which is useful when you suddenly end up in deep
shade but don't want to lose the optical correction. Not of the outers
available are photochromatic though.

Colin

Colin Blackburn wrote:

Not of the outers
available are photochromatic though.

The Bolle Swiftkick have some photochromatic lenses available, though
they only have a limited range of adjustment and, for example, don't
clear completely.

I'm not yet entirely convinced they've tested the design for the
changeable lens mounting, I've broken one set (which I'll put down to
bad luck/carelessness) but there are some cracks in the corners of
another pair so I'm watching them carefully and won't recommend them
until I'm happy.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Colin Blackburn said the following on 15/07/2008 10:25:

I have a pair of Rudy Project specs with an optical insert and
interchangeable lenses. I can swap in whatever outer lenses I want from
clear to mirrored or take out the optical insert is I'm wearing contacts
(though my contacts really aren't odd enough for cycling.) The outers
flip up out of the way which is useful when you suddenly end up in deep
shade but don't want to lose the optical correction. Not of the outers
available are photochromatic though.

Ah - now those I like! I've been avoiding inserts because the inserts
always seem like an afterthought, but these (Rudy Project Exception)
work the other way around, so to speak.

I've decided against photochromatic lenses now. Transitions are
supposed to be the fastest on the market, but they still take several
minutes to go from dark to 70% clear. I reckon the flip-up lenses are
the way to go - thanks for making me look a bit closer at them!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd wrote:
Colin Blackburn said the following on 15/07/2008 10:25:

I have a pair of Rudy Project specs with an optical insert and
interchangeable lenses. I can swap in whatever outer lenses I want
from clear to mirrored or take out the optical insert is I'm wearing
contacts (though my contacts really aren't odd enough for cycling.)
The outers flip up out of the way which is useful when you suddenly
end up in deep shade but don't want to lose the optical correction.
Not of the outers available are photochromatic though.

Ah - now those I like! I've been avoiding inserts because the inserts
always seem like an afterthought, but these (Rudy Project Exception)
work the other way around, so to speak.

I've recently had my inserts re-glazed for 13.50 via a web-based
opticians. My own optician doesn't do re-glazing so they were prepared
to give me the one extra number that isn't on the prescription that the
online guys need. The re-glazing was excellent and fast.

I've not had any problems with the interchangeable outers, unlike Peter
has with his Bolle, but that might be down to relatively low use. Rudy
Project do, though, sell all the bits that are liable to be damaged as
spares.

Colin

On 15/07/2008 10:18, Paul Boyd wrote:
I must admit that despite my first paragraph above, I'm coming around to
the possibility of two pairs. Being relatively new to SpeccyWorld, the
idea of a total of four pairs of glasses that may or may not work in a
few years time is worrying :-)

"May or may not work in a few years time" is a good point. My
prescription has been pretty stable for the last 7 or 8 years, and was
also pretty stable for 7 or 8 years before that, but changed rapidly
during the first few years I was wearing glasses.

Of course, it may well have been significant that I was still growing
during the first few years I was wearing glasses...

--
Danny Colyer http://www.redpedals.co.uk
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"The plural of anecdote is not data" - Frank Kotsonis

Paul Boyd wrote:
Next question :-)

Having realised that I really do need to wear glasses whilst on my MTB
(I've only been wearing them generally for about four months), I've
been looking at the Optilabs Rapide or Blaze glasses. The
photochromatic lenses sound ideal for what I need - going from
sunlight to shady woodland and back again. The sales blurb conjures
up images of MTBers flashing in and out of sun-dappled woodland with
glasses instantly responding, but that certainly ain't how I remember
them from the 1980s! Have things improved drastically in the
meantime?

Not especially. My bird used to work in opticians and transitions are still
pretty poor.

Personally I'd rather cope with the slow (relatively) transition when
riding off-road than have to fiddle with a flip-up/down which would
mean a hand off the bars. YMMV, of course.
Not really noticed the transition time as being a problem on my
Optilabs Sprints, but I do need the +3ish + astigmatism corrections
(which I appreciate in a wrap around style).