Group test Cycling sunnies for the summer months

The Tech team test six pairs of essential on-bike eye protectors

Sunglasses, sunnies, shades; call them what you will, but when it comes to cycling they should certainly be classed as an essential rather than a fashion accessory.

Cycling glasses are used to shield your delicate eyes from potentially damaging sunlight, as well as grit and road debris.

Most of us rely on our vision to keep us safe on the roads. Whether it is being able to discern imperfections in road surfaces, judging corners or being aware of potential hazards, so much information has to be processed that there is almost no time to blink. Factor in ever-changing light and weather conditions and it’s no wonder our eyes can have a hard time.

Cycling glasses need to fit to ensure the best level of protection. Your face shape and size will determine the best style or brand for you and it’s good to see some brands do produce models in differing sizes to suit more riders.

The other critical factor to consider is the lens technology, tint or light levels a lens is designed to cope with.

Lenses that change under sunlight, called photochromic or light adapting lenses, can suit rides when you know the light levels will change. However, they don’t provide the same wide spread of ideal operating conditions as a set of glasses that come shipped with multiple swappable lenses.

A set with swappable lenses will cope with everything from bright sunshine through to night time use, dependent upon lens fitted (or supplied), but you’ll need to switch them out between rides.

We’ve pulled together six sets of cycling-specific glasses from the leading brands to include in this grouptest and tried to spread it across size, shape and lens technologies.

“So much information is processed there is no time to blink”