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Been after a pair of decent shades since some theiving scumbag a******* d******* nicked my Oakleys last year. Had a pair of £1.99 specials since then, but they weren't up to the job.
So now we have a pair of these. Very nice.
Out of the box.
First impressions are encouraging. Quality feel. Nice foam seals round the eyes. Tidy drawstring bag to carry them in. Fit is good and snug.
And nicely designed. Checking ourselves out in the mirror - these are smart wrap-around shades with a well-made, classy look.
Will they go under a helmet ?
They're sold as 'motorcycle sunglasses', so they had better work under a helmet! And....
Yep, you can get them on through the visor aperture - the legs are quite straight, so you don't have that problem of fiddling to get them hooked round your ears. And they are snug enough to stay in place as your helmet wobbles.
So do they work on the road?
High-speed stability is good. Flipped up the flip-up on the motorway, and where lesser makes would have disappeared into the nearest ditch, these didn't. In fact they work extremely well at speed, the snug fit of the foam means there is no air getting in behind to unsettle them.
This foam-snugness is their big selling point - and it does work. No turbulence gets behind to making your eyes water. No grit will be getting blown in. They'll stay on your face.
OK, you like them, is there really no downside ?
In certain angles of light, the gear indicator on a BMW K100 is not visible. Eh, What ? Yes, on a BMW K100 RT you can't tell what gear you are in. It must be to do with the fact that the ones we have are polarised, and sunlight shining on the gear indicator is 'glare' and the polarisation polarises it away. Hey, the polarisation works !
Of course, the pedantic among you would suggest that one should know what gear one is in. And you can find out if you tilt your head to one side:) In all honesty, its not a problem specific to these glasses - _any_ polarised lenses would show the same effect. And all the other guages, idiot lights, clock, speedo, ... were clear.
Technical specs (specs, geddit :)))))))
| They have: |
Translation: |
In real life..... |
| "100% UV protection" |
This is good. You want this. |
They work like sunglasses. You don't squint in the sunlight. The polarised versions are polarised. |
| "400 UVB/UVA block" |
This is also good. You want this level of protection.. |
| "impact and scratch resistant" |
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Ask me again when we've dropped them, shoved them in our pocket a hundred times, run over them, ..... Too early to tell - but they seem well made and good quality. |
| Optical clarity |
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No distortion we can see. |
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References:
travel.howstuffworks.com/sunglass.htm
www.allaboutvision.com/faq/sunglasses.htm#5
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Worth the money ?
Some sunglasses designer somewhere is obviously a motorcycle rider. They had a think about it, and designed the right sunglasses for the job.
Well worth between £25 and £40, depending on model and spec. We tested 'Classic, Smoked Grey, Polarised'. You get them from motorcyclesunglasses.co.uk
6 months later
The Alps were great. The Med was blue. We rode round the Monaco F1 circuit the day after the race - way cool :)
And these glasses were never off my face. Long-distance, high-speed, all-day use - no problem.
They are now constant companions. In the car, stuffed into a jacket pocket, thrown in my rucksack, dropped on the hall table. I ain't broke them yet, and they are not scratched.
Top glasses. Highly recommended.
18 months later - still impressed ?
Yes. Just toured down to Greece and back. Open face helmet and a tall flyscreen on the bike. Went open-face all the way, and often forgot to drop the visor, the protection from these is so good. Well, until a hornet or a wasp or something bounced off them, and left its sting in my nose. Face blew up like a balloon, so it did. Italian anti-hystamine jab sorted that out in a couple days, and I remembered to pull down my visor more often!
But impressively, even a high-speed impact on the lens from whatever nasty beastie it was hasn't damaged the glasses, they still ain't scratched, and we still love them.
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