Page 18 - RidingOn Winter2022

The Eyes Have It

Sing it with me: “I can see clearly now … “ the RX gasket. This is a clip-in attachment to the inside of your
frame that carries the scripted inserts. With the clip-in gasket,
There is no argument among bikers that eye protection is one you are limited to single vision lenses, whereas with in-frame
of the most important factors when riding. And boy, haven’t we lenses you can get full multifocals (aka progressive) fitted by
all seen some interesting eyewear! your optometrist.
Once we’ve reached a certain vintage, our eyesight begins to Form or function?
decline. That may well explain some of the questionable choices
we make, but we should never let it compromise safety and “It’s important that when you go and try on any glasses, that
comfort on the road. Clear, sharp vision in all conditions can be you take your helmet,” says Faraz Darabi, CEO of Piranha
the difference between life and well, … adverse outcomes. Eyewear Pty Ltd, “there’s no point standing in front of the mirror
saying ‘I look cool’ when what you need is function. It needs to
Now, I’m well past the qualification date for Ulysses membership work exactly how you intend to use it. Find the styles that fit
and my study and garage are strewn with $10 Reject Shop before you decide which looks best.”
reading glasses. There has to be a better way.
Makes sense, yeah? If you’re going to shell out hundreds for
Step One: get your eyes tested and obtain a current prescription decent glasses and scripted lenses, the last thing you want is a
from a qualified optometrist. It’s not expensive and you’ll likely frame that doesn’t fit properly on your face or in your helmet.
get a rebate from either Medicare or your private health fund.
Keeping the bugs out.
Whether you ride with an open face or full-face helmet, the
considerations are the same. You need protection from wind, Open face helmet users will know only too well that smack on
rain, dust, glare and bugs. the cheek when a fat fly or bee whacks you at 100kmh. Or that
bit of grit that has found itself behind your lens when you’re
Full-face helmet riders will probably find the simplest way stuck between two B-Doubles.
around this is to squeeze our prescription spectacles inside your
full-face helmet, but therein lies several challenges. You can fairly easily fit a pair of ski goggles over most
spectacles, but you may end up looking like a misplaced
A snug-fitting full-face helmet will make it difficult to get Austrian ski instructor. (vee do zer schee plow, ja!). Better still
regular glasses on, so the trick is to get super-flexible arms on is a dust guard or eye shield fitted around the inner surface
the frame or, better still, shortened or removable arms such of the frame. We tested both Ugly Fish (Ultimate) and Wiley X
as those in the Ugly Fish Riderz range. Styles ‘Warhead’ and (Gravity) and found both worked well at excluding dust-laden
‘Cannon’ both accept prescription lenses directly
into the frame and this must be done by an
optometrist. Cannon’s removable arms can even be
replaced with a strap for goggle-style fitment.
The alternative to ‘in-frame’ prescription glasses, is

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