RUDY PROJECT SPINSHIELD
£105.99 – 123.99 ★★★★ Style on and off the bike
Rudy Project’s recent output with glasses, such as the Cutline (issue 375), has been all about technical details with well-placed vents, lots of adjustability and multimaterials. Also in its range, however, are glasses that take a more style-conscious approach.
The Spinshield’s huge 57mm-deep lens and minimal squared-off frame certainly look great but, crucially, they also work incredibly well. Their huge size allows a view that’s unhindered by the frame, while the gold lens offers a sandy brown tint that works in both bright sunshine and in low-light conditions.
The lens clarity is as good as we’ve come to expect from Rudy Project, with a curve that wraps around the face nicely and a subtle vertical curvature that means no distortion, even at the outer edges of your vision.
The lens proved to be tough with no scratches or marks, despite putting them through wet, gritty rides. The mirrored finish looks great, and even without vents the Spinshield resists fogging because, thanks to the inset in the boxy frame, the lens sits away from your face. On one particularly hard ride, however, we did get a little misting where the nose meets brow.
The arms broaden at the temples before turning inwards towards more traditional tips that curve around the top of the ear. They snaplock open with plenty of sprung tension and are tipped with sticky rubber tabs, while the hinges are very highly sprung, keeping them firmly in place. The nose-piece has similar sticky tabs but no adjustability, which worked fine for us on the road but when we hit more bumpy off-road surfaces they did bounce a little.
Glasses with a hefty dose of style usually weigh in heavier than pure performance glasses, but the Spinshield’s oversized yet stripped-down design works in its favour and at just 27.8g these are lighter than Oakley’s Sutro and 100%’s Glendales, plus Rudy Project’s own Cutline. The range has a multitude of colour options for the frame and a variety of lens options too. Prices range from £105.99 for the smoke black lens to £123.99 for this multi-laser mirrored lens.