do expensive sunglasses make any difference to cheap ones.

Bikes4two

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He he, it's like many consumer products eg iPhone, Oakley and so on, many just like to feel their money has been well spent and claim product superiority and can always find something on the Internet to confirm their choice / rubbish the cheaper stuff.

I can't remember the marketing term for it, but it's down to branding - take a look at the sports shoe market - geez, there's a vintage market for old sports shoes now.

I get it that people like to spend their hard earned on top brands but to claim a top brand is better than a lesser one is never easy to show either way.
 

Scorpio

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Apr 13, 2020
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I wear sunglasses most of the time:
Stops dust etc.
My eyes are sensitive to bright light

I prefer good quality lenses, no need to be expensive - my backup pair are bolle tinted safety specs from screwbfix for £10.
My priority is no distortion, some cheap lenses just feel “wrong”.
 

Fat Rat

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Jun 7, 2018
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I wear sunglasses most of the time:
Stops dust etc.
My eyes are sensitive to bright light

I prefer good quality lenses, no need to be expensive - my backup pair are bolle tinted safety specs from screwbfix for £10.
My priority is no distortion, some cheap lenses just feel “wrong”.
Light sensitive eyes here to
So the bullshit above that you dont need darker glasses is just that
some of us do and its got bugger all to do with trends or anything similar
My glasses always have to be polarized its a must apart from that as cheap as possible as there tools for a job not a fashion statement .
 

Fat Rat

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Jun 7, 2018
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Why do we use sunglasses? . Fashion, to look cool.

Do we actually need them? . No.

Are they actually detrimental in the long term? . Yes, nature knows best.
.
Really
What a load of rubbish
Some people do need glasses as Some of us have light sensitive eyes
You obviously dont as you think its all for fashion .
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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Really
What a load of rubbish
Some people do need glasses as Some of us have light sensitive eyes
You obviously dont as you think its all for fashion .
Yes, SOME people, a very few, may need them at limited times.

But the great majority of sunglasses are worn as a fashion statement. Hence the joke that Italian men are born with them.

Quote:

"You should avoid wearing sunglasses during all the daylight hours, as it will block the beneficial wavelength of light rays from reaching the eyes. Sunlight provides nutrition to the eyes, and maintains several processes in the brain."
.
 
Last edited:

Fat Rat

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Jun 7, 2018
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Yes, SOME people, a very few, may need them at limited times.

But the great majority of sunglasses are worn as a fashion statement. Hence the joke that Italian men are born with them.

Quote:

"You should avoid wearing sunglasses during all the daylight hours, as it will block the beneficial wavelength of light rays from reaching the eyes. Sunlight provides nutrition to the eyes, and maintains several processes in the brain."
.
Would you like to edit your blanket statement then :) "Fashion, to look cool"
And as Most people with Blue eyes have light sensitivity at some level its more than SOME and at limited times .
Theres also medical reasons too like people who have had Meningitis and Migraine sufferers to name a few
Its not all about Fashion and to look cool as you put it .
Im glad you dont suffer from any of the mentioned medical problems above truly but if you had of maybe you would not be so quick to judge .

Have a Great day .
 

flecc

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Oct 25, 2006
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Would you like to edit your blanket statement then :) "Fashion, to look cool"
And as Most people with Blue eyes have light sensitivity at some level its more than SOME and at limited times .
Theres also medical reasons too like people who have had Meningitis and Migraine sufferers to name a few
Its not all about Fashion and to look cool as you put it .
Im glad you dont suffer from any of the mentioned medical problems above truly but if you had of maybe you would not be so quick to judge .
Perhaps they are going out of fashion. In the scorcher we've just been enduring for a week or so in the South East, I haven't seen a single pair being worn.
.
 

StuartsProjects

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May 9, 2021
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Perhaps they are going out of fashion. In the scorcher we've just been enduring for a week or so in the South East, I haven't seen a single pair being worn.
They are less common yes, so maybe only worn by those wearing Lycra ?

