The Quanta sunglasses from Spy Optic are constructed from solid materials and sport a number of features that any mountain biker can appreciate. Plus, unlike a lot of other mountain bike gear, you can actually wear your sunglasses when you’re not on the trail.

Although the Quanta sunglasses aren’t designed specifically for mountain biking (it’s just one of many intended uses), clearly the designers had riders like me in mind. My favorite feature has to be the (patented) Scoop Venting System that reduces fogging when you’re huffing and puffing. Looking closely at the glasses you can actually see the air channels on either side of the glasses that direct airflow toward your face. Now I love a good climb on the bike plus I sweat a lot so fogging lenses is a constant problem for me. The Quantas didn’t fog as much as other glasses I’ve worn though they did still need a good inside wipe every now and then (hey, nobody’s perfect!).

The temple tips on the Quanta sunglasses are some of the grippiest I’ve seen which means they won’t slip when you’re bombing down chunky trails. Of course the tradeoff is they don’t slip on and off smoothly so I have to remind myself to spread the temples to avoid yanking my hair out. The nose pads appear to be made from the same rubbery material for good measure.

The Quantas offer great coverage and protection on the trail and fit closely on my face. My sunglasses feature bronze lenses (there are several other choices including polarized versions based on the colorway you choose) which have worked well in most light conditions I’ve encountered on the mountain bike trail. Of course at dawn and dusk you’ll want to stash these shades but even on fully overcast days the lenses aren’t overly dark.

Spy Optic has a lot to say about the durability of these sunglasses and although I didn’t have a chance to put those claims to the test, I can say the Quantas feel solid and durable. Spy claims the lenses are impact resistant and are “virtually unbreakable” which is reassuring when floating through tight, branchy singletrack. The lenses are also anti-scratch and are meant to repel water/dust/oil. In my experience they do stay clean longer than some other sunglasses I own, perhaps thanks to these “anti” treatments. My pair weighs just under 1 ounce.

Styling is a very subjective part of choosing a pair of sunglasses – everyone has their own idea about what makes a cool set of shades. Clearly trends are important (oversized glasses still seem to rule) but beyond that it’s up to the wearer. I’m not sure if the Quanta styling completely suits me – I usually prefer more rounded frames – but it’s tough to argue with performance. Fortunately Spy offers dozens of styles which makes it easy to find the right glasses to fit your face.

At $99.95 MSRP, the Spy Optics Quanta sunglasses are a great pair of mid-price shades that any mountain biker can appreciate. And with pro riders like Sam Hill and Mike Montgomery repping Spy this year, it’s easy to see the company is dedicated to supporting the ride!

Thanks to the folks at Spy Optic for providing the Quantas for review.

If you were to ask 100 mountain bikers which brand of eyewear they desire most, I’m pretty sure there’s one brand that would stand out – Oakley. Oakley opened their doors in 1975 and have grown right along with the cycling industry. Today riders like Brian Lopes and Cameron Zink wear Oakley optics for their superior clarity and durability. Oakley continues to push themselves into better designs and higher performance optics and I recently got a chance to try out a couple pairs – the Jawbone and Crowbar MX – on the slopes of Blue Mountain (DH) and throughout Ontario (trail riding).

Jawbone

The Jawbone represents another big leap in the evolution of sports eyewear. From the initial idea to the final release of these glasses, Oakley paid attention to what riders and athletes need through the full range of light and environmental conditions. The new SwitchLock frame minimizes the need to handle the lens during a swap while ensuring comfort and protection on the face. SwitchLock allows the lower part of the frame rim (the jaw) to swing open, making it easy to swap out the lens.

The extremely clear and durable Plutonite lens filters all UVA, UVB, UVC and blue light (up to 400nm). But you don’t have to take my word on durability: these lenses are ANSI Z87.1 certified for high velocity and mass impact resistance. How important is durability? I still remember seeing a rider go down face first into the ground and shattering his sunglasses into his face – not pretty.

