NSMB Forum Testing: Ryders antiFOG Glasses

You're probably a prime candidate to test these things then.

I have tried a few different pairs of glasses over the years. Nothing has even been close to staying clear from fogging.

One of the best ones was a pair that has a small opening between a portion of the upper frame and the lens. At least when moving it allowed a little more air to move around the lens and keep it from fogging. However, when stopped or moving slowly (like most of my climbing), it would fog up.

I have pretty much given up on wearing anything to protect my eyes from the mud and crud when mountain biking. About the only time I can wear glasses is if it bright and sunny, then sun glasses with a light tint works. The last pair of Ryder photochromic glasses worked well for this. They were a light orange tint and worked well except in lower light settings in the trees. Again if I was doing anything other than moving fast they would start to fog. When I was commuting more by bike I really liked them for riding in sunny conditions. Never worked well in the rain as the front would get too blurred by rain drops or streaking water. So once again, the blink fast method was my go to fix.

Dropping $50 - $75 on a descent pair of sun glasses I can justify, and if I can wear them to ride as well, that is just a bonus.

Colour me cynical, but no way I would drop $150 to try out something new and improved set of glasses that I highly doubt would work for me.

As much as I couldn't wear glasses mountain biking, I do, however, really like their sunglasses with polarized lens. It is not too dark so it works in a number of light conditions from bright sunlight to overcast.

I'll bite - love me some Ryders

1. What eyewear do you currently use when you ride (goggles, glasses) and for what kind of riding?

Glasses for most trail / earn your turns rides and commuting. Goggles for park / big bike / really nasty days. I tend to always wear eye protection as I invested in laser eye surgery and want to protect that investment!

2. Have you had any experience with Ryders eyewear?

Ryders Hijack glasses - I bought the last 3 orange coloured frames in existence of this most excellent pair of glasses direct from Ryders - I own 4 total - all orange. Two are still in plastic waiting for the first two to wear out…

Ryders Shoe Goggle as featured in the very first forum testing thread: http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=151514

3. Are fogged up glasses a problem for you when riding?

OMG yes - I am a heavy sweater to begin with, and live in a very humid location. 70% of riding has to be done in the rain or on wet days here, so fogged glasses and goggles are just the way things go. This also affects commuting as I typically wear glasses at all times, and find them necessary in the rain.

4. Where do you live and ride?

I live the Comox Valley. I ride "Endur-slo(TM)" type trails most often - in Cumberland. I also do the odd big bike shuttle ride up Forbidden Plateau. I have become a pretty dedicated bike commuter and find I need glasses for that too (rain or sun here in the Comox Valley)

5. Most importantly: Provide an example of a 'gear shots' style review: select any component (new or old, whether you own it or not) and provide a short review (~300 words), making sure to cover things like performance, design, value, durability, etc. You can use a combination of words, photos, and video - just make sure you give us an idea of your ability to do the job. Things like spelling and grammar count, as well as the quality of the photos and video. They don't have to be bangers but take a bit of time and make your content compelling and informative.

I feel that I cheated a bit last time as I simply linked to content I had created previously…soo - I'll post something new before the deadline [later today]…

I have some of both, with the foam gasket and without.
The foam is a great idea, but it creates issues once they get wet from rain or your sweat, they end up dripping on the inside lens and then the foam makes it tough to wipe away and or you end up smearing more moisture from the foam onto the lens.
I sold my foam glasses after 2 rides and I wouldn't recommend them.

I prefer the anti fog, photowhatchmacalit yellow lens….they work quite well however I still get a money shot to the eye ball here and there, but 100 x better than not wearing something. The Ryder glasses were awesome yesterday.

I'm happy with the Thorns

similar experiences with the foam , i removed it and ride without the foam , just take them off if i stop for a long duration .

i would like to try the antifog clear lens

Tried mine out in the rain and snow today. No issues with the foam gasket. Photochromic lenses are pretty cool and zero fogging.

Tried mine out in the rain and snow today. No issues with the foam gasket. Photochromic lenses are pretty cool and zero fogging.

how quick is the photochromic transition, and do they go light enough for crappy season deep woods excursions? was thinking clear would be the safest route given how dark things typically are here.

how quick is the photochromic transition, and do they go light enough for crappy season deep woods excursions? was thinking clear would be the safest route given how dark things typically are here.

I have a pair of these ( Caliber GX ) with the yellow photo chromatic and they transition from light to dark faster than dark to light, like all photo chromatic lenses. i haven't had to stop and wait, but i am ready for it, so maybe i have adjusted my riding style accordingly.

the yellow lenses don't get extremely dark, so the difference isn't huge, and they do change faster than any other lenses i have had.

however, the yellow i find is too dark for night rides, and wearing contacts, it's a must for me to wear glasses. i want to get clear lense from Ryders, since the anti-fog works well for me.

I bought a pair recently.

I have thick eyebrows and am a very warm individual. I have issues with fogging in all activities.

So far they have been impressive. I still managed to fog up slightly at the bridge near my brows. Overall great though and worth the money. I'm looking forward to testing them cross country skiing, that will be the ultimate for me.

Maybe I just need to thin my eyebrows…,

how quick is the photochromic transition, and do they go light enough for crappy season deep woods excursions? was thinking clear would be the safest route given how dark things typically are here.

I have the photochromic orange which has the broadest light transmission range from low to very bright. Works well for me in the Kootenays. For the coast I would think photochromic yellow or clear would be best for the dark gloomy forest conditions.

I bought a pair recently.

I have thick eyebrows and am a very warm individual. I have issues with fogging in all activities.

