Eye protection in the rain

quozl · 09-01-2014 11:47am #1

I forgot my cheapo Lidl sunglasses last Sunday and after a 4 1/2 hour spin in strong winds, constant rain and other riders' road-spray my eyes were in agony. I was having to take turns with which eye was open until a riding buddy lent me his glasses for the last half hour.

The glasses were great for pain relief but being covered in water they weren't great for being able to see things.

What do people use for long cycles in rain?

Are those jaunty cycling caps that I occassionally see people wearing meant for that kind of a situation? Do they keep rain off your glasses?

Do expensive glasses with hydrophobic treatments really work?

Or something else?

My eyes were still painful until about halfway through the next day - don't want that again

Mechanic365 · 09-01-2014 11:59am

I never use caps becuase if the weather is too warm my head is too warm.
I use cheap glasses with clear lenses and carry around a small cloth too wipe them when I get the chance but I just wipe them with my hands/glove most of the time. Its a tricky situation and maybe theres glasses with like a polished sureface to let the water run away.

clog · 09-01-2014 12:22pm

I've found caps don't really work that well to keep rain and spray off as most of the water is hitting the face horizontally when riding.
You can get water repellent sprays etc for lenses but a cheap way is to wash the lenses in washing up liquid and allow to dry without wiping the lenses. This leaves a film on the lenses and water should bead and drip off.

07Lapierre · 09-01-2014 1:02pm

Im the same...can't ride without glasses. The wind causes my eyes to get very red and sore unless i wear glasses. I wear clear / orange lenes at night, Orange or dark lenses in daylight.

Chips Lovell · 09-01-2014 1:13pm

I put clear lenses in my sunglasses. Usually effective. Wearing a cap I find helps a wee bit and its also more pleasant to have an extra layer on your head when it's tipping down.

In some instances, the rain is coming down in such a way that the drops gather on the glasses. In those cases I just stick them in the helmet and dog it out. If its a group spin, bits of road grit will be coming out the side of my eyes for a few days after.

Mugser · 09-01-2014 1:52pm

I use a product called 'Rain-X' on the lenses. Think I picked it up in Halfords. Find it helps the rain/spray bead off the lenses.
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=11101&langId=-1&productId=222433&catalogId=15551

NeedMoreGears · 09-01-2014 2:08pm

I wear glasses all the time - it's that or a white stick.

Rain is generally ok except at night when the glare from on-coming traffic is pain. I usually take off the glasses if it gets too bad and slow down (I can't see far enough ahead in low light).

During the day I don't find it a major problem (assuming the occasional wipe with aglove) unless the glasses fog up - that generally only happens when I'm moving glacially up a hill ; I don't really need the glasses at that stage anyway.

Perhaps because I wear glasses all the time I'm just used to it.