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Prescription sunglasses - Recommendations?

I sleep with my optometrist and am able to keep her happy so I get a good deal on eye appointments and eyeglasses.
 
I have had both and simply disagree. I had the optometrist measure from my head to the map in the tankbag and also to the instruments and to have the lens ground accordingly. I can glance at the map with barely moving my head and see the instruments clearly too. And of course the road ahead.

Now to deal with the pesky cataract in my right eye.
I couldn't agree more. My brother is an optometrist and I still go to him for expert opinion after nearly 50 years of practice. My first progressives came not long after I started riding and it was because I began to have trouble quickly focusing on instrumentation and that bike had the instruments positioned on the gas tank so looking down meant really looking down from the horizon. Progressives were a huge change and I almost did not make the adjustment with the first pair but when I shared that with him he explained much of what we "see" is the brain filling in the spaces between what the eyes actually perceive and what the brain images as sight. During the first days to weeks of the new glasses (progressives) I had to give my brain time to recalibrate how progressive lenses altered what I was piecing together as sight. In a week or two the issue had resolved and the initial large, purposeful movements of the head to "aim" the progressive lenses were no longer necessary.
 
I couldn't agree more. My brother is an optometrist and I still go to him for expert opinion after nearly 50 years of practice. My first progressives came not long after I started riding and it was because I began to have trouble quickly focusing on instrumentation and that bike had the instruments positioned on the gas tank so looking down meant really looking down from the horizon. Progressives were a huge change and I almost did not make the adjustment with the first pair but when I shared that with him he explained much of what we "see" is the brain filling in the spaces between what the eyes actually perceive and what the brain images as sight. During the first days to weeks of the new glasses (progressives) I had to give my brain time to recalibrate how progressive lenses altered what I was piecing together as sight. In a week or two the issue had resolved and the initial large, purposeful movements of the head to "aim" the progressive lenses were no longer necessary.

i use progressives for everyday use, yup, they are good after you get used to them. bifocals are just better for riding and driving.

those that say otherwise...have you actually tried bifocals(distance/computer) for riding? if you haven't, you should.
 
As long as we're still on the topic of sunglasses...Chromatic lenses don't change behind UV protection (such as on helmet shields and car windshields)...does anyone know if you darken the glasses and then get it the car or lower the shield if they will stay dark? easy enough to try- but I keep forgetting!
 
As long as we're still on the topic of sunglasses...Chromatic lenses don't change behind UV protection (such as on helmet shields and car windshields)...does anyone know if you darken the glasses and then get it the car or lower the shield if they will stay dark? easy enough to try- but I keep forgetting!

No, they will not stay dark.
 
As long as we're still on the topic of sunglasses...Chromatic lenses don't change behind UV protection (such as on helmet shields and car windshields)...does anyone know if you darken the glasses and then get it the car or lower the shield if they will stay dark? easy enough to try- but I keep forgetting!

My prescription glasses go dark in the car. The newer version of glasses do work. It's not as dark as direct sunlight, but they do change.
 
As long as we're still on the topic of sunglasses...Chromatic lenses don't change behind UV protection (such as on helmet shields and car windshields)...does anyone know if you darken the glasses and then get it the car or lower the shield if they will stay dark? easy enough to try- but I keep forgetting!

Mine will darken behind a UV blocking faceshield or windshield.
See post #32.
 
i use progressives for everyday use, yup, they are good after you get used to them. bifocals are just better for riding and driving.

those that say otherwise...have you actually tried bifocals(distance/computer) for riding? if you haven't, you should.
My optometrist disagrees. When riding and driving high performance cars he wears the same digital progressives I do. I believe there is room for personal choice and I agree with your opinion..... for you.
 
My optometrist disagrees. When riding and driving high performance cars he wears the same digital progressives I do. I believe there is room for personal choice and I agree with your opinion..... for you.

Yup. No absolutes.... But unless you have tried the options yourself it is hard to make a recommendation for others. I have tried the options extensively on track in race cars and on motorcycles. So in my experience, bifocals work better.....for me. 🙂

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way"

Ride on!
 
My prescription glasses go dark in the car. The newer version of glasses do work. It's not as dark as direct sunlight, but they do change.
Since transition lenses work based on uv light, the amount they may change in a car or behind a visor depends on how much uv passes through the windows/visor. Not all cars/visor block uv the same. Your darkening will vary because of this.

My lenses go dark in my 45yo BMW 2002. They don't change at all in wife's recent BMW X3.
 
Photochromic visor

I bought a photochromic "Transitions" visor (changes darkness like automatic sunglasses) PLUS I use photochromatic prescription lenses, as well The combination works OK. These visors for my Bell helmet cost around $100 at Cycle Gear.

A magazine article notes that these lose effectiveness after a while, but I have not noticed any loss, myself. They still get very dark (but easy to see out of.) https://www.theridesofar.com/2017/09/the-downside-of-photochromic-helmet-faceshields/

I also have a heated faceshield (around $100, which works wonderfully in the winter) but when I use that, of course, there is no darkening and I have to rely on my eyeglasses to darken, and sometimes in the winter it is very bright outside with a low sun angle.
 
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