The lenses also feature a hydrophobic treatment which helps repel dust while preventing smudges. Depending on your choice you can also pick these up with a polarized coating and various other lens tints. To keep the Jawbones on your face, the stem sleeves and nose pieces are made of a non-slip formula rubber called Unobtainium (seriously). When you order your set you also get a second set of nose pieces for that custom fit.

I picked an atomic orange frame on my Jawbones with the Fire Iridium and Persimmon lens (vented). The Fire Iridium lens works great in mixed light conditions with the ability to dramatically reduce glare and improve contrast. I found during the summer months here in Ontario with very little clouds and a sparse canopy overhead, these excel at providing protection and tint the view slightly brownish. The Persimmon treatment offers a perfect complement for low light conditions boosting contrast and depth perception. Add to that a warmer tint which makes these a comfortable lens on the trail.

Crowbar MX

Now when I’m wearing my full-face helmet and ripping it up on the slopes, I need more protection than a pair of sunglasses can offer. The Crowbar MX goggles are just the ticket. With 25 years of refinement, Oakley ended up using a proprietary material they call “O MATTER” for the frame. An optically pure LEXAN® lens maximizes impact protection and meets ANSI Z87.1 and EN 1938 standards. The lens has an anti-fog treatment which I found works well when I’m traveling slow and working it.

On the inside of the goggles Oakley designed a triple-layer face foam to help absorb and move sweat away from your eyes. Oakley has the strap attached to an outrigger for balanced pressure distribution and clearance for your helmet. And to keep the strap from sliding, there are three beads of silicone (you cannot believe how great that feature alone is). The nose guard is removable and tear-offs can be added to the three pin set-up.

The Crowbar’s biggest performance feature is the perfect face seal you get with it and how well it holds in place on your helmet. Having used other goggles without that feature can be a pain so I’m really loving the no-slip strap. As far as optics are concerned, the lens works alright – just not great. Having used a hemispherical lens before I was more impressed with the fact that you get almost zero distortion. The Crowbar does have a minute amount of flare but I doubt you will pick up on it (you have to be looking off the side of the lens and not down the slope). The standard clear lens work well for most conditions but I chose the Fire Iridium lens which looks pretty cool and matches the Jawbones. Besides, the lens coating drastically improves contrast and the tint helps on those transitions from dark to light.

The biggest problem with the Crowbar MX is choosing a style to match your helmet. There are over 20 designs to choose from with a range of patterns and colors. I decided to go with the One Icon pink to match up with my THE T2 helmet.  I’d love to see the addition of vents on the lens in a future update, especially for the slower techie sections that I encounter from time to time.

For an MSRP of $250 for the Jawbones and $85 MSRP for the Crowbar MX goggles, you’re getting high definition optics, a pleasing and comfortable set of eyewear, and important protection regardless of your MTB discipline.

A quick thanks to the folks at Oakley for sending down the eyewear for review. I also have to give credit to my friend Bruce C for taking the photos.

Sunglasses are an absolutely essential piece of mountain bike gear, but they are often overlooked, or at least misunderstood. With prices ranging from $15 at your local convenience store to well over $200 for a pair of name-brand shades, it can be difficult to decide what you really need in a pair of sunglasses.

I’ve found that with shades, as with most things, you get what you pay for… though it’s often difficult to identify the benefits of the most expensive products. If you’re operating on a budget, the best idea is usually to aim for a product somewhere in the middle that provides real performance at a real value, and Ryders Eyewear does just that.

Specs

The Seeker Black TR90 glasses I recently received come complete with  photocromatic polycarbonate grey lenses with 100% UV protection. They feature standard anti-slip nose pads as well as strips of rubber above the ears for comfort.

On the Trail

From the first moment I tried them on, I could tell that the Seekers were designed for use on the trail. Despite the beefy arms they are still lightweight, and those arms wrap around the sides of your head and hold on tight! In addition to performing well on the mountain bike, these would be perfect for trail running and other activities. I’ve even worn them for a long game of ultimate frisbee under slightly overcast skies: perfect!

