Bike goggle safety

Does anyone have a good resource for learning about bike goggle safety? Are there any safety standards goggles have to meet, like helmets do? I did some searching tonight and was amazed how little I came up with. For example, a search for "bike goggle safety standards" turned up a lot of pages about motorcycle and bicycle HELMET safety standards.

(I recently got doored and something--possibly my glasses, possibly the lab safety goggles I was wearing over the glasses--cut my eyelid so I got stitches. Could have been a lot worse--and got me thinking about all the ways it could have been worse. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if they'd shattered, for example. So suddenly I'm very interested in bike goggle safety!)

Search "protective sports eyewear" and you'll probably find what you are looking for - here's a good place to start http://www.aao.org/clinical-statemen...-november-2003

Thank you, that's an excellent suggestion! And I'll report my findings to this thread, for anyone who wonders the same thing later.

Wow, I clicked through to that link, and the recommendation for cycling is for helmet plus streetwear/fashion eyewear, no impact resistance at all! Yikes!! I'd want ANSI and/or OSHA spec impact resistant for sure. Since they recommend polycarbonate for everything where impact resistance *is* desired, that automatically takes care of UV protection.

Sorry you got doored. :mad: :( - but I have to think it's a fairly uncommon circumstance where the frame would take an impact hard enough to push it into your face. Since the helmet overhangs your glasses, the helmet will usually take the impact. My glasses-mounted mirror hit the ground in my last crash (a hard crash, with significant soft tissue injury and just very lucky I didn't break my neck), but didn't cause any problems - and even though the mirror is glass bonded to a plastic backing, I've never once heard of a Chuck Harris mirror shattering, out of all the tens of thousands of people out there wearing them for the past 40 years.


I guess I might take a look at the certifications on the eyewear the pros wear. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get the same certifications from safety glasses, and some of them aren't unattractive at all. I've been wearing the same style of shooting glasses as my only sunglasses (and the same thing with clear lenses for night cycling) for 15 or 20 years now, and they're $9 a pair.


ETA - I'm going to take a look at the FIM and AMA and see what they require for motocross racers. Road racers obviously wear full face helmets, so they don't need any particular eyewear. Will report back ...



AMA only requires that goggles be "shatterproof" for amateur competition. Doesn't specify any standard.

... Same for professional AMA competition.

... Same for FIM-sanctioned international competition.

Wow.

Oak Leaf, I'm not sure if it was the door or the ground that did it--I don't remember the impact, which IMHO is a blessing. (I also haven't been able to figure out why I have a dent in the back of my helmet along with injuries on my face--what would have hit the back of my head? But anyway, yes I did replace the helmet after the crash!) (And I'm glad you made it through that crash! Ouch.)

Eden, thanks again for that link and the wording suggestion!

For the ages, here's what I've gleaned about bike goggle safety standards:
1) Biking is considered a low-risk sport for eye injury. (Source: http://www.aao.org/clinical-statemen...-november-2003 )
2) If you're going to wear some kind of protective lenses, they should be polycarbonate and at least 2mm thick. (Source: also http://www.aao.org/clinical-statemen...-november-2003 )
3) The most relevant standard is ASTM F803. Opinions are mixed on whether ANSI Z87.1 is also an appropriate standard for sports eyewear; in other words, multiple sites say ANSI Z87.1 is "not satisfactory for eye-risk sports," but I'm having a much easier time finding vendors who say their goggles meet the ANSI standard than the ASTM standard.

A description of ASTM F803 and ANSI Z87.1, including some information on the tests that are used: http://www.sporteyes.com/faq.htm#Wha...standards_mean
This page also had the useful line "However, if doing other sports, having an ANSI rated frame is far better than having a sunglass with no safety rating at all," which I'm coming to agree with.

(For what it's worth, the goggles I was wearing when I got doored were ANSI Z87.1-compliant lab safety goggles. They cracked but didn't shatter. Now that I've done this research, I may get those same ones again--they're WAY cheaper than bike or snow goggles, give me better peripheral vision, and meet the same standard as the bike goggles I can find online!)

For what it's worth, now that they are able to place my prescription lenses in a small enough pair of Oakley's that's what I've been using and here's what they say

All Oakley eyewear are tested to meet ANSI high velocity and high impact standards. However, please note that not all are marked as certified ANSI Z87. Thus, while other Oakley styles may surpass these standards, we cannot endorse this particular style as industrial safety glasses as they are not marked for ANSI Z87 compliance. Should you require Z87 certified Oakley eyewear, please visit our Oakley Safety Glasses section.

Yes they are kind of expensive - but, needing prescription lenses and not being particularly enamored with the kind that clip your prescription in behind the actual lenses, most anything is pricey. I've got quarter jackets (made for kids) and I've been very, very satisfied with them. While they honestly don't look much different than most other wrap around sunglasses, they really do have some better engineering. They move air much better than other pairs I've used. It takes a lot to fog them up, but they still keep grit and air totally out of your eyes.