So it seems that the rumours are actually true – I am indeed getting older not younger. One of the symptoms of my impending decline was identified over the Christmas period, at a routine eye-test, where it turns out that I need to wear glasses. It seems I’m both short-sighted and long-sighted and have significant astigmatism.
I’ve been getting serious headaches when working (I work stuck in front of a computer the vast majority of the time), I squint and move my head around to focus properly on words, and I’ve never really noticed that it was due to me not seeing properly! I also get headaches when driving longer distances, and especially at night I’m not seeing everything I should (which I was putting down to the headaches).
I now have two sets of glasses – one for reading and computer, and another for driving. Today I went out on my first ride since getting them, and…damn, how the hell do you four-eyed bikers do it in traffic? Out on the open road, going at a reasonable speed, with vents open in the helmet, all is fine. But when I pull over, if I have my visor closed, my glasses mist up in seconds. So I need to open the visor when stopped, and then if it’s cold my head freezes so the moment I pick up a bit of speed I pull it shut and then I get to the next lights and the cycle repeats. I ended up riding through most of London today with the visor open, my face got cold but having vision was useful while riding.
I can legally still drive and ride without the glasses, but I can really see the difference in my vision without, and especially when riding I consider the information part of the system as vital; so I’m not going to ride without them. I need a way of using the glasses without them steaming up! What do you guys do? Treat the glasses with some sort of anti-fog stuff? (They are already coated with anti-glare and are reactions lenses, so not sure if that would be damaged by anti-fog stuff). Just keep the visor open and live with it even at high speeds? (Actually I found I kind of enjoyed riding with the visor open, the wind blowing through and the glasses seem to be enough to protect the eyes from bugs and dirt flying in, so I’ll probably do that more in the summer time). Other suggestions?
Contact lenses are apparently a real pain for the kind of astigmatism that I have; some companies claim to make them but the optician recommended against. Also, ugh, I can't stand the idea of putting something onto my eyes, ewww.
Welcome to my world. Having been through this my advice is:-
Forget dealing with two pair of glasses, bite the bullet and pay for varifocals. They are expensive but remove a lot of the pain of being a glasses user (leaving them at work, dropping them); you put them on when you wake up, you take them off going to bed, and in between times you never think about them.
As your sight deteriorates further (it will) you will find you need glasses to read the instruments, GPS, your watch, odometers are often very small. Varifocals mean you always have your reading glasses with you.
I had real trouble squeezing my glasses into my tight-fitting Arai. Plus, it is a faff. I replaced it with a Schuberth flip-lid and it goes on easily with the glasses in place - no faffing.
As for misting up. Yes, it’s a pain, I have to lift the visor the moment I stop or slow down; often doing so when I join a queue of traffic when slowing down to filter. My glasses will mist up at filtering speed. The upside of this is having the visor open at modest speeds is less of a problem because the glasses offer some protection.
Sorry to hear about the aging, hope that doesn’t happen to me.
Contacts are the best solution, otherwise this stuff is very good if you remember to keep applying it http://www.v2mal.com/product/ME-CG-FOGTS/FogTech-Sachets - never had any problems with it on the coatings on my glasses although it can tend to smear if you’re not careful.
I tend to just regularly clean my glasses with the stuff we have for safety glasses at work (which is vaguely anti-fog) and keep the vents open/crack the visor as required. Unless it’s really cold, I find I’m either going fast enough to vent the glasses or I’m going slow enough that the wind chill with the visor open isn’t a problem - rain is a bit of a pain in the arse though.
Thank you Michael for your words of wisdom. I definitely need separate glasses for the computer work – multiple screens and keyboards mean I need the close up vision all around. The Varifocals may work for riding and driving, but the optician said the same as you, that my sight will get worse, and suggested it might be better to wait until a later point before getting varifocals.
Fortunately the helmet isn’t an issue – I use a Shoei Neotec flip and it works just fine. I guess I’ll just have to live with the misting, or try the dreaded contact lens route (which I really don’t want to!).
Welcome to my world. Having been through this my advice is:- Forget dealing with two pair of glasses, bite the bullet and pay for varifocals. They are expensive but remove a lot of the pain of being a glasses user (leaving them at work, dropping them); you put them on when you wake up, you take them off going to bed, and in between times you never think about them. As your sight deteriorates further (it will) you will find you need glasses to read the instruments, GPS, your watch, odometers are often very small. Varifocals mean you always have your reading glasses with you. I had real trouble squeezing my glasses into my tight-fitting Arai. Plus, it is a faff. I replaced it with a Schuberth flip-lid and it goes on easily with the glasses in place - no faffing. As for misting up. Yes, it's a pain, I have to lift the visor the moment I stop or slow down; often doing so when I join a queue of traffic when slowing down to filter. My glasses will mist up at filtering speed. The upside of this is having the visor open at modest speeds is less of a problem because the glasses offer some protection.
