Contact lenses

[cyclingnewbie]

Do any of you ride with your contacts in? How do you keep them from getting dry and getting grit in your eyes? I have tried a couple of different sunglasses, but they don't keep the wind out so my lenses dry out. I don't want to buy a $200 pair of glasses from the LBS or the catalogs. Are the expensive ones worth it for this purpose? Are there any cheaper alternatives? Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks.

[Veronica]

I wear daily disposable type contacts and I've only had problems once on a really long, cold descent. My contact just flew out of my eye. I could see it sitting in my sunglasses, but by the time I could stop it had blown away completely.

I haven't had any problems mountain biking with my contacts.

V.

[SadieKate]

Only way I can ride since I am nearly blind. Glasses make me have tunnel vision because of the coke bottle lenses. Its actually quite petrifying to ride in glasses.

It isn't the price of the glasses, it is how the glasses fit and the coverage they provide. I have several friends who also ride in contacts. Our glasses must come up high enough on the eyebrow to keep a lot of wind from coming over the tops of the frames. Then, they must wrap side to side enough to protect from side winds. I also like having a visor for the little bit more wind protection it provides on my eyes.

I also carry a bottle of rewetting drops for those rare times when I do get something in my eye. I think I've stopped to use it maybe 2x in 20 years and I wear extended wear lenses, Ciba Vision Night & Day. I go on multiple day mtbike/camping trips in the dusty southwest with no problems.

[slinkedog]

I wear contacts (daily disposables, like V.), but I have to wear sunglasses or else my eyes dry out so badly that I can't function. I have Oakley Half Jackets that do the trick. They wrap around on the sides a little, but the lenses aren't as big as some I've seen. There are others I would have liked to have gotten more, but there was a LBS going out of business, so I got them for 50% off. I think regularly they were around $100 - $125. I don't exactly remember.

[DeniseGoldberg]

In my contact lens days, I always wore my lenses plus good sunglasses - for me, the Smith Slider 01 sunglasses did the trick. Since I had a tendency to need eyedrops occasionally, I usually threw a small bottle of eyedrops in my pocket too.

I had Lasik almost 5 years ago now, so I no longer need the contacts. But I still always wear sunglasses (clear lenses if it's dark out), and I still carry eyedrops with me.

[fixedgeargirl]

I wear extended wear diposables and my sunglasses are Rudy Project Skeeys. I actually bought the glasses before I got contacts b/c they had a great Rx adaptor. The Skeeys do an awesome job of keeping wind and grit out. They wrap really well and have adjustable nose pieces. I also like them b/c of the interchangeable lenses and the rimless design. They aren't cheap ($100+), but Rudy has a great lens replacement policy and I know these will last me quite a while. The Skeeys are a little large for a small face, but Rudy has come out with some other smaller profile glasses since I got mine. Other Rudy users I know like the way they keep wind out. I also carry a sample size of eye lube when I ride, in my town they have 'em at Target.

[skibum]

I wear disposable contacts and find that I also need sunglasses to protect my eyes from wind and road grit. After losing my expensive Oakleys on a ride, I decided to try one of the cheaper brands before spending a ton of money to replace the Oakleys. I found that the Performance brand sunglasses work pretty well for me. I have two pairs -- the Cygnus which is a little large on my face but provides pretty full coverage and the Athena which fits smaller faces a little better. If you are looker for a cheaper alternative to the name brands, you might want to check these out.

[nuthatch]

Same disposable contact situation here - but I'm totally cheap about the sunglasses. I use "fishing" sunglasses from WalMart - polarized, wrap-around and about $10. I think it works for me because disposables are so high in water content, they don't dry out as quickly as gas perms or traditional soft lenses. Still, the wrap-around glasses are a must and, because I'm using cheapie-deapie glasses, I can't see when it gets to be dusk. I don't have that clear lens option.

[cyclingnewbie]

Thanks for all the info! It sounds like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and spend the money on a good pair of sunglasses. Up to this point, I have been riding with prescription sunglasses, but I have no peripheral vision. It's not too much of a problem on a bike path, but in traffic it's a nightmare. Thanks again.

[susan.wells]

I wear the semi-rigid gas-permeable contacts. I wear sunglasses (even clear) while cycling to keep debris to a minimum. I also carry rewetting drops. Last year I did the Trek100 without the drops. I looked like I had pink-eye at the end. I make sure I always have drops after that!

[caligurl]

i wear extended wear contacts. i wear oakly half jackets. much bigger glasses then i would ordinarilly wear since i'm small and my head/face is small... but they seem to work.. even in the horrible wind of the desert/santa ana's.. i do ok.

now hubby has had issues with his popping out of his eye????? not sure how that happens? it's never happened to me!

my eyes water/tear in the cold (along with my nose) but don't think that a contact thing.. think it's an eye thing!

[caligurl]

Are the expensive ones worth it for this purpose?

p.s. yes.. the optics on the oakleys are OUTSTANDING and waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than any of the cheapies that i used to wear for every day!

[MightyMitre]

CibaVision Daily disposables worn here. I'm totally blind otherwise and hate wearing my glasses for riding as I really miss the all-round vision.

I've got some RudyProject wrap round glasses which are good, but do tend to slip a little.My previous pair were Oakleys and I loved them but they finanlly wore out.

HATE wearing glasses with clear lenses - reminds me too much of wearing normal glasses. Even in the pouring rain I prefer to go with no glasses as I also hate it when the lenses get all covered in rain and smears. Despite this I can confirm I've never lost a lense or had any problems.

However, the only occasion I do wear clear lenses is just after it's finished raining and is starting to dry off when a lot of mud and grit gets thrown up off peoples wheels and tends to be very sticky .

[caligurl]

i wear a pair of perfomance glasses with clear lenses when it's getting to be dusk... over my contacts!

[Surlygirl]

I wear CSI lenses that are just daily wear. I splurged and bought a pair of Zeal Optics Zink sunglasses. They fit smaller faces and they wrap a little so they keep out the wind pretty well. They come with interchangeable lenses and also polarized. Only problem I have now that I'm over 40 is that I can't read my bike computer. I think someone else posted you can buy these stick on magnifiers for the bottom of your sunglasses