Hey there, fellow riders! Why did the motorcycle rider wear a helmet? Because he wanted to protect his precious cargo – his brain!
The same goes for your eyes, so let’s make sure they’re well-protected with motorcycle riding glasses.
And no, I am not talking about those old aviators you found in your dad’s garage.
We’re talking about motorcycle riding glasses that protect from the wind and elements as well as reduce eye strain and protect your eyes from sun glare. Plus, they make you look pretty cool too.
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How to Choose Motorcycle Riding Glasses
So how do you choose the right riding glasses for yourself?
A good pair of motorcycle glasses should have:
- Foam padding around the eyes: prevents wind from getting behind the lenses.
- Scratch-resistant coating on lenses: prevents scratches from motorcycle gloves.
- UV protection: prevents long-term damage from harmful UV rays produced by the sun.
- Anti-fog coating: prevents fog on lenses in cold or rainy weather.
- Comfortable fit over prescription glasses: allows riders to wear RX glasses while riding.
- Photochromic features: automatically adjusts lens transparency to current lighting.
- Polarization features: reduces blinding from glare effects.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s available on the market.
Motorcycle Riding Glasses
Best OVerall
#1 Bertoni
Foam Padding: ✅ Yes
Scratch-resistant coating: ✅ Yes
UV Protection: ✅ 100% UV Protection
Anti-fog coating: ✅ Yes
Fit over prescription glasses: ⚠️ No
Photochromic: ✅ Yes
Polarized: ✅ Yes
Benefits & Features
✅ Better sense of your environment: Bertoni glasses have a wide field of view due to the bracket shape design. This allows your peripheral vision to do its job. Seeing your surroundings without having to turn your head enhances passive safety when riding.
It allows you to notice potential hazards like an animal or other road participants earlier, giving you more time to react. Additionally, a wider field of view can reduce eye strain and fatigue by minimizing the need to constantly adjust your head and eyes to see your surroundings.
✅ Enhanced road visibility in all conditions: Photochromic lenses adjust to changing light conditions and quickly transition from light to dark. When you ride into the sunset with the sun shining directly into your eyes, the lenses will auto-darken making the road more visible.
On the other side, when the sun finally hides behind the horizon – the lenses will become transparent again so you can continue your ride through the night. (usually takes 3 minutes)
✅ Lenses will last forever: Photochromic lenses offer greater durability and scratch resistance than non-treated polycarbonate lenses, with a lifespan of up to 15 times longer.
✅ Reduce eye strain and fatigue so you can ride longer without stops: Bertoni lenses are polarized and therefore eliminate glare by blocking light waves that reflect from flat surfaces like water or pavement.
When light waves bounce off a flat surface, they become polarized and move horizontally, creating a concentrated and intense light known as glare.
Polarized lenses have a special filter that blocks these horizontally-polarized light waves, allowing only vertically-polarized light waves to pass through. This selective filtering reduces the intensity of glare and provides better clarity, color contrast, and depth perception.
✅ Will stay in place: The grip at the tip of the arms and nose pad keeps the sunglasses from slipping. Additionally, the arms can be swapped for an elastic strap that fits around your head and securely keeps glasses in place.
⚠️ Note: The model without Interchangeable arms has more durable arms due to its solid design without an unlocking mechanism
⚠️ Will not fit most prescription glasses: Due to tight fit and aerodynamic shape there is not much space for prescription glasses left inside.
Best for Using with Prescription Eyeglasses
#2 Global Vision Three
Foam Padding: ✅ Yes
Scratch-resistant coating: ✅ Yes
UV Protection: ✅ 100% UV Protection
Anti-fog coating: ✅ Yes
Fit over prescription glasses: ✅ Yes
Photochromic: ❌ No
Polarized: ✅ Yes
Benefits & Features
✅ Global Vision offers the same key advantages as Bertoni glasses including Polarized coating, UV400 protection filter, and foam padding for a snug and windproof fit. But it lacks a photochromic coating.
The key difference is that Global Vision glasses have more room behind the lenses, which enables you to wear prescription glasses along with them, if necessary.
⚠️ Bracket on the side does interfere with peripheral vision. You will get used to it and your brain will erase it from the field of view with time due to the cascade effect (brain power to edit and alter the image that your eyes see).
However, it is still a blind spot and you will have to compensate by rotating your head more.
