I started wearing prescription glasses when I was 8 years old. Boy, have times changed. What used to be a stigma is now a fashion symbol and a statement of one's personality. When I was a kid nobody wanted to be seen wearing glasses but now kids are crying because their eye doctor told them they don't need glasses. Now, as an Optician who helps kids, I have a good laugh at the irony.
I couldn't be happier for today's generation of glasses wearers. There has never been so many options. Where I had to swim with blurry vision, now there are prescription swim goggles. Where I used to have to take my glasses off when playing sports like basketball or soccer because I didn't want to break my glasses, now there are prescription protective eyewear that kids actually want to wear. Life is great!
Fast forward a couple decades, I'm now 37 and still pretty active. Cycling is now my primary leisure activity and though I'm far off a pro's pace, I take it serious enough to where I've invested in a good bike and I track my performance on Strava. When the time came to look for a set of prescription cycling glasses I did a fair bit of research and I consistently found SportRx popping up in Google search results and YouTube videos.
SportRx is based out of San Diego, CA and I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area so unfortunately I couldn't visit their store to try frames on. Thankfully, they have one of the most well organized websites I've ever encountered. Just as their name would suggest, they have an extensive selection of performance eyewear to choose from and after browsing their cycling frames I decided to go with the Limited Edition SportRx Oakley Flak 2.0 XL. A sleek looking frame with a sweet matte black finish.
Placing the order was easy and soon after I completed my order I received an email from one of their Opticians. Cycling glasses tend to have more "wrap" or curve to the lenses than standard casual sunglasses. I'm nearsighted, about a minus 5 with some astigmatism, and curved lenses have given me problems in the past by creating the sensation that I'm in a fishbowl. I mentioned this to the SportRx optician and he assured me that everything would be taken into account to make sure I don't have that problem.
Less than a week later I received an email notification that my new prescription glasses were ready! I was equally excited and nervous because my experience with curved lenses hasn't been positive. I'm happy to say SportRx made the best performance prescription lenses I've ever had. This coming from an Optician with over 15 years of industry experience.
"SportRx made the best performance prescription lenses I've ever had. This coming from an optician with over 15 years of industry experience."
As soon as I put the Flak 2.0 glasses on I knew the lenses were free of the distortion that had plagued my previous performance eyewear. The very next day I put them to the absolute test and used them on a short 25 mile ride.
We have a saying that goes "If it's on your mind, it's a problem". I don't like a noisy bike, out of adjustment derailleurs and I especially don't like visual impediments. Well, were it not for me making the conscious decision to look for issues I can say that the sunglasses were not on my mind for any other reason. The optics through the authentic Oakley lenses were distortion free and the frames stayed in place.
The Flak 2.0 frame allows interchangeable lenses and I had the opportunity to wear the frame with my prescription lenses and a set of nonprescription PRIZM Road lenses. The latter was tested while wearing contacts and I'll have a follow up review dedicated to the proprietary Oakley performance lenses.
It's difficult to express the relief and satisfaction of having prescription performance sunglasses. Yes, I also wear contacts, but when I'm hitting the road at 6am I don't always want to take the time to put contacts in. Now, I can just grab my prescription sunglasses and enjoy the ride.
If you're like me and you are glasses dependant but you also have an active lifestyle, you should consider getting a set of prescription sunglasses from SportRx. The road will be that much more enjoyable.
Shop Sunglasses on SportRx.com and tell them Oliver sent you!
Comments