Michael748
Sorry to hear about the aging, hope that doesn't happen to me.
Contacts are the best solution, otherwise this stuff is very good if you remember to keep applying it http://www.v2mal.com/product/ME-CG-FOGTS/FogTech-Sachets - never had any problems with it on the coatings on my glasses although it can tend to smear if you're not careful.
I tend to just regularly clean my glasses with the stuff we have for safety glasses at work (which is vaguely anti-fog) and keep the vents open/crack the visor as required. Unless it's really cold, I find I'm either going fast enough to vent the glasses or I'm going slow enough that the wind chill with the visor open isn't a problem - rain is a bit of a pain in the arse though.
monkimark
Indeed I have some anti-fog wipes somewhere under the seat, I think they might be fogtech, I'll dig them out and try them, thanks Mark.
having used sunglasses for almost 10 years before switching to tinted visor, you need to apply anti fog products on the lenses every other day. opening and closing the visor doesnt really work and its also unsafe if your lenses fog up.
investigate in laser eye surgery and if you’re eligible, go for it. i think i would sell the bike if i had to wear glasses and/or contacts again.
I guess having to open and close the visor whenever you stop and go must seem an inconvenience, I have never known any different though, so to me it is just how it all is.
Personally I would not leave my visor open more than a crack above town speeds unless absolutely necessary. Glasses may offer physical protection, but will not prevent grit from a passing lorry etc. A crack though is enough extra ventilation to feel nice on hot days, and prevent steaming up at slow speeds.
Fog is the worst though. Not only does it sit on the visor, but just opening it when stopped seems to let in enough damp air for it to sit on the glasses too. Even if I only and open and close whilst stationary. Keeping it closed with a combination of limiting my breathing and just being careful to let any steaming up clear naturally seems the only real solution. Although at some point I would end up opening a crack for the ventilation, then having to let the glasses slide down my nose so I can look over them, leading to frequent stopping to dry everything as best as possible. Not ideal, but, for me anyway, seeing out of focus things clearly offers better visibility than sharply focussed mush.
But apart from that, glasses should not really seem a problem once you get used to opening and closing as just being a normal thing to do.
dunno man, i wore glasses since i can remember and after suffering the pains between them and contact lenses laser eye surgery is the best investment i’ve ever done for myself.
fog is a real shitter, there is no known method i know that works apart from not riding
Yeah, glasses are a pain in the ass. Just you wait until you ride in the pissing rain…
Try applying FogTech, supposed to be good (have some on order myself). If you’re a cheap skate - try fairy liquid or rinse aid, but they don’t really work particularly well. What ever you apply, you’ll need to apply every day or two.
Look at your next scarf etc, it’s better if you’re breath goes down and out of your lid, rather than up into your glasses. I found a neck tube over my nose if way worse. Some reckon one of those Respro face masks help - not tried 'um.
As soon, as you open you lid, the cold air will chill your glasses, making them steam up quicker. It can be better to not open your lid at all whilst moving. On colder days I tend to pop my glasses on a radiator whilst kitting up, so they warm up and don’t fog up for at least a few miles… If you keep cracking you visor open in the wet, you’ll soon run into hassle of water splashing in onto your glasses, or worse, running down inside of your visor. Right pain in the ass, as you canna wipe it away with big gloves on.
Maybe I’m at a similar stage to you Simon, Prescribed Long and short lenses, although my quality of vision has only been improved for reading, I still have much better vision without glasses while riding/driving than I do with all the misting etc with them. I cant read the odo on the winter hack but I can read the speedo and choose appropriate lines on the road & in traffic.
I’m not allowed to have laser eye correction with astigmatism until I have had a “stable” prescription for a year, and in all likelihood that won’t happen for a while, my eyes will just get worse and worse for a while until they stabilise somewhere down the line. At that point, maybe I’ll look into it further.
Mine just fog up when stopped, but clear pretty much instantly once I move. I’ve tried anti fog sprays, but none seem to work with the coating. I’ve got Oakley Polycarb lenses in mine. Though am off to get checked out for contacts at the weekend.
Keeping it closed with a combination of limiting my breathing
Michael
Ha ha. That made me laugh. It sounds ridiculous "limiting breathing", but I too have found myself holding my breath when I know the lights are due to change soon and I'm hoping to avoid opening the visor.
