Well Rewoga and Dean W have got the tech of these goggles covered. Dean's breakdown (literal) is incomparable and I've got little left to add to this dissection.
Purolator finally handed over the goods today, and I think a few key things were overlooked from a technical and presentation perspective that must be covered, lest we be accused of being lazy and non-credible. I also think this tells us something about the company, because in today's world of ethical purchasing and full cost analysis, it's interesting to see what is behind the product.
The Shipping Packaging:
This was disappointing. Labels were applied neither square to the box nor angled in a way that represents casual complacency. Rather, it was just sloppy. But that's more Purlator than Ryders. Although the tape, while lovely, is clearly not applied with regard to aesthetics. A sad sad sad state of warehouse op's in North America today.
Here we see lack of training in tape gun use, with careless use of the serrated edge for a clean cut. This has led to premature tearing and clearly had this sat in the Puralator truck for any more than 13 additional hours, we'd have had total box failure. Unacceptable.
The Letter:
I received an endearing and personal letter from the Ryder's rep we are working with, that had an interesting, yet brief history of Ryders Eyewear. Take note of the first sentence which claims a history from 25 years ago… what's old is new again. Check out the NSMB forum for the Hardtail thread and the sweet Chromag vid's. Check out PinkBike for "loud neon shirts", and go to the Whistler Bike Park for "very little sport protection". Kudos to Ryder for being 25 years ahead of us.
Also take note of "death do you part lifetime warranty." As the French would say, not too shabbequois.
The Collateral:
I am surprised rewoga and Dean W did not mention this. But the 'culture' mag provided by Ryders with our shipment was a fun take on advertising - one might even use the word 'risque', but not me. Check out the best of the bunch:
Also nice to see a non-traditional warm and fuzzy feelgood sponsorship model. I'm nominating my mom. Kudos for sponsoring nsmba, the TAP program, and some great kids' programs:
The Box:
This is clearly marketed as a goggle for SPECIFICALLY for "downhill and freeride mountain biking". This is not a moto goggle re-purposed. I say, blasphemy. I'm gonna' XC the crap outta' these. Dean W has already started that with his full-face helmet climb-athon. I'm runnin' these with my 247 vent XC helmet, regardless of what the box tells me. And it's not even a POC helmet.
Icons - I'm a sucker for icons. Although why do you need icons when you describe the icon anyways??? I still like icons and hopefully they carry-over across the Ryders product line for at-a-glance comparison, or it's sort of random. But these goggles have lots of icons, so they must be good.
The back of the box has swoopy arrows and things, telling us all the stuff Dean W did in spades.
So here they are…. ready to test. Case/cleaning cloth came in the box. Stickers did not. Time to ride….