Photochromic glasses - what are they?

[d_douglas]

I was just in a local outdoor shop (MEC - like REI in the US) and they are selling some pretty cool looking sports glasses that have photochromic lenses. Theyre branded "Ryders" - a brand that is quite established in Canada - once selling super cheap, near disposable glasses and now they've upped their game by making some nicer glasses and charging $70-80 for a pair versus the $20 ones they made 10+ years ago. I imagine the brand was absorbed into some giant company that manufactures their own lenses, hence the increase in quality and price.

I am only using cheap sunglasses these days after losing my Smiths and being too cheap to replace them. On grey days, I use $10 safety glasses that look like cycling glasses, so hows that for stupid and cheap !?

Anyways, these nice ones with photochromic lenses - - - are these types of lenses the ones that darken in sun and lighten when its overcast? If this a good thing? Are photochromic lenses a good idea for all conditions riding? Are 'cheapish' PC glasses a good idea or should I only buy expensive ones by Oakley or whomever? And if this is the case, I likely wont buy them at all... ~!

[vqdriver]

yes, they are reactive to light.
i think they'd be kinda cool for general use, tho i don't know if they transition quickly enough for riding.

[kppolich]

Have a pair on my Oakley jawbreakers. Pretty nice that they can be used when it's bright out and when it's gloomy. They don't transition super fast but again I've yet to sit them outside and watch them change.

[eBAUMANN]

i had some on a pair of smith glasses, they are great.
they do not transition super fast but i never noticed when i used em anyways.
they just always felt right. which is the point ;)

try finding something used if you can, to try out...though id be really surprised if you disliked em.

[thirdgenbird]

I got a photochromic shield for my motorcycle helmet and absolutely love it. I wouldn't want to go back. It doesn't change instantly, but surprisingly fast. If I walk outside, it's dark by the time I get the bike started and get my gloves on. When I walk into the office, it's clear by the time I sit at my desk. Probably quicker, but I haven't paid attention. The important thing is that it will go dark enough for bright sunlight and clear enough for night riding.

Like Eric says, it always feels right. Sunny, rain/gloomy, night, and everything between.

[Anarchist]

I was just in a local outdoor shop (MEC - like REI in the US) and they are selling some pretty cool looking sports glasses that have photochromic lenses. Theyre branded "Ryders" - a brand that is quite established in Canada - once selling super cheap, near disposable glasses and now they've upped their game by making some nicer glassese and charding $70-80 for a pair versus the $20 ones they made 10+ years ago. I imagine the brand was absorbed into some giant company that manufactures their own lenses, hence the increase in quality and price.

I am only using cheap sunglasses these days after losing my Smiths and being too cheap to replace them. On grey days, I use $10 safety glasses that look like cycling glasses, so hows that for stupid and cheap !?

Anyways, these nice ones with photochromic lenses - - - are these types of lenses the ones that darken in sun and lighten when its overcast? If this a good thing? Are photochromic lenses a good idea for all conditions riding? Are 'cheapish' PC glasses a good idea or should I only buy expensive ones by Oakley or whomever? And if this is the case, I likely wont buy them at all... ~!

I use a pair of Ryders photochromics , fabulous for athletic use. I use them on the bike, on the water and on the snow. Would not go back to anything else. No, you do not need to spend for Oakleys ( triumph of marketing).

[MagicHour]

I got a pair of Tifosi Crit with the smoke fototec lens this season - I like 'em. They get plenty dark enough in bright sun (15.2% LT), but you don't notice you have them on if it's suddenly overcast or changing conditions (47.7% LT), shaded road etc. Much more convenient then changing multi lenses for different occasions.
Optics seem pretty decent to me for budget/mid-range eyewear, but as always, YMMV, esp. if you're an eyewear aficionado.

[aki]

They works well when riding from before sunrise or until after sunset. Also works well with weather change. But the color change is automatic and sometimes too dark or not dark enough. You dont need it unless you ride long hours and don't want to carry an extra pair.

