Eyes on the Prize

courtesy of Ryders Eyewear

By Heather Hansman

Gone are the days of bug-eyed dorkiness. Today’s sunglass manufacturers produce high-functioning, technical specs that are as wearable on Hollywood Boulevard as they are at the velodrome. “I like to think that women are pushing the evolution of change,” says Wink Jackson, cofounder of Zeal Optics. “We’re incorporating fashion and function.”

Technology has progressed so that light transmission, lens materials, performance coatings, and frame designs can be dialed to specific needs. We wear sunglasses for protection, but increasingly to get a better picture of the world around us, explains Tom Fox, president of Optic Nerve. “We’re trying to manage terrain and light conditions,” he says. There are four characteristics that factor into that balance: light transmission, lens material and coatings, and frame design.

Ultimately, your choice of sunglasses comes down to personal preference and which type keeps you happy and squint free. But the more you know about the conditions you’ll be playing in and what you’ll be looking at through your lenses, the better prepared you’ll be to throw down big bucks for the right set. “There’s a lifestyle component,” says Jackson. “You have to ask, can this pair cross between all the activities I want to do?”

Light transmission

Ranging from light-blocking dark grey to pale yellow to clear, lens color is categorized according to visible light transmission. Equally important, different colors absorb different parts of the spectrum, changing color perception and level of contrast. Fox says that contrast is inversely related to color perception, so a high-contrast copper lens, for example, skews perception, causing you to see more black and white. Gray lenses, on the other hand, maintain accurate color but flatten light and diminish contrast. This explains sport-specific choices such as a tennis pro’s blue lenses and a mountain biker’s amber or yellow favorites.

UV-reactive photochromatic lenses are another option for controlling light transmission that manufacturers have begun incorporating into mainstream styles. Photochromatics are “like a live culture,” says Fox, describing the fluctuation between dark and clear tints that’s perfectly suited for the variable conditions often encountered when mountain biking, for example.

Material

Weight, strength, and clarity are all affected by a lens’ base material, another factor in performance and protection. The most common materials, particularly for sport-oriented glasses, are glass and polycarbonate. Glass lenses are known for having better optical clarity, while polycarbonates are stronger and less likely to shatter. Polycarbonate lenses, even clear ones, also block 100 percent of UV rays, offering increased sun protection. Some companies, like Kaenon Polarized and Zeal Optics, have new, proprietary lens materials that they claim combine the safety of polycarbonate and the clarity of glass.

Coating

Surface coatings, or treatments that change a lens’ optical properties, also offer advantages in varied situations. One of the most familiar coatings for casual sunglass connoisseurs is polarization. Polarized lenses filter refracted light rays so that only one beam of light hits the eye, reducing glare, preventing squinting, and minimizing eye fatigue drastically. “Over a lifetime, there are significant benefits there,” says Jackson, who recommends polarized lenses for use on the water and snow, especially. Another popular coating attractive to adventure-sport enthusiasts–a hydrophobic coating. Hydrophobic lenses repel water, dust, moisture, and oil, and the long-lasting coating reduces scratches and wear and tear on the lenses themselves.

Frame design

Realistically, if your shades don’t stay on your face, they’re not doing you much good. So once you have your lenses dialed, take the fit and shape of the frame into account. Women’s-specific frames are designed especially for smaller faces, and manufacturers now offer more options for customizing adjustments, such as moveable temples and nosepieces. Adjustable frames don’t have to look race ready, and because women tend to have narrower nose bridges and cheekbones, large or improperly fitting frames can slip around, especially during sweaty workouts.

While super-wrapped, 9-base frames have nine points of contact with the face for a better fit, 4-base frames have only four points of contact and tend to be geared toward fashion. Higher base frames fit better for high-impact activities, but today’s fashion-forward designs come in 8-base styles, so you can run a marathon without looking like Lance Armstrong.