With just weeks to go you’re likely to soon be making final preparations for the Noosa Classic on August 26. Along with packing all your cycling essentials – and we’ll have a ‘what to bring’ article coming soon – taking a close look at your choice of cycling eyewear is a critical part of preparing for the event.
Cycling glasses are like a windshield, but for your head. Not only do they protect your eyes against harmful UV radiation, they also shield them from other external evils – wind, dust, bugs and even stones and rain.
That’s why it’s wise to handle your quality cycling sunglasses with care and look after them, after all they go a long way in looking after you.
Here, with the help of event Supporting Partners BBB Cycling, we bring you 5 tips to help choose, maintain and get the most from your cycling eyewear.
1. Choose the eyewear that suits you
The best glasses are the ones that you want to put on all the time. They shouldn’t only be comfortable to wear and fit well, but be properly suited too your face and activities. BBB Cycling offer glasses for normal, larger and smaller faces including children.
Glasses should be functional and can be specifically selected – for example road cyclists and competitive mountain bikers often prefer glasses with little frame material and a large field of vision, such as the Avenger. Trail riders usually opt for eyewear with a more robust frame that offers greater protection from low-hanging branches, such as the Adapt model.
2. All you need is hand soap and lukewarm water
You’ve paid good money for quality eyewear so it’s wise to treat them well. The lenses can’t withstand the pH values of cleaning agents, which is why they damage your lenses. It’s best to clean your lenses with lukewarm water and some hand soap. we’d also recommend storing them in the provided case when not in use, and regularly cleaning the lenses with an appropriate soft cloth (see below).
3. Use the proper cleaning cloth
Obviously it’s very tempting to quickly clean a dirty spot with the corner of your shirt. Some cycling jerseys have a special cleaning cloth sewn in. That’s no problem, of course. Watch out for fine dust particles that may be sticking to your glasses or jersey and that can have a scouring effect if you make a rubbing motion. The best thing to do is use the cleaning cloth that comes with your glasses.
4. Keep them safe
We suspect that more glasses have met their fate in the back pockets of cycling jerseys than any other place. All BBB glasses come with a small storage bag or even a heart-shaped pouch. That’s obviously the best place to keep them. But when you’re on your bike, it’s most convenient to put your glasses in the ventilation holes of your helmet, on your forehead (if you’ve taken off your helmet while you’re enjoying a cup of coffee) or, as some of the pros do, put them backwards on your neck.
5. Photochromic lenses and trees are an ideal combination
With some of its glasses, BBB offers the option of a so-called photochromic lens. It’s a lens that gets darker when the ambient light is stronger, and becomes lighter when it’s darker. It seems like such a simple idea that it’s not getting much attention. However, in our experience it’s the ideal solution for cyclists who ride a lot amongst the trees: mountain bikers who search for nice trails, for example, or gravel riders who take their bike deep into the dark pine forests. Situations in which you sometimes ride in the bright sun, but sometimes also in the shade.
Photos BBB Cycling / Wielrenblad & Rotgans Photo.
