Helmets and Spectacles.

This post probably only applies to those who were goggles, and I don't mean of the beer variety.

I don't normally wear my glasses when out riding as I can't get them on properly inside helmet, also there is the comfort issue as well.

I'm fortunate that although I wear glasses all the time, I don't actually have to wear them for driving. My vision without them is still very good, just that vision in the left eye is slightly down which the right eye over compensates for resulting in headaches which the glasses compensate for.

I'm about to get a new helmet (Shoei XR900 about 5 year old - Shark RSX Stunt coming up 3 years this year).

My mate runs a website (see below) and as part of his mates rates he can get me pretty much any helmet I want at cost price, generally saving a third (often more) on the price of a helmet.

Trouble is I'm soooooo not into the flippy face helmets. Father-in-law and his mate both MUST wear glasses when out on bike and both have Caberg flippy things which mean helmet on, flip up, glasses on, flip down and hey presto everything fits properly and comfy to.

Anyone have any experience of helmets and glasses. Alternatively I have been told of glasses with no legs that sit on top of the ears but rather once helmet is on they rest on the nose with some legs that attach to helmet itself.

I have in the past tried contacts but I also have stigmatism?? (eyeballs more oval & rugby ball shaped than round) which means contacts don't sit right. I never really got to grips with them. Apparently this is quite common??

[dizzyblonde]

yup astygmatism in left eye at -4.75.
Don't necessarily have to wear specs for riding as sometimes I can read reg plates at required distance, although thats dependant on the mood of my eyes .lol, but i tend to wear them permanently these days.
Contacts were horrid for me too, as on a bike I seemed to get them drying up a lot, and in summer they always felt gritty.
I was told not to get specs that had no frames round the lenses, that just had a clip on the edge and the nose bit, as they are a bad idea with helmets. You have to get specs that are going to be robust. I have a phobia of having jam jars, as the lens is so fat in the middle and i have to go for certain shapes to hide it, square types are no good, and are usually pretty flimsy anyway. My specs are due to be replaced, I'm always repairing them, as they go pretty weak on the screws, from me pushing them up my face and getting caught on helmet liners.
They also steam up in winter, have had many times when i thought the fog has come down, and its not the visor getting misty ..its my specs!
I have reaction lenses as i am very light sensitive...but they don't work under my visors, as they all have UV coatings on them. I bought a new shark lid that had a sun visor, and its not dark enough, so I still have to carry my black race visor round in summer

Pah if I could afford it and I knew it would work I;d have my eyes lasered.

i wear glasses. Im currently trialing contacts with little suscess. (stigmatism) Now i have a shoei raid 2 and tried a few on with my glasses before purchasing it. The raid 2 has pockets around the ears with no padding and slightly thinner section padding down the sides. This means that my glasses fit very comfortably and i have no issues with them fitting. However i do have issues with fogging. If you get glasses that have an antiglare coating you cant get any of the fog coatings to work (they bond to the lense and lower the surface tension so you get less of a fogging effect) Howevver i do think that the antiglare is better.

dizzy just a note, i used to wear photochromic lenses and it made my eyes really sensitive to light. it took me 2 years of not wearing them to get them back to somewhere near normal. I would consider trying it with out the coating and sunglasses for summer (poss 2nd pair?) a for the lazer thing i know quite a few people tat have had it dont now and every one has had a problem! although i dont see glasses as a problem and they did so some of them are happy.

[dizzyblonde]

I am going to look into gettin prescription sunglasses when they come out again this year. Up for my sight test soon enough, so I think i'll wait for the buy a set and get sunglasses free lark!

[pookie]

I had some pretty poor results using contacts..with those 2 weeks free trials back 5 years ago. Since then have tried ortho k and now singing virtues or these new silicon hydrogel contacts from bausch. Also optician tried me on a toric lens to cope with the astigmatism which works very well. Also main reason for bad experiance was dry eyes too. But with these new ones have superb long wear times and much better on the bike

I had glasses for ages and found the titanium types with thin arms better for sliding into the helmet.

[ogden]

I've been wearing specs for 21 years and riding for 16 and never had a problem with either, even at the same time.

Just wear them under the lid and get used to it. Seriously, what's the problem?

One caveat to the above is that when I came off while wearing some prescription Oakleys under my lid, the frames transferred the full impact from the lid to the bridge of my nose leading to much spilled claret. I don't wear bomb-proof frames under the lid anymore.

[G]

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

yup astygmatism in left eye at -4.75.
Don't necessarily have to wear specs for riding

Are you kidding me? is this is one eye only or something?

I'm -2.75 in both eyes and cant see a bloody thing lol

As for wearing glasses while wearing a helmet. Go try a shoei XR1000. Because of the way the padding is set out there is a perfect groove for glasses to fit in. Some say they were designed that way for that very reason but I have never heard shoei saying it.

The only downside is its a fairly noisy.

I can't remember the last time I wore my spec's with my helmet as I always wear my contacts. Don't seem to have a problem with them drying out but then I have the high 'oxygen' lenses to ensure that my eyes breath.
I have some new glasses at the moment and haven't tested them with my lids as I plan to wear the contacts, but all I can say is when you get your lid or glasses make sure you take either with you to test the fit.

I'm -4.50 in both eyes so its spec's or contacts only.

[rictus01]

interestingly enough I have no problem fitting my glasses with the Arai's as the lining is softer, however the Shoei takes a bit more work and can "lift" the glasses of my nose a bit, I always get glasses that'll fit on with a helmet and take it with me when choosing, you do get some funny looks in the shop though.

recently I got a MX lid and that needs proper goggles, I though it a bit of a waste of time to be honest, but tried it out on a couple of short trips, and they are actually very good for glasses as the goggles isolate the glasses from your breathing so don't mist up.....bit of a bonus.

Cheers Mark.

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by G

Are you kidding me? is this is one eye only or something?

I'm -2.75 in both eyes and cant see a bloody thing lol

As for wearing glasses while wearing a helmet. Go try a shoei XR1000. Because of the way the padding is set out there is a perfect groove for glasses to fit in. Some say they were designed that way for that very reason but I have never heard shoei saying it.

The only downside is its a fairly noisy.

yup thats in one eye
Not sure what the prescription is in the other eye, its not as severe, and I'm sure its in the opposite direction..lol (*brings visions of crossed eyed blondes to the reader)
If you were to poke me in the right eye, I can;t see a damn thing in the left, I once got a fly in the right eye when I was riding and had to pull over as I couldn;t see for toffee in the left either.
As for lids... I've just bought myself a new shark helmet....I can't justify paying such a vast amount for a lid (sharks are £150) for something that will be deemed useless after one belt. This one appears to be a bit better fit on my specs this time...even though its the same lid as my last one
.....and sharks are bloody noisy too.