The tint on these shades feels like it was purposely designed with deep-forest singletrack in mind. The tint is very light compared to many other sunglasses, and while they do cut the glare in direct sunlit mountain meadows, it doesn’t feel like quite enough protection in full sun. That’s OK though, because in the deep woods where I ride these glasses are truly in their element!

The tint is dark enough to cut down on glare from the sunlight filtering through the limbs while not being too dark in the deep shadows, even during early morning and late evening rides. Before the Seekers showed up on my doorstep, I was trying to get back into the habit of riding sans glasses, as my current pair were just too dark. However, riding with glasses does provide the general dust-blocking, spiderweb-breaking, whippy-branch-deflecting benefits over just rolling shade-less. But in order to do that in the deep woods, the tint has to be perfect.

One last thought on the tint: while this may just be personal preference, I’ve been enjoying the straight black tint without any change in color. For the past couple of years I’ve been riding with a pair of light brown shades that were an amazing pair of glasses, but every time I got on my bike it felt like I was entering an alternate dimension of dull brown and orange. The straight black tint of the Seekers makes all of the colors feel so real out on the trail, and it helps me enjoy the beauty of creation around me without having to squint my eyes all of the time.

Price

The model of the Seeker I tested had photopolar technology, which combines technology from several of their other glasses, and MSRPed at $89.99. Other models of the Seeker with less expensive lenses range in price all the way down to $39.99

If you are looking for a pair of shades to use while mountain biking under heavy tree cover that offer serious performance at a reasonable price, be sure to check out the Ryders Seeker!

Thanks to Ryders Eyewear for providing these glasses for review!

Here’s a new pair of eyewear from Julbo that was designed with the mountain biker in mind. The Pipeline is offered with four lens choices but for trails I say stick with the Zebra lens. With a lens shape that’s similar to the Julbo Dirt sunglasses that I tested last year (66mm), these shades offer a decent sized lens for eye protection on the trail.

The Pipelines sport an open-arm design which is strong yet lightweight. These glasses have curved arms that are 120mm in length which should fit well on most people. The arms themselves are coated with an anti-slip treatment which doesn’t stick to longer hair and adds to the appearance of the arms. The nose bridge has a spacing of 17mm (if you have a particularly wide nose these may not fit well) and the same anti-slip, shock absorbing coating to keep the glasses firmly where you want them, without having them bounce around when the terrain gets rough.

The Zebra® photochromic lens darkens or lightens depending on the surrounding light’s intensity. It can change from a light transmission rate of 40.7% to just 6.6%. There is also an anti-fog coating but I’ve found it only works in certain conditions depending on surrounding humidity.

After wearing the Julbos for a bit I can say these feel about as nice as the Dirt sunglasses. With a bit more flex at the arm to mold to your head, these feel comfortable. Wearing the glasses fairly close to my face I did experience some fogging at the nose bridge.

Other than the feel, the biggest thing is the clarity of the Zebra lenses. I especially love the tint of the Zebra lenses in the forest – they really assists under a tree top canopy, helping you differentiate the terrain like very few lenses can. The durability of the lens is also key. Having ridden a few times too close to brush, the lenses survived encounters with thinner branches and stuff along and above the path.

Check out Julbo Pipeline sunglasses (MSRP $140-200 depending on lens choice) when you’re ready to upgrade your trail shades.

I would like to thank  the folks at Julbo for sending up the eyewear for review.

Ever since Interbike in September I’ve been rocking a slightly different look on thoese days when my head isn’t squished inside a full-face helmet. The Julbo Dirt sunglasses are designed with the mountain biker in mind so they look good AND feel good on the bike.

Julbo has been around since 1888 with a rich history in alpine / high altitude optics. These shades are made in France where you can pretty much guarantee the designers have a thing or two to say about optics.

