I’ve needed glasses since the 4th grade. I would peer at the chalkboard and try to make sense of what was written up there, until we finally broke down and made the inevitable trip downtown to visit the same eye doctor that both of my parents used.
I never let my glasses hold me back. I rode my BMX bike hard and fast, hucking off of whatever you put in front of me, but often paying the price as my brittle plastic frames would only take so much.
This is the part where you think that I’m going to tell you about my first experience with specialized sport prescription glasses. It isn’t.
Like any vain teenager, I got contact lenses as soon as I was able to save enough paper route money to get them. Furthermore, I was fortunate to be one of those people that contacts just ‘work’ for. If you need evidence of that, consider that I’ve been wearing them more or less non stop for 30 years.
Yes, your dear editor is that old, kids.
I have to add that I’ve been wearing extended wear lenses for much of that time, meaning that I sleep in my lenses and only take them out once a month. With only minor exceptions, I feel like I have perfect vision, except for those pesky bills from LensCrafters every year or so.
The only problem has come in the past several years, as my age has caught up to me and I’ve found myself increasingly reliant on ‘readers’ for reading and other close work. Looking at the computer on my bike falls into that category. I can only lean back so far to check my cadence and speed, and sitting up that much kind of defeats the purpose of checking in the first place.
I needed some readers for the bike.
That’s why I was pleased when I was contacted by SportRx about doing a review. SportRx just could have sent me a cool pair of sporty cycling glasses to try out, put they really wanted me to get a feel for the entire process, so they put me in touch with one of their on staff optometrists.
When Rob called, we took a little bit of time to talk about cycling and the specific type of riding I do. You could dismiss this as casual ‘getting to know you talk’, but in reality, he was using our chat to get a good idea of the specific requirements that I might have in sports glasses.
What I really appreciate is that, instead directing me to a webform and having me fill in the blanks, Rob and SportRx took the time to get to know me a what I needed. After a short chat, Rob could tell that I wasn’t quite ready to ditch my contacts lenses for a set of full prescription lenses (or even bi-focals, which is an option) and instead presented me the possibility of getting sport glasses with readers (lined bi-focals in their nomenclature).
We talked about the shape of my face and some sunglasses that I already wear and find comfortable, and after some consideration, he proposed that we try out some Oakley Flak Jacket XLJ frames. A quick visit to a local bike shop confirmed that they were a good fit, so we turned our discussion to lenses.
Since much of my riding is done on shady bike paths, I did not need a lens designed for strong daylight. We settled on a light rose copper tint with a red flash mirrored coating. With the specifics settled, we put in the order and the glasses were on the way.
About three weeks later, the glasses arrived. They were carefully packaged and arrived in the original Oakley box and one of Oakley’s nice hardshell cases. I’ll be honest. At first, I though that they made a mistake. I could not see where the bifocals lenses were. I had to turn them around in the light several times to see the barely perceptible lines.
The fit and build was as would be expected for Oakley – excellent.
On the bike, the glasses fit the bill. I could see the readout on my Wahoo! RFLKT cycling computer just fine while still having a clear, focused view of the road ahead.
But that’s not really what this review is about. The review is about how easy SportRx makes it to get into a pair of prescription sport glasses, and in that respect, they did a fantastic job. Unless your doctor personally participates in 20+ action sports and can offer you frames from more than 20 manufacturers with lenses in nearly every color of the rainbow, SportRx is your new eye doctor for sport glasses.
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.