[dbnm]

I have the Oakley Jawbreakers. Love them but...

If you wear a cap under your helmet, the brim will block some of the sun which will lead to some of the lens being less tinted than the rest.

I had a really bad eye ache / headache from this and it took me a bit to figure it out.

I now only wear them at sunrise or sunset.

[buckfifty]

I have a couple prescription pairs from sportrx and they work great. The ones I have are Transitions Xtractive, they get really clear indoors and relatively dark outdoors (enough to shield from sunny conditions but they don't come polarized for those extra bright days, not much of a problem though). Works great for me when on long rides, I don't have to switch between my eyeglasses and sunglasses, just one pair to deal with most conditions

[d_douglas]

I got a pair of Tifosi Crit with the smoke fototec lens this season - I like 'em. They get plenty dark enough in bright sun (15.2% LT), but you don't notice you have them on if it's suddenly overcast or changing conditions (47.7% LT), shaded road etc. Much more convenient then changing multi lenses for different occasions.
Optics seem pretty decent to me for budget/mid-range eyewear, but as always, YMMV, esp. if you're an eyewear aficionado.

Hmmm, good info folks. I am no eyewear aficionado. My Smiths were super old and I bought them used - other than that, I use whatever works and protects my eyes. I use some $30 cop glasses for driving that I bought at the same store. Sadly, those are trashed as I wore them commuting one day and while fumbling with them to take them off, I dropped them on the road and scratched them. Too cheap to toss them and they weren't trashed enough to warrant a new pair, so here I am wearing scratched, cheap cop glasses!

The Ryders ones I am looking at are appealing because they fit like sports glasses, but look a bit like Raybans or whatever. They look like the Rapha ones, only at 1/4 the price!!

[msl819]

i had some on a pair of smith glasses, they are great.
they do not transition super fast but i never noticed when i used em anyways.
they just always felt right. which is the point ;)

try finding something used if you can, to try out...though id be really surprised if you disliked em.

Same here... have them on a pair of Smiths. They are not the Transitions that we grew up with but seems to handle a wide range of light well.

[Veloo]

I had these Uvex glasses. Just sold them yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31l9rmK1pwQ

[mhespenheide]

I swear by polarized lenses. SunCloud make some great models that can be found for $35-50, if you're looking for the intersection of good and relatively inexpensive.

[ispy]

I wore Transition lenses for a few years; they were very convenient especially for prescription wearers like me, and if you bike from day-into-night. However they don't have as good of a "snap" and haze-cutting as polarizing lenses. And they don't darken when driving (I realize we are talking cycling but here in lalaland there is always a car involved) unless you drive open-top; as I understand it the they react to UV whereas the car windshield seems to block enough of the UV to not activate them. So, now I wear polarizing lenses for driving but might get a transitions pair for cycling again.

[Seramount]

I wore Transition lenses for a few years...And they don't darken when driving...

that may have been true previously, but there are now Transitions lenses that do partially darken (~45% of total tint) in the car, they also get darker in direct sun than the regular ones...they're called Transitions Xtractive.

http://www.transitions.com/en-us/products/transitions-xtractive/?gclid=CjwKEAjw9MrIBRCr2LPek5-h8U0SJAD3jfhtFZx11lIRShhhL4idQCVUZZ88YZgX1V_G0C6YF BSzPhoCYwvw_wcB

just got new glasses with them...pretty pleased with how fast they react and clear.

the partial tint in the car is ok, but I can tell it's not as dark as what I'm used to with my dedicated sunglasses.

[kfreytag]

I've been riding with the traditional Transitions lenses in my prescription Oakley Flak Jackets and love them. They don't change immediately, but I've used them for all riding conditions from gloomy to super bright and they change fast enough that, as mentioned earlier, they always feel "right".

The price, though, is pretty steep.

