Earlier this year, Tifosi launched the Rail line of sunglasses, a new rimless shield offering plenty of coverage at a low weight. By far the brand’s largest lens, it has a lot of competition from other offerings like Oakley’s EVZero and the Smith Ruckus, just to name a few. So how does the Tifosi Rail stack up? We got a pair in of the matte black Fototec colorway and tested them out on the road and gravel through the spring and summer. So far, we can’t find much to complain about.
I won’t go too deep into the specs, and you can find that in the original article, but the Rail is a rimless shield design with the temples connecting on the sides of the lens. Unlike the Smith Ruckus, it doesn’t have a bridge across the top of the lens, only the nose piece is added on in the center. The temples are made from Grilamid TR-90, a popular plastic uses for sunglasses for its lightweight and durability. The nose piece and temples both use hydrophilic rubber for comfort and add grip that increases as you sweat. The lens is a shatterproof, scratch-resistant polycarbonate that blocks 100% of UVA and UVB rays, and repels water. The Fototec lens transitions from a nearly clear 74% transmission to a 14% transmission smoke tint.
The Rail is aimed more at larger faces, though the adjustability of the temples and nose piece will help it fit a range of faces. The adjustable nose piece can be pinched narrower or wider to help you find the fit you are looking for. The temples can also be bent to help find the right fit in the back. Personally, I didn’t touch the temples as they already fit well, but I did adjust the nose piece a little. It stays put when adjusted pretty well and is easy to adjust mid-ride if you need to.
On the Road
So far this year, we’ve had a range of sunglasses come through for review from Roka, Smith, Oakley, and Tifosi, not to mention my large Oakley collection that I have to choose from depending on the ride, weather, and looks. I’ve focused my attention on the glasses in for review, but with so many choices, I still end up reaching for the glasses I prefer the most. Many times, that was the Rail.
Out on the road, or on the trail, the Rail was comfortable, light, offer great coverage, and clarity that rivals other glasses that cost 2-3 times more. At 32g, they were extremely comfortable for long rides and paired well with many different helmets. Smooth roads or rough gravel trails, there was never an issue of them moving around, which is not always the case with rimless or partial frame glasses. The temples themselves are rather plain, which in this case, is a good thing, allowing the lens to be the star of the show. The 131mm wide and 59.5mm tall lens offers coverage that was hard to see the edges on at the top and sides. Along the bottom, the lens followed my cheeks well, letting in just enough ventilation.
The review sample I received only came with a single lens since they are photochromatic, but other models come with their main lens, a clear lens, and an All Conditions (AC) Red lens. Swapping lenses is a matter of popping off the temples and nose piece, and moving it to the new lens. I did strip them down to a bare lens to test it out, and after getting over the initial fear of pulling the temples off, swapping lenses wouldn’t be too difficult.
The Clarion Red Fototec lens was also a great option. They weren’t always my top choice for extremely bright days, though they held their own against other photochromatic lenses, they were my go-to for cloudy or gravel days going on and offroad. The transition from light to dark and back never left me wanting a darker tint, and the slight red mirror to the lens gave them a stylish look, even when they were on the lighter side.
The clarity of the lenses is what impressed me. I’ve tested other glasses in a lower price range that had distortions that ended up giving me headaches. With those glasses, colors just looked flat and you could tell a difference. With the Rail, Tifosi upped their game and created a lens that is clear, sharp, and has great colors to help you pick out imperfections on the road or debris on the trail. On a weekly training race, there is always a section towards the end with a fast turn on a tree-lined road, that is definitely not the smoothest. With other glasses, I had a tendency to dock them in my helmet to get through that corner, but not with the Rail. The photochromatic transition lightened up enough and the clarity was there that I could comfortably see the best line. On some early season gravel events, the varied light transmission matched well with the conditions, and they stayed in place on the roughest downhill sections.
I have to say that I was never a fan of Tifosi in the past. To be honest, with other models I’ve received for review, I felt like you got what you paid for when compared to other premium brands. I’ve always been an Oakley guy, but with the Rail and a few of their other releases I’ll be reviewing (Swank XL RX and Sledge Lite), something has changed. The Rail feels much more premium than the $80 price tag would suggest, right up there with the Oakley EVZero Blade, which retails at $209 for a similar photochromatic lens. Part of it I would say is that Tifosi now has a model that is on-trend with the large styles we have seen, but there is also a quality that hasn’t always been there in the past. And while I haven’t been terribly impressed with the styles or quality that has been coming from Oakley lately (there have been a string of quality issues on the lenses of two of their most recent limited-edition releases, Subzero and Mumbo/Pro M Frame), I’m excited to see what Tifosi brings out next.
The Rail is available in 10 color options, along with their custom program. Standard options include Blackout (black and smoke grey lenses), crystal blue with Clarion Blue, navy with Clarion Yellow, white with smoke grey, crystal grey with Clarion Green, and matte black Fototec. Recent new colors added are Cookies and Cream (white with black specks) with a smoke grey lens, Astral Blue (navy fade into yellow with contrasting specks), and Clarion Blue lens. All, except for the matte black/Fototec come with the AC Red and spare lenses mentioned earlier.
Additionally, you can buy spare lenses in clear, smoke grey, smoke grey mirror, AC Red, Fototec Red, and Clarion lenses in Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow. Spare ear pieced in black, blue, red, silver and white are also available to customize your look.
Going custom lets you build a Rail just how you want it from most of the standard temples, lens, and ear piece options listed above. It can actually be a little cheaper if you only want one lens ($55-65 for the non-photochromatic lens options), but for $15-25 more, you get three lenses from the standard option.
All Rails come with a hard case and microfiber storage/cleaning bag.
I might have been hesitant to try out the rail originally, but I’m very glad I did. It is hard to say anything negative about an $80 pair of sunglasses that perform just as well as glasses 2-3 times more expensive. While Tifosi might not carry the same cachet as some of the premium brands out there, the Rail is showing that price doesn’t always reflect on the level of quality. Watch for more reviews coming soon on the Swank XL with RX lenses and the Sledge Lite.
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
~Veggie Powered Athlete~
Location – Lancaster, PA
Current Testing Rigs – 2024 Van Dessel Arch65, 2019 Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, 2018 Van Dessel Motivus Maximus LTD, 2016 Van Dessel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2015 Bianchi Sempre Pro, 1978 Trek TX900
Dream Bike – I’ll tell you when they make it
Discipline – Cyclocross, gravel, road and duathlons (ride/run)
Favorite Rides – Quiet country roads of Amish Country, some of the best roads around.
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