Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Cycling Eyewear - Finding The Perfect Glasses

If you ride a bike much at any speed, you quickly come to realize that some sort of glasses are necessary to keep the wind and bugs out of your eyes. In sub-zero temps, it becomes even more important, since you can really hurt your eyes with cold wind.

Just like bicycles, cycling glasses can cost just about as much as you are willing to spend.




The sunglasses shown above have some pretty impressive copy written for them, describing sunglass technology I didn't even know existed!

I am pretty rough on my sunglasses, so I have never had expensive ones like the ones pictured above. I bought a pair of knockoff $25 sunglasses at the drugstore about two years ago, and miraculously, I'm still wearing them as my summer glasses. The lenses are scratched and marked up, but I stay with them because of some customizations on them that I won't be able to find anywhere else.


My glasses originally had rubber nose rests that would slide a little sometimes. The earpieces and their rubber inserts never quite hugged just right either, and the glasses were a little heavy overall. Thanks to my customizer, however, my glasses have been perfect for the last month or so. Let me show you what he did:

By removing the rubber nose rests, he created micro sub-dermal insertion retaining posts. Just a gentle press, and those suckers stay put! No slip, no slide! He is a genius. Check this out:


The nano-abrasions act like tiny hooks that grab my skin and hair, and the wing ends have been reshaped to properly contact my asymmetrical and cauliflowered ears, minimizing slip and vibration! You can't get attention to detail like that off the shelf for any price. The removal of the soft rubber inserts allows the nano-abrasions to grasp on both the outer and inner surfaces of the ring, and shaves precious grams from the whole package. I am a very lucky fellow to have found my velo-optics customizer. Take a bow, super genius with the master craftsman's touch!













And to think you accomplished such fine high-end work using only your teeth! You are amazing, you sweet little bugger!

Hey, sorry I yanked your chain. Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K
P.S. - I really do still wear those glasses.

8 comments:

Johnny said...

Is that your dog? :)

I need eyeglasses, and the folks at my optometrist talked me into these huge, darkening lenses for cycling after my wreck. They look goofy as hell, but they do a nice job. Some of my friends ride sans any lenses, and it baffles me. My last glasses had tiny lenses, and I was all weepy in the winter by the time I got to work:)

RANTWICK said...

Yes, that is my actual dog, and the actual chewer of my sunglasses.

Nothing is goofy. What works works. I wear motocross goggles in the coldest months of winter...

Johnny said...

That's a good idea for winter! I wonder if I can find a pair that will fit over my windshield-esque glasses....

:)

Steve A said...

Now, on MY blog, any post involving sunglasses would definitely have had a skiing connection instead of a K9 one, since many sunglass manufacturers also make ski goggles. In fact, after a decent interval, and y'all have forgotten about THIS post...

RANTWICK said...

Steve,

Thank you for allowing an appropriate period of mourning before one-upping my post.

I am confident that anything appearing on YOUR blog will be most excellent.

Keri said...

I love the photo of your dog, it's the perfect I-just-screwed-up-but-aren't-I-adorable doggie face.

[vachaer]

cafiend said...

If I did not work in the business I could not afford the sunglasses I have (Rudy Project Ekynox). I need the prescription insert, which jacks the price even further.

When I wore contacts I used cheap polarized sunglasses. I don't know why expensive sunglasses have to be expensive except for marketing BS.

RANTWICK said...

Being the curious sort, I went and checked the price on your glasses (or similar).

They came up at $174 w/o presecription insert. I know you would get them for considerably less, and that doesn't seem extreme to me... I've always been afraid of good glasses because I would wreck or lose them.

Could I start buying stuff from you at cost with Canadian Tire money? That would help me a lot.

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