We discussed eyewear previously and now we are going to look (see what I did there?) into it related factors. I plan to delve into sports eyewear challenges while, uh… (looks at notes) doing sports. I will not consider this a review, but more so observations through my experiences and yes, I understand everyone has their own cup of coffee. These are not really Dirtbag Digressions either, but I always love sleepers and bargains. Naturally, I will pair this with my subjective view on what has worked and what has not or at least not as well. To recap: I am a late fifties-something rider, that rides four or more days a week year-round. My rides are overwhelmingly off road, and I live in the deep south. Most of the year with the humidity, becoming a sweaty mess is guaranteed. Furthermore, I’ve worn corrective eyewear in the form of glasses or contacts every day, all day for decades. I happen to like glasses but prefer contacts at work and whilst riding. Prior to shredding any paradigms, shred your eardrums with this.
Heaven’s Gate: Tales From a Blistering Paradise Hot, sweaty and nasty are several descriptors that work aptly for both this band and their homebase of Tampa, FL (the other Bay Area, yikes!). Heaven’s Gate (named for the internet death cult) is a side quest from members of Municipal Waste, Cannibal Corpse, Reversal of Man and Warthog. All those acts are brutal and worth checking out however, HG does not really sound like any of them. Case in point, Tony Foresta has a very distinctive voice and is easy to recognize on the assorted releases he has been on. Here he sounds more feral, raw and unhinged which plays perfectly against the raging noisy hardcore thrash served up. I find Heaven’s Gate (along with Candy Apple and Rabbit) to be a nice antidote for when metal seems too pristine, precise and polished. Check out their first ep too.
Putting a lid on it. Cycling helmet usage, style and functionality is as widely disparate as riding styles break further afield. I mean, if you can designate something as a gravel “(who doesn’t want a PNS jersey?)” jersey then anything worn can and will be scrutinized/categorized down to sub-atomic levels. Esthetics are a major player here and this often has little to do with function. While people are still arguing about visors * I want to focus on interplay of helmets and spectacles. This all seems straight forward; you just throw some glasses and go, but there is much more to it.
*Sorry Stevil. You are incorrect! Visors are great, dammit! They keep the sun outta yr eyes (duh) without having to wear a cycling cap which becomes a sweaty mess in the heat and otherwise blocks airflow. They deflect branches from hitting you in the face and lastly provide more real estate for sticker placement.
The long defunct Giro Pneumo helmet** was the first helmet that I had where I found it easy to not only wear glasses with, but more importantly store them when I wasn’t wearing them. I discovered this feature during my cyclocross daze and became quickly addicted. This was huge plus when either the glasses became too foggy/muddy/sweat-soaked to see through or it was too dark. Not shockingly these instances are maybe even more common on a mountain bike. Dirt getting on one’s glasses is not a huge issue but certainly having protection from it getting in your eyes is preferable. Glasses fogging up is less of an issue too with the advent of venting around the lens that sports eyewear has featured for some time. The real problem is sweat coming off your brow and then splashing/dripping onto your glasses.
**Stevil clued me into this helmet years ago which amusingly used to come with a visor. However, I will concede that the visor on the Pneumo was ridiculous and vestigial at best.
Helmet manufacturers and many aftermarket companies have come up with numerous ways to manage sweat. These range from absorbent padding to built-in sweat gutter systems, to headband gutters. I’ve tried all the above and while they all work to some degree there are a couple of factors in play. Once the humidity levels and temps are high no padding or gutter system is going to prevent you from getting soaked. At best the efforts can mitigate the flood, but that is about it. My favorite of the gutter systems was the Wickflow headband***. I wear these beneath my helmet year-round as they redirect the sweat waterfall towards your temples. However, they and all types of padding can/will become overwhelmed. My best use with these is being sure your helmet is fitting snug and positioning the headband so that the gutter is offset to one side (left for me) then I will tilt my head in that direction. When I flex my frontalis muscles or push on the front of the helmet the sweat pooled will run off to that side. Still, this will not completely prevent your glasses getting covered in schmutz. I take them off on climbs, store them on my helmet, perform the drain ritual above and then put them back on for rad-getting. Nevertheless, I have digressed long enough so let’s strap some helmets on.
***Wickflow seems to have disappeared, or their site was hacked. I don’t know. I am trying the Halos again and so far, they are way better than I remember.
The first MTB lid that made any fuss about being able to store one’s spectacles was the very first Bell Super. I still have mine even though it’s more than a dozen years old. I keep it as a good spare as at the time they ran kind of big, so I have a medium vs my usual large. The Super held glasses very well, but they did block crucial venting and were not “super” easy to place and remove. The handful of Giro MTB offerings at the time either did not work at all for sunglass storage or were just fair.
A real standout I ran for a period of time was the Oakley DRT5. It had both an integrated eyewear holder and a sweat gutter system. This thing was damn good, and I only had a couple of dings against it. First, while the gutter system worked the very modest padding would quickly get filled with sweat that would pool at the top of the gutter. This would quickly overwhelm the gutter in the center and waterfall it into your eyes at the least opportune moment. I ended up ditching the built-in gutter and running one of the headbands noted above. Second, their storage system consisting of two spring-loaded clips atop the helmet which Oakley christened the “Eyewear Landing Zone”. It worked well, but low overhangs and errant branches could easily dislodge your overpriced specs. Additionally mud/dirt debris from your rear wheel often would get on your glasses up there which negated the whole purpose. Lastly the DRT5 was notably heavier than every other helmet out at the time and on long hot days it began to feel like you had a Styrofoam convenience store cooler on your head.
Currently, the best design I have come across for eyewear helmet storage goes to Specialized. They have integrated secure channels for this effort on many of their helmets and I have personally run the Tactic and Ambush 2 series. The Tactic is the better deal and works exceptionally well, but the Ambush 2 has a slightly better fit and the eyeglass holders are a notch more secure. The styling is basically the same on the two and you either hate their fixed visor or don’t care. I think they are fine and in fact like that they never droop or get into some (more?) goofy location.
Lastly, there is a new contender in the Fox Speedframe. Fox has multiple levels and price points for the Speedframe, but I am currently running the basic one. Its eyeglass storage is pretty good but is not as intuitive as the Specialized offerings. In contrast, the Fox has an articulating visor, and its ventilation is superior to Specialized. I only have a dozen rides with it, but I am digging it so far.
Thanks for reading on a topic that may be of no consequence to other than the most ardent bike nerds, but I am detail-oriented or persnickety if nothing else. Ride on!