[commonguy001]

I got a pair of Tifosi Crit with the smoke fototec lens this season - I like 'em. They get plenty dark enough in bright sun (15.2% LT), but you don't notice you have them on if it's suddenly overcast or changing conditions (47.7% LT), shaded road etc. Much more convenient then changing multi lenses for different occasions.
Optics seem pretty decent to me for budget/mid-range eyewear, but as always, YMMV, esp. if you're an eyewear aficionado.

I was always an Oakley guy and still have half a dozen pair. I picked up some Tifosi fototec glasses specifically for a 2.0 cheater in the bottom so I could read my garmin and haven't even thought about wearing my Oakleys since. They're really fantastic glasses for the price point and worked great on my morning commute all winter in the dark along with the sunny rides home.

They've become my go to glasses anytime I jump on the bike.

[Hilltopperny]

I was always an Oakley guy and still have half a dozen pair. I picked up some Tifosi fototec glasses specifically for a 2.0 cheater in the bottom so I could read my garmin and haven't even thought about wearing my Oakleys since. They're really fantastic glasses for the price point and worked great on my morning commute all winter in the dark along with the sunny rides home.

They've become my go to glasses anytime I jump on the bike.

+1 I have a pair of tifosis for riding and the Oakley's are relegated to driving and such. The photochromic lenses work great and they were much cheaper than my Oakleys.

[batman1425]

I had some photochromic rudy noyz. I liked them with a few small rubs... In the cold the transition times were really slow and biased toward dark. They never really got dark enough for my liking in full sun which could partially be because they don't have a traditional reflective coating. Lastly, they were useless in the car - the tint shift is UV induced so they are an outside only affair. All that said, rudy makes a nice product and the impact-x lenses are tough as nails - check out their videos. I used them as safety glasses a few times doing outdoor projects (though not officially recommended as such) and the adjusting tint was a nice bonus when swinging hammers and ripping boards outside.

Edit - seems that the use in the car thing seems to be sorted out with the newer materials... Cool!

[eippo1]

One thing to note is that they are not the best for riding in the woods. The changing light with trees, clearings, ridges, and other terrain combined with the slowish ability of the lenses to transition makes for undesierable conditions.

I've used them before and have come out of a clearing and into deep woods with a steep rock garden and lenses not light enought to be able to see well enough to pick a line. For general road rides, however, they are great. I also have a couple of my regular ol' glasses with transitions because they are awesome for hikes and being in changing light.

[MerckxMad]

When riding on trails, my sportrx pair never get so dark that I can't see the roots, rocks, etc. In fact, I choose them over my normal sunglasses for that very reason. I find that they are great at dawn and dusk, not so much in bright rides at noon.

[Gummee]

I got a photochromic shield for my motorcycle helmet and absolutely love it. I wouldn't want to go back. It doesn't change instantly, but surprisingly fast. If I walk outside, it's dark by the time I get the bike started and get my gloves on. When I walk into the office, it's clear by the time I sit at my desk. Probably quicker, but I haven't paid attention. The important thing is that it will go dark enough for bright sunlight and clear enough for night riding.

Like Eric says, it always feels right. Sunny, rain/gloomy, night, and everything between.

I got the photochromic shield for my Bell moto helmet. Wear a pair of photochromic Tifosis under it so when I stop and flip my shield up, I still have sunglasses on.

I went in to photochromic kicking and screaming, but once I dipped my toe in the water, I haven't looked back. 1 pair of glasses for both cloudy and sunny days? Sign me up!

M

[bironi]

I've had prescription glasses that tinted when exposed to UV. I'm usually ok in bright sunlight excepting sunrise/sunset in the face riding. The transition time was a bit slow to my liking. An example is coming indoors out of a bright sunny day. Things are a bit too dark for a while. I also did not like descending at speed with corners in and out of tree shadows. I prefer a non tinted lens in those circumstances.