That being said, the lenses are the most important part of the Dirt sunglasses and you can choose between three types of lenses. I went with the photochromatic Zebra® lenses for all-out mountain biking performance. The Zebra® has a fast acting tint change, taking only about half a minute to go from full dark to full light. Even at this time of year when the sun sets early I found I can wear my Dirts at dusk and still see well enough.

When the Julbo Dirt sunglasses aren’t shielding my eyes from the sun, I keep them on for protection from flying trail crud. The lenses produce a nice warming effect in most light conditions and help define the terrain with enhanced contrast which makes everything sorta “pop.” Greener greens come through and shades of brown are more clearly separated. All this allows you to catch details that you might otherwise miss, especially at high speeds.

The lenses are coated with an anti-misting coating, which promises to prevent fogging on the inside (see illustration above showing the range of Zebra lens light transmission rates). After riding with these for several weeks now, I did get a bit of fogging right near my nose after riding hard uphill. I guess the extra heat from climbing and the slow speeds was just too much for the coatings but otherwise they work great.

Wrapping around these amazing lenses is the burly Dirt frame. You’ll notice the frame is a bit bigger than many fragile-looking sport glasses, but that’s OK with me – these glasses are built to take some abuse. The frames hide the integrated nose grip (which really works well) and siped sides. These features work together to keep the glasses in place, even on rough trails. The wraparound frame and tight face fit also helps FOD (foreign object debris) from possibly ruining your ride.

I opted to go for all black frames, something I can use all year round both on and off the bike. I love the Julbo Dirt sunglasses because they’re fairly understated and they get the job done. The Zebra lenses work well in many light conditions and work extremely well in overcast weather (something we get a good bit of on the east coast). These are my go-to glasses right now and heck, even the wife is fighting to use these.

Check out the Julbo Dirts ($120-$160 MSRP) and other slick mountain biking shades at JulboUSA.com. I would like to thank the folks at Julbo for sending up these glasses for a product review.

The Xen helmet, Xen gloves, and Filter sunglasses from Giro go together almost as well as the #1 combo at McDonalds (stickers to the first commenter who can id the sandwich in that combo). Now I am 100% sure you’ve heard of Giro and the great helmets they make; heck, I’m sure many of you already have one. But did you know that Giro also makes sweet gloves and glasses? Giro may not be as well known for accessories beyond the lid but will change very soon!

To make things easier Giro uses the same names from the helmet line for gloves. The Xen glove (MSRP $38.00) and Xen Helmet (MSRP $130.00) sport similar graphics and color schemes and are both optimized for all-mountain riding. All mountain riders will ride near or through overgrown brush, tree strewn singletrack, and the not so occasional rocky path so it’s important to have a helmet and glove that can take the abuse.

The Xen Helmet is offered in several color choices for 2010 including matte gold, matte white digi camo, and matte olive fade. It took me just a few minutes to get my Xen comfortable using the straps and buckles. When adjusting your helmet you typically want to set the under chin strap just with enough space so you can open your mouth without interference. I also recommend adjusting the buckle on the sides so that they are about an inch below your ears.

The Xen cuts a lower profile that most helmets and sports an extended back side to cover the back of your head. The 17 massive air vents keep things cool even on hot summer rides and the cushioned brow pad does a good job managing dripping sweat. The included POV visor allows you to change the angle of the visor without rattling it out of position.

The Xen Gloves are super comfortable and allow great hand movement without any pinching. Unlike some gloves out there, the Xen features a clarino palm (a durable synthetic leather) and strategically placed technogel support padding. The padding allows you to ride longer with less pain from impact and vibrations associated with bombing rough trails.

Overall I would have to say that these gloves performed really well. The three silicon-patterned finger tip grips came in handy and allowed me to use just one finger to grip the brakes. I also didn’t have to worry that my finger would slip on the shifters, even when my hands got wet.

Having a great helmet and gloves is just part of the equation so I also decided to give the Filter suglasses from Giro a whirl at the same time. The Filter is designed to fit comfortably with Giro helmets, utilizing what they call Super Fit. Basically Super Fit glasses are designed to hold securely to your face without interfering with helmet straps, minimizing distractions during the ride.