So far they have been impressive. I still managed to fog up slightly at the bridge near my brows. Overall great though and worth the money. I'm looking forward to testing them cross country skiing, that will be the ultimate for me.

Maybe I just need to thin my eyebrows…,

i've had my eyes on these for a bit, so will throw my hat into the mix:

1. What eyewear do you currently use when you ride (goggles, glasses) and for what kind of riding?

i currently use ryders "shore" goggles for racing (enduro) - which work brilliantly. i don't like goggles for casual riding, however. i'd like to use glasses for additional protection (always getting crap in my eyes / drying contacts, etc), but fogging inevitably results in them being stuffed in a pocket in short order. i do have a pair of ryder "caliber" glasses - nice fit [HTML_REMOVED] optics, but i just can't use them due to fogging.

2. Have you had any experience with Ryders eyewear?

see above.

3. Are fogged up glasses a problem for you when riding?

yes.

4. Where do you live and ride?

vancouver [HTML_REMOVED] surroundings.

Oh, hey alright, let's do this again! Note that I did not say "one more time" as that utterance always precedes a crash. Here you go…

1. What eyewear do you currently use when you ride (goggles, glasses) and for what kind of riding? I current employ a couple of pairs of Oakley glasses for both my mountain and cyclocross riding (mis)adventures. They both have pink lens with black frames. This provides me with nice contrast in the deep forests of my southern surroundings and a reminder of my New Wave/Punk roots.

2. Have you had any experience with Ryders eyewear? I have a ten plus year old pair of Ryders lurking in the bottom of my gear bag. They were inexpensive and worked fine when I bought them in a pinch upon forgetting my usual go to's. They make a nice spare for my occasional forgetful cohorts.

3. Are fogged up glasses a problem for you when riding? Is this a joke? I generally refer to myself as a schwettefatf*ck as I sweat like the proverbial pig. They don't call it "Hotlanta" for nothing. Most of the time, my glasses stay perched on my helmet save on exceptionally (rare) sunny rides or if it's a particularly nasty descent. Otherwise, it is very tricky to see through them. I could rant on about how one of the main reasons I like my Bell Super is how well it holds my glasses beneath the visor, but I will save that for another contest.

4. Where do you live and ride? I live in Alpharetta, Georgia a small city just north of Atlanta. I have a number of local trails I frequent including one I can pedal too. In addition, about once a month I hit trails up in N GA/W NC/E TN including my favorites up in Pisgah.

5. Most importantly: Provide an example of a 'gear shots' style review: **I considered providing a link to some of the dental articles I've penned, but I figured you can find more engaging sources for your boredom. Nevertheless, here is a schpeil I wrote about the Nomad 3 and an older piece NPR published of mine.

Party. Now to check my messages**…

Dagnabbit, I wish this were 6 months earlier so I could have saved my wife the desperation of her husband begging for these for my birthday last spring. Nonetheless, she did buy me a pair, and I've given them some solid abuse for the past 6 months.

1. What eyewear do you currently use when you ride (goggles, glasses) and for what kind of riding?
Multitude of various options from oakley[HTML_REMOVED]Smith[HTML_REMOVED]cheap $5. Ryder's Shore for park days

2. Have you had any experience with Ryders eyewear?
Only the Shore goggles

3. Are fogged up glasses a problem for you when riding?
Most definitely. I'm hot-blooded and sweat just thinking about riding.

4. Where do you live and ride?
ouside NYC. Plenty humid during spring/summer

5. Most importantly: Provide an example of a 'gear shots' style review:

I'm going to cut to the chase since I already own a pair of these. This is the meat you're hungry for… They do what they say they do. They resist fogging. Very, very well. It is not a coating. I am 95% happy with these glasses for their intended purpose. However, this is not without a few caveats. I'll list because I like lists, and wordy paragraphs injected with nonsensical adages and relations to unrelatable experiences for the reader will draw short, very quickly. Here's the nitty gritty…

1. Face shape effect… Not unlike the reader with thick eyebrows (sorry bro, sounds awful) the bridge of my nose supports the glasses comfortably, but allows them to sit very close to my face, essentially creating a skin-barrier along the middle/top of the frame. This reduces ventilation and can overcome the anti-fog properties of the lenses. This generally only occurs during the hotter days, and when moving slowest (climbing) My hack is to lower them a bit for more ventilation during climbing, despite accelerating my appearance to my future grand-self. However, the lenses do clear extremely quickly once moving faster. I look forward to when/if Ryders starts offering these lenses in more frame options.
2. Scratch easily… I wish they didn't, but they do. I'm not saying I dropped them, or used anything other than the softest cloth to wipe them down, but simply based on experience, they do seem to scratch easier than other glasses I've had.
3. Price… Honestly, really. $150 USD? I'm not sold that the construction of these is worth the price tag. Their function may be, but the construction is not what is selling me.

So to each his own, the above are my observations. To a sweaty pig like me, the idea of an anti-fog set of shades is like the holy grail, and these are damn near that goal. I'm happy to try anything else Ryders throws these lenses into and in fact challenge any manufacturer to create a product I can't fog up, or drench in sweat (I'm looking at you Osprey and Camelback) ;)

Thanks for reading my babble.
BA-

and I missed the deadline….damn reno!

Would referencing any of my earlier work count??

Here's the most recent review I've done on gear… http://citizenclass.cp-sms.biz/entries/gear-review/lift-baskets-first-look

Just picked up some of the Face GX with the foam gasket and photochromic lenses today at MEC. Stoked to try them out on my "enduro" rides instead of goggles.

Been rocking these for a few weeks now with a bunch of rides in sub-zero conditions. Zero fog and great clarity. What else can you ask for?