Sometime around the age of 40, most people begin to suffer from
presbyopia. Your eyesight is fine, but your arms are too short to read the newspaper or phone book. (If you are old enough to remember when both of those were commonly read, you probably need some help with the small print.)
My first glasses were bifocals, which I got sometime in my early forties. Other than presbyopia, I only have a slight astigmatism in my distance vision.
Even if you don't need glasses for cycling or other outdoor activities, if you have presbyopia it's nice to have some help in reading a cycle computer, mobile phone, menu or cue sheet (if you do an organized ride).
When we first started cycling on a regular basis, I used my regular prescription glasses which had magnetic "clip-on" sunglasses.
These worked fine for two reasons. They were fairly large and and we were riding in a fairly upright position. But when I got new more stylish and smaller glasses, I found myself looking over the top of the glasses while on the bike.
Prescription bifocal cycling glasses start at a couple hundred dollars and go to several hundred dollars for Oakley or Rudy Project models. And there is always the risk of loss or damage to eyewear when doing physical activities, so this was not a realistic option.
If you don't need distance correction for outdoor activities,
safety bifocals are an inexpensive option. These come with clear or tinted lens and cost less than $15. I bought a couple different brands to see which fit me best and to have a spare.
The safety glasses from Dewalt seemed to fit me the best (with some modification) and I still wear the clear ones in low light conditions. They have pretty good wrap-around coverage to keep the bugs and breeze out of your eyes. The bridge of my nose is fairly narrow and I added the pink stick-on nose pads from the drugstore to help keep the glasses from sliding down my nose. I trimmed the pads to fit and put a little black Sharpie on the front edges to make them less noticeable.
In the spring of 2013, I upgraded to the
Dual Eyewear SL2 Pro sunglasses. (They were $55 when I bought them, but are now $65.) They also have less expensive models, but I bought the SL2 Pros because they have adjustable nose pads and adjustable temples to help dial in the fit.
I have been very pleased with the
Dual Eyewear bifocal sunglasses and would recommend them to anyone in the market for a similar product. In addition to "cycling/sport" models they also have "aviation" and "casual" models, and are currently having a sale on discontinued styles.
If you don't need any vision correction, both Sarah and Zelma have had very good experience with
Tifosi cycling eyewear. Zelma recently got two new pair for her birthday: one with photochromic changeable lens, and one with three colors of interchangeable lens. Each pair was about $70, which is a fraction of the price of a pair from Oakley or Rudy Project.
But for casual outdoor use where reading glasses are needed, it's hard to beat the price and utility of tinted bifocal safety glasses. At less than $15 you don't need to be afraid of sitting on them or losing them overboard.
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