Glasses and riding?

[MacD]

The problem is I'm not that keen on having glass inside my helmet so close to my eyes. Hate to think what might happen should I bin wearing them.

Plan to get contacts some time soon so I've got optimum vision all the time. No fogging with contacts and you can still wear sunnies when it's bright

Are your lenses really made of glass? Glass lenses are pretty rare these days and not of any benefit except in really high prescriptions, and even then the benefit is fairly dubious given modern high index plastic materials.

If your lenses are plastic, then even the cheapest plastic material is pretty impact resistant. The main issue is injury from the frame if it breaks and again there are a lot of impact resistant frames ranging from plastic through to titanium frames.

Contacts are a good plan, they can dry out with the airflow inside a helmet, but everybody is different with their response to contacts so they're worth trying.

Refractive surgery by LASIK shouldn't cause night vision problems these days, but there is a very small complication rate, which can lead to night (and day) vision problems. Previous techniques often left a residual haze in the cornea which was noticeable at night, and/or the correction area was smaller than the pupil size at night.

[Mully]

I hated, hated with the fire of ten thousand suns, riding with my glasses. It bent the glasses slightly out of shape, meaning I ended up with wall-eye vision. And worse peripheral vision.

I've heard that laser surgery can adversely affect night vision.

Can, in the same way a bus "can" come crashing into your living room. Unlikely, but possible. I've had no problems. Was warned to be careful at night (i.e. don't drive if I had the choice) for 6 weeks, but was fine after 4 or so. You mainly get "stars" around lights and bastards high-beaming you stings a bit.

I have been thinking about getting the eyes lasered when we can afford it.

Chickadee do it. Seriously, best money I ever spent. You know the TV ad where they say your only regret will be not doing it sooner? They are right.

I went from eyes being -4.5 and -5 to slightly better than 20/20.

They will make you watch a DVD (I think they will send you a free copy of you ring them) about it, but if you want to know my experience, let me know.

Cheers,
Mully

[Matt_TG]

I wore glasses / contacts for 25 years and had Lasik 2 weeks ago. I was -5.5 and -5.75. It's heaven on the bike now, but I still go to take my glasses off before taking off or putting on the helmet, doh if not wearing sunnies. I can't get over the feeling that I have left my contacts in when I go to bed, can't wait till I get into the surf in summer.

The night vision thing (halos) was real bad for the first few days, and is still present to a certain degree, it's caused by the pupil expanding over the area where they lasered, but as it heals properly it will disappear, I'm noticing its better on a daily basis. I can ride / drive at night no worries, in fact I drove from Taupo to Tauranga last Saturday at midnight - in the rain and wind, with no feeling of 'not seeing'.

I was 6/6 at my check up last week and have no problems with close up vision. I still can't believe I don't need glasses, but it's $4600 I couldn't put towards a bike!

[imdying]

I hated, hated with the fire of ten thousand suns, riding with my glasses. It bent the glasses slightly out of shape, meaning I ended up with wall-eye vision. And worse peripheral vision.

Shit you think you had it bad! I had an astigmatism in both eyes, going different ways! In other words, if the glasses weren't straight relative to the eye, and each lens straight relative to the other, they weren't really helping!

Chickadee do it. Seriously, best money I ever spent. You know the TV ad where they say your only regret will be not doing it sooner? They are right.

I went from eyes being -4.5 and -5 to slightly better than 20/20.

They are soo right.

I was 6/6 at my check up last week and have no problems with close up vision. I still can't believe I don't need glasses, but it's $4600 I couldn't put towards a bike!

Yep, totally kicks arse. Like you guys, they improved mine substantially, better than 7/6 2 weeks after it was done, and only got better after that!

The most bizzare thing was getting up out of the operating chair, walking into the dimly lit post op room, and finding that I could see every single minor detail of the window sill, at 2 metres away, unassisted, in a dimly lit room, literally 30 seconds after the op. I will remember that moment till I die... it truly astounded me.

Best money I have ever ever spent. Ever. Period...

[Stella]

I would love to get the laser surgery.... one day when I can afford it. I just hope I will not be too old by then!

Anyway, yes glasses suck with fogging while riding. I find once I am going over 20kmph-ish there is no problem with the visor closed. The vents keep me fog-free. But you do need to get into a habit of flicking up the visor a bit when coming up to an intersection etc where you need to crawl or stop. I find it can help my vision a bit without all the extra reflections going on. Or not breathe if you know it is going to be brief.....

Rain plus cold is a bitch for fogging though.... my first real rain ride was at night through the center of town (slow) then out of town through a 70km road I was a little nervous on and had only ridden once before. Ok so it was a rather silly thing to do anyway.... I cleverly left the visor up all the way through town so I could see, then flicked it down once we were traveling more steadily..... then I realized my glasses were all wet!!! Visor wet, glasses wet, slight fogging, double halos around every light, wet road, dark night, unfamiliar territory.... And I couldn't do anything about it as I had to follow my friend in her car as I didn't know where we were going to.
Just don't.....

[discotex]

Are your lenses really made of glass? Glass lenses are pretty rare these days and not of any benefit except in really high prescriptions, and even then the benefit is fairly dubious given modern high index plastic materials.

99% sure.. They're 10+ years old. I'm only like -1.5 or something small enough to pass the LTNZ vision test so they rarely get worn.

I've thought about getting new ones but it's just such a hassle when you're used to not wearing glasses.

[MacD]

99% sure.. They're 10+ years old.

OK, well they may well be glass at 10+ years old. You're right, I wouldn't wear glass lenses either under a helmet.

Keep an eye out for deals at places like OPSM, or check out the Auckland University Optometry Clinic as they have cheap frames available (limited range and changes all the time), but you'd have to have an eye test first ($40).

[BigRed2007]

I know how you feel mate, Best thing i did was like others said open the visor up just a tiny bit... because if you have your visor open in the rain your glasses get rained on which is worse when its fogged up too..

Um i know how it feels in the morning riding withyour glasses, and the cold air in your eyes.. and your eyes start to water.... really annoying feeling