I’ve been using Oakley Evolutions for literally 20 years. Got them and they have lasted a long time, but the truth is they are a little small on the face and not photo sensitive, so they are either too light or too dark. The nosepiece also kept falling off, but they are great for acuity.
I also have been using Smith Backdrops forever for regular driving. they fit well and are photochromic which is nice. Also discontinued. So what to get in this decade? I really like the glass because it stands up well to scratches. So here are some recommendations:
- Gatorz Magnum Z Photochromic. Heavy duty Sport fit wraparounds. Well I got a pair of Gatorz from an old friend. These are pretty amazing wraparound glasses that fit tightly and they have an adjustable nosepiece for those of us who lack bridges. They are super dark though for the base but they do make a $260 Photochromic version.
- Sunski Headlands for $50 they are a top pick at Outdoor Gear Labs . They work well and are a good “throwaway” set. You can also get new lenses for $18 so that’s not a bad alternative. The only confusing thing is that for Headlands, Madrona and Original, they all use the same size lens, but later versions have codes that are 1709 use the version II. But this makes lots of sense for throwaway sets.
- Photochromic bicycling glasses. You want something that is light and which changes color as riding means lots of different weather. Outdoor Gearlabs recommends the Julbo Aero with Zebra Red Lens. And just $105 at Amazon. It’s got a very wide range in the Zebra Red. The website is very obscure, but it looks like the light red Lense is only available with certain frame colors. Like dark blue with dark blue accents have the light red. Some notes on this are that high contrast yellow or light red are very good for sports. And there is the amount of visible light transmission, Class 3 means 12-20% and that’s good for cloudy days. The light red is 16% to 80% VLT so super wide range. Their internal codes are Zebra Light is Category 1-3 so for darker days and Zebra is Category 2-4 so for sunnier days but not the brightest days. They are also not polarized so not great for glare.