In times gone past, the 80s and 90s my eyes were sensitive to the sun. In bright UK sun I really needed to wear Julbo type Mountaineering glasses when outside and driving in the sun. It could be painfull without these high grade sunglasees.

These days are different, I dont really need to wear sunglasses outside.

However, whilst my distance vision is OK for reading car number plates at the required distance without glasses, I can read number plates at much longer distances when wearing 1.0 reading glasses.

So my sunglasses of choice are the Poundland (?) £1.50 reading ones. I dont actually need to wear them on the bike, but they are not too dark and stop most of the flies and midges getting in your eyes, and no fashion statement intended.
 
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GLJoe

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In times gone past, the 80s and 90s my eyes were sensitive to the sun...
These days are different, I dont really need to wear sunglasses outside.
Interesting.
What do you think caused your (and other people's!) eyes to be overly light sensitive in the first place ?
And what changed so they aren't now?

I'm suspecting that this light sensitivity isn't a 'natural' / 'normal' thing. But I haven't yet looked into what might cause it.
 

StuartsProjects

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Interesting.
What do you think caused your (and other people's!) eyes to be overly light sensitive in the first place ?
And what changed so they aren't now?
The only thing that has really changed is age, your eyes do deteriorate with age, maybe they get less sensitive to sunlight too.

I had worked out that I needed good quality sunglasses when I first went sking in the Alps and I just carried on wearing them.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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Interesting.
What do you think caused your (and other people's!) eyes to be overly light sensitive in the first place ?
And what changed so they aren't now?

I'm suspecting that this light sensitivity isn't a 'natural' / 'normal' thing. But I haven't yet looked into what might cause it.
There are opposing factors at work. With age the clarity of the eye steadily decreases and in extremis cataracts form, clouding the vision.

However, also with age the muscles operating the iris act more slowly, so glare of any kind can react in loss of vision until the iris closes enough. The same happens when the source of the glare is removed, the iris opening again too slowly so vision recovers too slowly.

This affects older drivers and this is true of me too. My eyesight in normal light is excellent at 6/6 metric, old imperial standard 20/20 vision. But now my slower iris reactions to both before and after sudden dazzle from headlights or high intensity LED street lighting suddenly coming into vision means I will no longer drive after dark in any circumstances.

It simply isn't fair to others or myself to potentially put us at risk when I experience night driving moments, however brief, of seeing only a pool of bright light or pool of blackness which could mask something.

This is a real weakness in the current system, since there seem to be no test being carried out to assess for this condition in older people, so they can be cleared to drive in any conditions, as I am, when they might well be unsafe after dark.
.
 
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GLJoe

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The only thing that has really changed is age...
Might you have done something else re lifestyle, diet etc?

I'm curious and ask because my wife had really, REALLY sensitive eyes for most of her life. She also HAD to wear strong sunglasses every time she went out in the sun.

However we realised some months ago that she seems MUCH better, if not almost 'cured' from this now. And while nothing specific for the eye issue has been done, she has radically changed her diet in the last few years for other health reasons, which in the past I'd have thought were probably unrelated, but now I'm starting to wonder?
 

StuartsProjects

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Might you have done something else re lifestyle, diet etc?
Sure my lifestyle and diet has changed with age, now less active, less long days out in the mountains, less extreme sports, less camping, more beer, more wine.
 

GLJoe

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May 21, 2017
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Sure my lifestyle and diet has changed with age, now less active, less long days out in the mountains, less extreme sports, less camping, more beer, more wine.
Fascinating. So your analysis seems to come to the conclusion that staying away from nature, cutting back on physical activity, and consuming possibly toxic, nutrient deficient beverages, has actually improved aspects of your health.

Have you considered a job as a Government health advisor?

I'm sure you'd fit in nicely with their plans come the next pandemic.

:) :) :) :)
 

Yak

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Mar 20, 2020
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When I’ve gone out without proper (wraparound type) glasses my eyes tear up so badly on descents I can’t see where I’m going, which isn’t good at the speeds my chubby body get me up to on the hills around here. Absolutely essential, for me. No question. Peace of mind too, for when you hit clouds of midges - it’s bad enough getting them out of your mouth….
 

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