How to deal with changing light conditions?

[cindywon]

My favorite routes generally include a lot of changing light conditions (sunny climb, shady descend). I've been wearing a pair of dark-ish sunglasses that doesn't allow a lot of light, which tends to cause problems on descends (I can't even see the pot holes in the shade!).

Since I wear hard contact (gas permeable) lens, getting anything in my eye causes a lot of pain. I'm thinking of carrying 2 pairs of sun glasses (one for bright light, and one for low light) situations, or 2 pairs of lens... albeit switching lens might be tricky with sweaty hands. Any TE'ers out there in the same situation?

Any recommendations or suggestions welcome :-)

[KnottedYet]

I have a very good-fitting pair of Tifosi glasses that darken and lighten rapidly when the light changes. They do a great job of keeping cooties out of my eyes, too. I also wear them indoors when I have migraines, and they do lighten enough indoors that I can see just fine.

http://www.rei.com/product/751877

Love these glasses! If I lost them, I'd go right out and buy another pair.

[Eden]

I also have transition lenses in my cycling glasses. I wear prescription glasses and it's kind of expensive to have custom ground lenses made for every lighting situation.... so the first (and only so far) set I got change. Works out find for me. They change quick enough and they get dark enough to be effective. (non-prescription are of course much less expensive)

[ilima]

I also wear gas perm lenses, and I pretty much can't ride without glasses. I have variously 1. suffered with dark lenses when it gets dark; 2. carried an extra pair; 3. bought glasses with interchangeable lenses. The third option is what I do now. I put the extra lenses in their cloth case in my jersey pocket & plan a place to switch them out.

My eyes are really sensitive to light, so I'm leery of the photosensitive lenses. Tried them many years ago and they never got nearly dark enough outside and stayed a bit too dark inside. The worst of both worlds. I'd think they'd have improved since then, though.

[cindywon]

Hmm, maybe I'll try the transition lens, they seem to be affordable. I also get migraines, never thought about wearing sunglasses indoors to control the light sensitivity. Sounds like I gotta try this, thanks!

ilima, I've suffered a lot with dark lenses, until today I went over a pretty big pothole and freaked myself out.....

[Becky]

I have a pair of Tifosi photochromatics in the orange-->brown lenses, and they're simply awesome! They're my go-to glasses on all but the very brightest of days. I'd buy another pair in a heartbeat.

By the way, I'd skip the Cat One photochroms that Performance sells. I tried a pair and they never got nearly as dark as my Tifosis.