As anyone who has read my review of the Revision Sawfly glasses knows, I’m a fanatic about eye protection. On a bicycle, losing vision even for a second from something getting in your eyes can cause a disastrous crash. In mountain biking, that’s a particularly serious concern–mud flying everywhere. Good glasses are VERY important, for comfort and safety.
With MTB, it’s also constant change: you can go back and forth from bright sunlight to deep shade in an instant. The best glasses for MTB are photochromic. Sure, it’s not perfect; ideally, the glasses would instantaneously go from clear to dark, but that just ain’t possible, yet. A quick-changing lens that isn’t too dark is the best compromise for now.
Enter the Ryders Eyewear “Treviso” glasses. Ryders is a Canadian company with moderately priced glasses that certainly LOOK cool. For the $89 retail tag, these offer an awful lot: polarized, photochromic lenses, adjustable eartips, adjustable nosepads, and non-slip rubber on both pieces to make REALLY sure they don’t slip. They looked like ideal shades for a bumpy ride in the woods. And at a great price. . .can they provide the features and the quality?
Out of the box, the Ryders is a great looking glass. Glossy frame with the “Ryders” name in gold, a sleek shape…nice. Lenses vented at the top to reduce fogging…nice. Flex the frame way beyond reason, lenses don’t fall out…nice. Put them on, though, and “nice” becomes “wow!” The optics are spectacular: clear, crisp, and very contrasty, and no distortion. That is NOT what you’d expect from glasses at this price point. Definitely time to head out and try them!
I jumped on the road bike. The lenses darkened nicely, no eyestrain. When I turned a corner by a lake and suddenly found myself in dense fog, the vented lens of the Treviso handled it well, fogging only a little around the edges.
With 17 miles to go and only 15 miles worth of daylight the superb clarity of the optics really came through; though it got dark enough for lights on, I was still able to keep them on all the way home. Impressive.
Road performance great; so, next day, into the woods for the real test. The rain that caused the fog left the trails a muddy mess. When the first nasty puddle sprayed mud onto my face, the Ryders Treviso lens design with the bottom of the lens close to my face kept the gunk out of my eyes. The glasses never moved a bit, either, no matter how rough the trail. That’s A+ performance, a match for race glasses whose lenses cost more than the Ryders. Flawless performance: these may become a “Favorite Things”!
It’s worth mentioning that these would be fantastic golf sunglasses (yeah, I have that bad habit, too), great for tracking a ball that’s headed into the rough (if you play like I do), and the shape eliminates any funky transition line when you’re standing over a putt. Just a thought.
Final analysis: great glasses, absolutely superb value. Ryders isn’t a big name in the U.S. — yet. But several other brands had better produce products worthy of their high prices if they’re going to maintain market share against these bright Northern lights.