eye wear

[kev883]

trying to find a good pair of sunglasses to wear over small presciption frames.
i've been looking for sometime now and cant seem to find any that look cool and hide my glasses and keep the wind out of my eyes. any ideas??

[Shark Doctor]

Two ideas for you, one bad, one good.

"Fit-Overs" are nice but hardly cool, very boxy. They will protect and totally enclose the eyes since they're closed all around. I can take pix if you want.

The second is newer and what I am considering. They are a relatively new style (found 'em last week when I picked up a set set of glasses). They are stylish in that they wrap around, but the main feature is that regular lenses fit in a heavy plastic frame (hence they can be changed when your prescription changes) and a built-in flip down pair of sunglasses cover them. Not at all large large and bulky and does not give the appearance of typical "flip ups". The flip part can be polarized, mirrored, amber, dark blues, etc. and the frames range from silver through blues and blacks. I do not know the vendor but am going back next week to get a pair and will take some photos (and get brand name) if you like. They look great for riding because the wrap feature closes in the eyes entirely and protects from wind all around and sun. I spend a lot of time in the FL Keys and on the water and need the eye protection from the sun and glare. They look like they'll work for both water and riding.

[pquirk]

Doc has a good idea. The inserts work great and can be found in cycling (as in bicycling) catalogs or mail order sites. Bike Nashbar, Performance, etc. These have been popular in cycling for years and there are many options. Bolle makes some really nice ones, and I think Performance offers a generic brand. You just send your prescription and it's a done deal.

[willprevale]

Shark, PM me with the info when you get it.

[vetthed]

I think Panoptics sell prescription sun glasses with interchangable lenses. They Garrantee "no tears" too!

[Buckshot]

A buddy of mine has the Panoptix (or however you spell it) w/o the perscription, but he has the transitional lenses, and they work great! As Vetthed correctly stated, they can be made into a perscription.

[pquirk]

I just want to toss out one note about the prescription sunglasses that I forgot to mention. If you want a "wrap around" style lens you won't be able to get a prescription lens if your diopter is greater than about -2.5. This is because the thickness required for the correction results in severe distortion if put into a wrap style so they won't do it. The worse your eyes, the less curvature you can have. A number of the styles you find in motorcycle stores will not work with strong prescrptions and an insert or over-glasses (or contacts) are the options you're (read I am) stuck with.

[Shark Doctor]

What impressed me about the wrap arounds I descibed earlier was that the actual frame is flat and would therefore take the thicker lenses; the frame itself does not have the curvature that pquirk correctly notes would cause real problems for thicker diopters. The key piece of the design is that the flip down, wrap-around is actually not bulky and flows nicely around the frame and to the temples. That's what attracted me to them in the first place. I think they would actually stay down in the wind and not flip up... (that would be slightly distracting!!!).

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll make an effort to get over there early in the week and post up a few.

[Moved On]

I wear coke bottle lenses (5.00 & 5.25). I called the folks at Wiley-X and they said that they have one lab that can do those prescriptions. It was Sunray Optical http://www.heavyglare.com/. HeavyGlare is the place for your prescription sunglasses for your specialty needs. We make high Rx sunglasses that your local eyeglass retailer is afraid to take on. We have had countless customers that have tried to put a Rx lens in a wrap frame at their local optical shop. The problem is that these ophthalmic shops do not work in frames that have an 8 or 9 base curve for the Rx lens. That's why they end up breaking multiple lenses or even your frame while trying to make your prescription wrap sunglasses.I had flex medical money left at the end of the year last year that needed to be spent, so I bought a set of Wiley-X SG-1 frames and a pair of dark, a pair of yellow lenses. They haven't arrived yet, should be here any day, so I'll let you guys know how they work out.

Gary

[GRAYFEATHER]

If you only need the glasses to read your speedo then a solution may be to go to your local school supply store and purchase a plastic magnifying mat.
Size the mat to your speedo glass afix with a little and I Mean A Little clear Apoxie glue and presto readable speedo info no glasses and you can were your cool sunnys.
Regards Grayfeather. :clap :clap

[Desertfox]

I found a pretty cool set of "fit overs" on ebay. Look like WWII flying goggles and come with clear, smoke , and amber lenses.