Wraparounds misting up in the fog. Do I need them in winter?

[RideToWorky]

Hi all,

Bit of a nightmare going home! With the foggy conditions, my wraparounds, with prescription lens inserts, all fogged up!

I'm guessing, fact the moist conditions, my perspiration, within the wraparounds, caused it to mist up. It didn't help!

I've tried Anti mist spray stuff you can get for swimming goggles. That hasn't worked.

Can I put the wraparounds away for the winter, and just use normal glasses?! Or am I missing something with winter riding?

Reason I ask is, the whole reason I started waving wraparounds, was a Bee got caught behind my normal glasses last summer, and I had a massive accident on holiday.

[Fogey]

I put my glasses in my pocket for my journeys today. After quarter of a mile in these conditions they are opaque and I'm better off without them.

[Redvee]

I had mist and fog to contend with on the ride home on Sunday, after the first 1/4 out of work my glasses were less clear but couldn't ditch them as my eyes water a lot without them at the start of the ride. At the latter stages my eyes are OK and I can remove without my eyes running which is good cause when it's raining I have to take them off when I hit the city centre with car headlights and the raindrops acting as tiny prisms on the clear lenses.

[pwa]

After years of buying different glasses to keep the wind out of my eyes I have realised that it is not the lens material / finish that prevents misting. It is the gaps around the edge. Glasses that hug the face mist up. You need good gaps around the top, bottom and sides to allow the air to flow and keep the lens clear. Tiny holes in the lens (seen on some glasses) are too small to work. So when I buy glasses I now try them on and don't buy any that are too close fitting.

The old trick to control misting is to smear washing up liquid on the inside of the lens, rinsing only enough to disperse it. Soap prevents the formation of the tiny individual droplets that constitute misting.

[Mick F]

Do you need them in winter?
It was because of winter that I started wearing eyewear!

You try coming down a hill at 30mph+ and being hit fully across the eyes with a dry crisp sycamore leaf.
It nearly had me off, and I was so shocked, it forced me to wear eye protection from that moment on. My right eye was painful for a day or two, and I can assure everyone that it was no joke at all.

Since then, I invested in some Optilabs glasses. Varifocal, photochromic, polarised, rain/water repellant ............. not cheap though worth every penny.

[al_yrpal]

My Varifocals went in the bar bag yesterday, I got the fog squared with them on! It was only when I took them off that I realised what had happened. I avoided high speeds like usual…

Al

[johncarnie]

I wear contact lenses when riding, but still use wraparounds - but they come off in heavy rain and other conditions which affect my vision - keeping the wraparound lenses really clean helps with the misting problem - but as soon as you are swamped with diesel fumes - the soot clings to the lenses and seeds the misting!

[mjr]

I'm another person who wears overglasses more in winter. I've got anti-fogging ones, which seems to mean some vents on the sides.

The remaining water that accumulates on the front gets wiped off with the towelled bit of cycling gloves.

[Mick F]

The last dozen miles of my ride today were in rain and I could see very well through my Optilabs.
Rain repellent glass coating.


These are my lenses:

[Grandad]

Riding an old fashioned reliability trial in freezing fog - conditions I wouldn't go out in now- at the bottom of a long fast downhill stretch my glasses were completely opaque as the moisture on them had turned to ice.

[Heltor Chasca]

I tend to wear sunnies in the summer and nothing in the winter UNTIL the winter gnats come out! [emoji872] I just wear cheap low-light safety glasses. They are the same ones I use for work. I concur that it's the shape that keeps them clear. A bit of airflow and all is well.

[pwa]

The last dozen miles of my ride today were in rain and I could see very well through my Optilabs.
Rain repellent glass coating.


These are my lenses:

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 15.01.15.png

Not wishing to be nosey, Mick, but what sort of cost are we talking for this sort of thing? I imagine my deteriorating eyesight may drive me in that direction in the next few years. Do I need to start saving?

[Mick F]

Not wishing to be nosey, Mick, but what sort of cost are we talking for this sort of thing? I imagine my deteriorating eyesight may drive me in that direction in the next few years. Do I need to start saving?

I reckon you do need to start saving if you want something special. If all you want is plain lenses or single vision lenses, they are very reasonably priced. The frames are excellent and strong. I bought these:
https://www.optilabs.com/product/eclipse/

Mine cost £302.95 in July 2014

Bearing in mind that I cannot cope without reading glasses. I need them to operate a phone, read a map, adjust my gears, fix a puncture etc etc etc. Consequently, I would have to take reading glasses in my back pocket.

As I got older, I needed intermediate glasses too. I couldn't see the computer screen or have anything useful in focus out to arms length, and I got older still, the distance went out further. I still have excellent eyesight and would no doubt still be a crack shot with a rifle.

Very slowly, I realised I needed varifocals. These, to me, have many limitations: distortion, narrow field of focus (I'm an eye-mover, not a head-mover) and there are many times they are useless. Try having a shave wearing varifocals! I have to use plain reading glasses for that! But they are absolutely fine around the house or outside or socially.

However, since going over to varifocals generally, it was only a small step to go to Optilabs, and as I needed sunglasses they were a great choice. I can use them generally and when driving ................. and I never go out on my bike without them.

Highly recommended.

[tykeboy2003]

Try having a shave wearing varifocals!

I do every day with no problems (wet shave standing in front of the bathroom mirror on the wall behind the hand-basin).

Unlike yourself though, I'm short-sighted so that I'm useless without my specs. However, I have the advantage that for close work (reading and writing etc or fettling fiddly bits on my bike) I can simply take them off. I would also take them off if I was using a hand-mirror to shave with an electric razor. I'm a software developer and find the varifocals useless at work where I have 3 screens attached to 2 PCs on my desk, the mid-range zone is too small to be of any practical use. For work I have a pair of basic intermediate prescription single-vision specs - I find I can do most things in the office wearing them.

Back to the topic - I always ride in my normal everyday varifocals and the only time they mist up is when I stop for any reason. The lack of airflow immediately steams me up - sometimes even in summer.

[Brucey]

one of my chums has spent a lot of time and effort getting himself set up OK and he has just replaced the previous system he used (which used prescription lenses as the outer part in a set of goggles) with a set of Rudy Project 'Guardyan Outdoor' goggles to which he fits 'RX prescription inserts' .

You can see both items on separate pages of their website.
http://www.rudyproject.com/guardyan-outdoor.html#SN168606
http://www.rudyproject.com/prescription/optical-insert-13794/optical-insert.html#FR700000

It isn't clear that the one will fit inside the other (or how many other Rudy Project models accept the inserts), but they seem to work OK for my chum.

For extreme conditions it is worth looking at ski goggles, or at least ski-goggle technology. Ski goggles often have a double-glazed lens which keeps the inside of the lens that bit warmer and thus reduces the chances of condensation inside.

Even so, with goggles/glasses of any kind there is a fine balance to be had between internal temperature and ventilation. When it cold and humid enough condensation is a real problem, especially when climbing.

cheers