Not only do the Filters fit well but the optics are pretty amazing as well. These sunglasses use Zeiss lenses which are very clear without any noticeable distortion. Filter lenses are also 100% UVA, UVB, and UVC filtering. My Filter sunglasses came with two sets of lenses – grey tint 18Z and the rose silver 18Z. For the trails I would have preferred an amber or brown lens as well – perhaps this is something Giro will add in the future.

The Filter sunglasses also feature Pop Top which allows you to flip an integrated lever to release the lens from the frame without having you grip the lens with your hand. This helps keeps lenses clean and scratch free even with frequent lens changes.

All and all I have to say that Giro has a great thing going with these three products and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend other Giro helmets, gloves, or sunglasses to anyone. You want fries with that?

OK, now I get to show off a bit and for once I don’t need to wear a helmet or ride along with constant fear of knocking out a tooth. Just look at that handsome devil above… I assure you the only reason I look good is the shades. The VTX sunglasses from Ryders (MSRP $59.99) are super versatile and have quickly become my favorite blinkers for the trail.

The VTX sunglasses come with three lens choices that you can change up in a jiffy. The lenses pictured above are gray with a flash coating, perfect for sunny days. You also get a set with orange tint which provides high contrast on forest trails or for overcast days and a clear set for protection in the dark from thin twigs and dirt. With all these options included you’re really getting 3 pairs of shades that can be worn in any conditions. The VTX sunglasses come with a zipper case to hold the extra lenses and a soft, no-scratch cleaning cloth.

Now a really great thing with all the lenses is that they are optically correct and provide 100% UVA, UVB, and UVC protection. Most inexpensive sunglasses skip the UV protection and can actually harm your eyes with too much exposure to the sun.

Another cool feature of the VTX sunglasses is the adjustable nose piece and arms which can be set to your face and hold the glasses firmly in place. This is perfect for me since one of my ears is slightly lower than the other (go figure) but it also means I can set these specs in place and forget them when I’m bombing down the trail.

On the trails the VTX sunglasses are great and I’m a big fan of the orange lenses in particular. During a recent ride I noticed roots and small differences in the soil popped out visually while my eyes stayed well protected from mud splatter (thanks, in part, to the tight fit around my face). I did notice a little bit of fogging during breaks in the action but other than that I really enjoyed the Ryder VTX sunglasses.

But wait, there’s more!

Check out the Vigor (MSRP $44.99) sunglasses also from Ryders. These share some of the characteristics of the VTXs with the exception of the replaceable lenses. The Vigor shades feature the same adjustable nose and ear pieces but only include this brown lens with flash finish (other models carry a different lens color – see Ryders for details).

The Vigors are part of the Adrenaline Essentials collection from Ryders. Even though these do not have replaceable lenses, the brown lenses with flash finish still provide good contrast in medium to bright conditions and do a good job enhancing yellow and green hues. Because the lenses are not replaceable, Ryders was able to frame the lenses all the way around, making these a more fashionable choice for both on and off the trail.

I found these sunglasses worked best on the open trials and on bright, sunny days. I tried wearing these shades on a few overcast days but I found the brown lenses were a bit too dark in the deep forest. These glasses didn’t seem to fog up like the VTX sunglasses and the slightly larger lenses still kept out the crud and junk.

Ryders Eyewear produces optically correct, UV-protected sunglasses perfect for mountain biking at a great value (which means you won’t be too upset if you accidentally break or lose them on the trail). On top of that, their sunglasses look cool and fit just about any face – check out the huge selection to find the right pair for your riding style.

Cheers folks!

Some Key Features from Ryders Eyewear:

• Adjustable nose pads
• Adjustable temple-tips
• Hydrophilic nose-pads and/or temple tips
• Optically-correct, shatterproof, polycarbonate, performance lenses
• 100% UVA, UVB, UVC protection.