Prescription eyeglasses for touring

On May 28, 10:46 am, wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
I'm not an expert on frame selection and have limited experience. As
I understand it, the leather covering around the sides and top of the
"glacier" eyeglasses is to prevent snow blindness and "light leaks"
for alpine climbers. I don't think they're particularly applicable
for bicyclists (unless you enjoy the smell of sweat soaked leather).

Point taken

Problem is.... I very near sighted and its best for me
to keep lens dimensions as small as possible otherwise
I get very thick heavy glasses plus vision distortions
in peripheral vision

So.... was thinking some kind of "John Lennon" style
glasses with darkening material around rest of filed of
vision

Don't obscure your peripheral vision - especially if you may be riding
in any traffic.

My prescription is -4 in one eye, -5 in the other. I always wear glasses, and
when I started riding a lot wanted wraparound sunglasses, mainly to cut down
on stuff getting in my eyes. My regular optician, with whom I've been happy
for years, said he couldn't do wraparounds for my prescription. I went to
another optician who was recommended by friends who ride, and got a pair
(brand is "bollé") that's worked great for me. So I think it's important to
find someone who's experienced with this type of eyewear.

On May 28, 9:15 pm, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 28 May 2010 17:27:31 -0500, wrote:
Mark Cleary wrote:

I was really myopic and had lasik surgery almost 10 years ago, it was a
blessing.

yes this is what I should do above.... but too damn
CHICKEN....

Stay chicken. Among my aquaintences, I know of 2 successful
operations, 1 neutral, and 1 disaster. Lots of horror stories on the
web:
http://lasikdisaster.com
http://www.lifeafterlasik.com

Problem is.... I very near sighted and its best for me
to keep lens dimensions as small as possible otherwise
I get very thick heavy glasses plus vision distortions
in peripheral vision

Prescription bicycling eyeglasses:
http://www.bicyclerx.com

Looking at lenses on the ZenniOptical web pile:
1.50-1.59 Typical plastic (polycarbonate) lenses.
1.61-1.67 High index -4 to +3 diopters
1.75 Very high index -5 to +4 diopeters.
Hmmm.... other sites claim larger corrections. For over 5 diopters,
the lenses will probably end up being glass, which is going to be
heavy. With 1.7-1.90 glass it is possible to go up to -12 to +12
diopters. The price is outrageous, the glass is brittle, and it does
not work well for bifocals.

Where does your prescription fit?

Beyond minor vision corrections, I don't have any experience. If your
vision is really awful, then professional help will probably be
required. Just about anything can be tinted or darkened to make
sunglasses. Clip-on or magnetic sun shades will also work. Wrap
around lenses and corrective optics don't mix well. At a minimum,
make sure the frame does not obstruct your peripheral vision. You may
not be able to focus correctly to the sides, but at least you'll see a
large vehicular out of focus blob coming your way, and be able to get
out of the way.

This last part does not sound even remotely acceptable to me.


If you have depth of field issues due to the high power of the lenses,
I'm not sure exactly where to optimize the focus. My guess(tm) is
approximately 5-10 meters ahead, which is my guess of approximately
your reaction time plus stopping distance. The scenery and the
handlebar mounted computah won't be in focus, but anything ahead you
might hit or run over, will be. If you want something better, look
into progressive or bi/tri-focal optics.

You'll probably get better optical advice he
http://www.optiboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/11-General-Optics-an...


After regular riding for a couple years mostly without any glasses, I
went to the eye doctor that was on list for Rudy Project. Those were
too expensive, though - at least in the configuration I wanted. So
they fixed me up with Bolle Anaconda. These are really great
(although to get them took six months and two pair rejected for really
poor quality of construction).

Supposedly, Bolle has their own special secret formula ("Spazio") for
wraparound lenses with correction.

The side vision can be a little bit weird with the Rx correction and
wide wraparound, and this was very noticeable and disconcerting with
the first pair - which I rejected mostly for other reasons. These
were put together very poorly, with really shoddy finish work -
obviously slapped together in a hurry (after waiting in the queue for
like six weeks) by inexperienced craftsman - the lenses even seemed
visibly out of place to me. I expected the peripheral artifacts of
wraparound and correction would be something I'd just have to get used
to, but the final pair (Quality Inspected by Larry) are really
excellent in this regard, and I do not notice any problems - really
very excellent.

But yeah - there is some specified limit to the amount of correction
they will do with the wraparound lenses.

Hi,

wrote:
Problem is.... I very near sighted and its best for me
to keep lens dimensions as small as possible otherwise
I get very thick heavy glasses plus vision distortions
in peripheral vision

So.... was thinking some kind of "John Lennon" style
glasses with darkening material around rest of filed of
vision

There are cyclist sunglasses which feature a smaller lens behind a
bigger (wrap-around) sunglass screen, often with exchangable sunglass
screens. So you'd use the clear screen in the morning, switch to the
brown screen during the day and use the yellow screen in the evening
(whatever). They cover a large area of face, but they allow your
peripheral vision to function.

In consent with some other posters: don't fully obscure your peripheral
vision! Often it helps you notice something without actually seeing it!

Actually, I found that a set of normal glasses goes a long way in
keeping stuff out of your eyes. There is a lot of variation between
different frame styles, though. But the two ones I have (normal and
subscription sunglasses) allow me to cycle through almost any swarm of
insects without trouble. My wife has a lot of trouble (she doesn't wear
glasses), but even a modest-sized set of sunglasses does the trick for
her - no need to cover the area around the eyes tightly. Again, there is
a great variation between frames, but once you find a frame that works,
it's ok. The "teardrop-shaped" classical sunglasses should be excellent,
but smaller ones do work well - they should just keep the wind out of
the eyes (that's probably the trick, anyway)...

Sure, if you got anything in the -12 .. -20 range, even a normal-sized
set of glasses is problematic, but then you should really check the
cycling-sunglasses I mentioned above?

Ciao...

On May 25, 8:26*am, wrote:
I'm thinking along the lines of a mountaineering type
frame with prescription lenses that automatically turn
dark in sunlight. Frames would have some kind of
leather covering AROUND frames and lens to "cup" the
eye from all sides and block light coming in thru sides

Anyone wearing such glasses or have even better idea?

I did the background on this relative to biking and kayaking. The
costs are incroyable compared to the cost effectiveness compared to:

http://www.yorktowneopt.com/miva/mer...Co de=Instant

acheiving basically the same level of protection usually for $35.

the wind wings cover the basis. tape the nose pieces togther with
magic or sctoch vinyl electric

Yorkes' reduction is at the limit of sea-ability for my eyes when on
the water. More would be better for a long period on the water but
begin limiting visual acuity for small task seeing.

Alpine touring reduction doesn't lend itself to watch repair.

REI has a selection of retaining straps if ura so inclined.

get two each dark brown and light brown, one grey for riding into the
sunset, and one yellow shooter's for night vision against oncoming
traffic.
the light brown is excellent all round plus producing a deep blue sky,
hi def puffy cumulus, and definite object definition.

http://www.yorktowneopt.com/miva/mer...Co de=Instant

I just wear my regular glasses, which have a set of magnet clip-on
lenses that match perfectly. They work fine. My eyes get a little
irritated on long rides on windy days sometimes.

On 6/8/10 10:30 AM, Tim McNamara wrote:
I just wear my regular glasses, which have a set of magnet clip-on
lenses that match perfectly. They work fine. My eyes get a little
irritated on long rides on windy days sometimes.

In the same vein, I wear a pair of inexpensive Smith wraparounds right
over my prescription glasses.

BC