Nitrous Photochromic
Ryders has been making performance sunglasses for active pursuits since the 80's. With all this experience, they've done their best to pack as many features as they can into their products. The sweet pair of Nitrous Photochromic cycling glasses (pictured above) that we tested are no exception.
Photochromic technology has come a long way since your skeezy high school art teacher had a pair of glasses he used to hide his frequent hangovers. Long gone are the lenses that took half an hour to darken and even longer to lighten back up. While the full change is not instant, it was a lot faster than I anticipated and began as soon as the sun hit the lens. The darkening reacts to a few factors including sunlight and air temperature and when the intensity drops, they start to lighten immediately. I really liked them for road cycling, but found trails to be a bit of an issue with the frequent patches of shade and more varied terrain. There are a few options with Photochromic lens colors, we tested brown, so I do wonder if another color would have worked better. Overall, I loved these for summer or sunny fall rides. I'm curious to see how they do with winter activities like snowshoeing where the air temperature is cold but the direct sunlight is also reflecting off the snow. I will be sure to update this review as the season progresses.
The Goods:
Frame: Black
Lens: Brown
Anti-slip temple tips and nose pads
UV, UVA, UVB, UVC protection and harmful blue light to 400nm
Shatterproof and scratch resistant coating
Weight: 26g
Retail:$69.99
Tweaker Polarized
Perhaps it's partially due to where I was raised in California, but when I was 19, I had a suspicion that you could tell a lot about a man by the style of his sunglasses; too flashy and he was compensating for something, too cheap and he wasn't paying for dinner but understated and stylish was the key. While all these years later I don't necessarily hold men to the same standard, I'm still a sucker for a guy in a sweet pair of shades. The Tweaker has become a standard pick among the many styles that Ryders has to offer. Sleek styling and simple design are what I believe has been the key to it's success. Lucky for the guys still driving gigantic trucks well into their 40's, they even offer the Tweaker in a few flashy colors.
The Polarized lenses are made using an injection process ensuring they remain optically correct. If you haven't tried a pair of sunglasses with Polarized lenses, you're missing out on a great experience. There is a noticeable difference that is well worth the money.
They will be coming in a matte black soon, my favorite, but until then our tester has been caught more than once checking himself out in car windows wearing the shiny black version.
The Goods:
Frame: Black
Lens: Brown
Anti-slip temple tips and nose pads
UV, UVA, UVB, UVC protection and harmful blue light to 400nm
Shatterproof and scratch resistant coating
Weight: 30g
Retail:$69.99
For product and purchase information go to: www.ryderseyewear.com
GIVEAWAY!!! Do you need a pair of sweet sunglasses? Lost yours in a bear fight? Shattered them in a terrible cycling accident? Left them at your crazy ex-girlfriends' house? Go to the TriEdge facebook page and tell us why we absolutely must choose you. We're giving away one pair of Tweakers and one pair of Nitrous. Contest begins Thursday, November 11th at 10pm MST (because that's when I finally got the article posted) and ends Friday, November 12th at 8pm MST. The winner will be announced shortly after I put my kids to bed so pray for their compliance. Contest is open to all US residents and is void where prohibited. E-mail
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
with any questions. Good luck!