Best for Money
#3 Cycle Clear
Foam Padding: ✅ Yes
Scratch-resistant coating: ✅ Yes
UV Protection: ✅ Yes 100%
Anti-fog coating: ✅ Yes
Fit over prescription glasses: ⚠️ No
Photochromic: ❌ No
Polarized: ❌ No
Benefits & Features
✅ Affordable foam-padded glasses with dark lenses. Good for riding on bright and sunny days. Polycarbonate lenses are durable and scratch resistant, although they are not as long-lasting as those with a photochromic coating.
Some users have reported that the foam may not provide a tight fit, this largely depends on the shape of one’s face. Additional foam could improve the fit, but considering the low price point of the Cycle Clear glasses, it’s difficult to complain. Additionally, a less-than-perfect fit could reduce fogging by allowing for some ventilation.
⚠️ Not suitable for night riding due to dark lenses
⚠️ Not usable with prescription glasses
⚠️ Don’t protect from glare: the lenses are not polarized and don’t block light waves reflected off water and pavement. However, the lenses are darkened which slightly reduces the negative aspects of glare.
Most Versatyle Lens Selection
#4 Bikershades
Foam Padding: ✅ Yes
Scratch-resistant coating: ✅ Yes
UV Protection: ✅ 100% UV Protection
Anti-fog coating: ⚠️ No
Fit over prescription glasses: ⚠️ No
Photochromic: ❌ No
Polarized: Available as an option
Benefits & Features
✅ Versatile lens selection: Choose from a range of lens colors including dark smoke, anti-glare polarized smoke, HD blue light blocker, clear, tinted clear, yellow, and tinted yellow Lenses. The lenses are suitable for various conditions and activities such as day riding, night vision, and reducing haziness or glare. All lenses fit medium to large head sizes.
⚠️ Will not fit prescription glasses
⚠️ Fog up easily in rainy and humid conditions
⚠️ Photochromic lenses are not available as an option
Best non-Foam Riding Glasses
#5 Get Lost Helmets
Foam Padding: ❌ No
Scratch-resistant coating: ✅ Yes
UV Protection: ⚠️ No
Anti-fog coating: ✅ Yes
Fit over prescription glasses: ⚠️
Photochromic: ❌ No
Polarized: ❌ No
Benefits & Features
✅ Using plastic instead of foam can provide several product longevity benefits. Although it may be less comfortable, it offers better insulation in the nose area. When used for motorcycle riding, foam padding can come off due to sweat or other harsh conditions that the goggles face during use. On the other hand, plastic is more durable than foam and does not come off, making it a more reliable choice.
⚠️ Plastic frame without foam padding causes pressure points around the nose area and leaves red marks, making them uncomfortable to wear for extended periods.
You may loosen the elastic strap to reduce pressure on your skin around the eyes, however in this case the fitment will be less secure.
⚠️ No UV protection and polarization as with many competitor products. If you want simple clear riding glasses – these will do the job.
Worth Mentioning
#6 Bobster Invader
Foam Padding: ✅ Yes
Scratch-resistant coating: ✅ Yes
UV Protection: ✅ Yes
Anti-fog coating: ⚠️ No
Fit over prescription glasses: ⚠️
Photochromic: ✅ Yes
Polarized: ❌No
Benefits & Features
✅ Bobster glasses fit snugly and securely without the need for a strap, thanks to the strong and thick arms that effectively keep them in place.
✅ Photochromic lenses offer a versatile solution for riding in various lighting conditions, as they are designed to automatically adjust to changing light levels.
With the ability to darken under direct sunlight and become transparent when clouds obscure the sun, these lenses provide optimal visibility and eye protection for both day and night riding.
This feature eliminates the need to switch between different lenses, making photochromic lenses a convenient and practical choice.
⚠️ The foam padding is of low quality and will wear out quickly. It is better to search for foam padding that is encapsulated in leather or nylon.
Bottom Line
Protecting your eyes from road hazards, bugs, wind, and elements is crucial when riding a motorcycle, making it important to choose the right riding glasses, particularly if your helmet lacks a wind-blocking visor.
My top pick is Bertoni – a durable and flexible polycarbonate motorcycle polarized sunglasses with photochromic lenses. I appreciate the comfort they offer due to their softness.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective option, I suggest picking either Cycle Clear or Bikershades, both offer good value for money featuring UV protection, durable lenses, and decent fitment.
Finally, if you use prescription glasses, the Global Vision Three will do a great job.
