Are Cycling Glasses Necessary?
Are Cycling Glasses Necessary?
You might be thinking, are cycling glasses necessary? Sunglasses are only good for keeping the sun out of your eyes, so why wear them unless it's sunny?
It's true! Sunglasses do block out the sun, but most importantly; sunglasses protect your eyes from UV rays, which can cause cataracts and, in some cases, cancer. Surprisingly UV rays are not just around on sunny days. UV is also present in winter, even on a cloudy day, as well as in summer. So there is a need for some kind of protection all year round if you are outside for long periods.
So why are cycling glasses necessary?
Well, obviously, the UV rays, but glasses also protect your eyes from bugs, wind, and debris. Debris et increases in winter with road grit and wet mud on the cross country and mountain trails. This is why you will see cycling sunglasses with traditional sunglass lenses, yellow lenses for the less bright days and sometimes clear lenses.
Another reason is Cycling glasses are to wear glasses when riding; Designed to withstand crashes; cycling-specific sunglasses break in a way that doesn't leave you with pieces of broken glass in your eyes and face. Designed to stop light and dust from getting in under and around the edges of your cycling glasses. Avoiding dangerous situations where you cannot pay full attention to your ride. Cycling-specific glasses are also designed to stay in place even when you are sweating heavily. Meaning you don't get distracted or need to keep taking your hands off the bars to push your glasses back in place.
So it is worth investing in a pair of specialist cycling sunglasses both for UV protection, comfort, convenience, safety and to stop things from ending up in your eyes that you do not want.
