On mountain pass descents, cycling dreams and horror go hand in hand. When the black hole of an unexpected tunnel interrupts the thrill of the bends, visibility drops to zero and the adrenalin level reaches infinity. No time to put away the dark glasses, no chance for the eyes to adjust. Scary seconds pass until the light at the end of the tunnel appears. Something similar to modern cars would be brilliant: their lights switch on automatically when it gets dark all round. The modest cycling version of this would be the instantaneous change from dark sunglasses to light windscreen goggles. The advertising promises this for self-tinting (photochromatic) lenses. Virtually all catalogues talk about "adjustment in seconds". That sounds tunnel-worthy, or at least as if a single pair of glasses with these miracle lenses could cover all light situations between twilight, cloudy weather and blazing sun.
But once again, advertising, desire and reality collide. Self-tinting windscreens do indeed react in a matter of seconds, but only to a limited extent. According to our measurements, they need at least 20 seconds to go from "completely light" to "completely dark". And the way back? Much longer still. In laboratory tests, no pair of glasses with a large tint range managed to reach even 80 per cent of the initial brightness in less than a minute. It takes a few minutes to reach full brightness. They are therefore a long way from being suitable for use in tunnels. And that is not the only wish that has to remain unfulfilled.
SHORT & SHORT
Anyone expecting self-tinting glasses to react instantly to changes in brightness will be disappointed. However, models with a high tint range adapt very well to changes in the weather or differences in brightness throughout the day. In many cases, they can replace a second pair of cycling glasses.
The test results of these models can be found below as a PDF download:
Alpina Taram Varioflex
BBB Attacker PH
Eassun Spirit PH
Oakley Radar G 40 photochromic
Rudy Project Genetyk Impact S photochromic
Shimano S70R-PH
Specialised Miura Adaptalite
Tifosi Logic Fototec
Uvex Active Variomatic
Downloads:
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