polarized sunglasses

Pat said:

I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Pat in TX

That's because liquid crystal displays work by changing the polarization
where it is to display dark. Your glasses are polarizing in the same
direction making the whole thing appear dark. If you rotate your head or
the lenses of you glasses 90 degrees, the display should reappear, but
that's not an on the road solution.

Mike

Pat said:

I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

It depends on the computer. Any LCD screen works basically by polarizing,
so they do cause problems with polarized glasses. But some computers are
pretty good. I went to a shop with my polarized glasses on to see which
computers worked for me. Turned out that the Cateye Enduro II worked fine
-- through two different pairs of glasses.

On the whole, I think polarized glasses are great. Really cuts down on
the glare.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | You will say Christ saith this and the apostles say this; but
_`\(,_ | what canst thou say? -- George Fox.
(_)/ (_) |

David L. Johnson said:

Pat said:

I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

It depends on the computer. Any LCD screen works basically by polarizing,
so they do cause problems with polarized glasses. But some computers are
pretty good. I went to a shop with my polarized glasses on to see which
computers worked for me. Turned out that the Cateye Enduro II worked fine
-- through two different pairs of glasses.

On the whole, I think polarized glasses are great. Really cuts down on
the glare.

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

--
My Bike Blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

Pat said:

I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and
the lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker).
Today was the first day I have tried riding my bike with the new
glasses. I can't read my bicycle computer while wearing them! The
polarization makes a black smear across the front of the
cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the screen of the
computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Pat in TX

The problem that you're speaking of is certainly well-documented.

Perhaps a less frequently noted--yet equally troubling--side-effect of
polarizing sunglasses is their propensity to make the wearer think even
/less/ of people whose political beliefs vary from their own.

Sorry ;-)

Diablo Scott said:

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

That's actually not the case. I have no trouble seeing water on the road,
and distinguishing it from shiny patches of tar, or other things. This is
an oft-repeated warning about polarized glasses by those who haven't tried
them.

Yes, some things do look different with polarized lenses. Different is
not invisible. They cut down glare, they don't eliminate reflection.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:30:21 -0800, Diablo Scott
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<1099809020.n6nT7mXIwdIAPJz7BJ5dPw@teranews>:

Quoted message said:

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

Not so. I have Rudy Project Kerosenes with polarised lenses. They
are pretty good, especially when the sun is low in the sky.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Just zis Guy said:

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:30:21 -0800, Diablo Scott
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<1099809020.n6nT7mXIwdIAPJz7BJ5dPw@teranews>:

Quoted message said:

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

Not so. I have Rudy Project Kerosenes with polarised lenses. They
are pretty good, especially when the sun is low in the sky.

Guy

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

In my experience, polarized sunglasses are great for activities where
you want to avoid large amounts of glare, such as skiing or watersports.
However for cycling, reflected light often indicates something that you
need to be aware of, and masking it out is a mistake.

Sam

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:11:01 -0800, Sam Huffman <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 21:46:52 +0000, Just zis Guy, you know? <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:11:01 -0800, Sam Huffman <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Guy

Why not? I wear double dark, as in clip-on shades over my prescription
glasses. The less chance of UV in the eyes the better, but I sure
can't see when I go inside. Polarized does make things interesting,
as you can tilt your head and see some things fade while other get
brighter. They help me to see fish in the water under bridges, not that
it has anything to do with riding, but a fringe benefit.
Bill Baka

Sam Huffman said:

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

As I mentioned previously, polarized glasses do not work well for
bicycling (or driving in general) because glare is one means by which
objects of interest are recognized. My first use of polarized glasses
occurred on a sunny morning after rain in a mountain descent with
hairpin turns that traversed in all directions so the sun came from
different directions. Sub glass polarization is oriented to filter
out horizontal glare, that which reflects from horizontal surfaces.

I found striking that I could not distinguish dry from wet pavement
because the rules constantly changed, glare (only) in the horizontal
plane being filtered out. This was on a partly forested road so that
parts were still fully wet while others were dry. In places, the two
could not be distinguished, because some had light reflected from the
blue sky and others from direct sunlight.

I was impressed with how disorienting a pair of simple sun glasses
could make a task that otherwise was trivial. I don't believe
polarized glasses have any place in bicycling (or motorcycling). I
also believe that people use such glasses, never questioning their
usefulness and possibly become worse descenders while wearing them.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Sam Huffman said:

Just zis Guy said:

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:30:21 -0800, Diablo Scott
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<1099809020.n6nT7mXIwdIAPJz7BJ5dPw@teranews>:

Quoted message said:

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

Not so. I have Rudy Project Kerosenes with polarised lenses. They
are pretty good, especially when the sun is low in the sky.

Guy

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

In my experience, polarized sunglasses are great for activities where
you want to avoid large amounts of glare, such as skiing or
watersports. However for cycling, reflected light often indicates
something that you need to be aware of, and masking it out is a
mistake.

I agree. I found it hard to tell where the ice was when driving in the
mountains in winter (talk about glare), so I don't use them for anything but
sailing anymore. Even then, it makes it harder to read the wind on the water.
Also, it's harder for my eyes to adjust after taking them off, compared to
regular lenses.

Matt O.

Just zis Guy said:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:11:01 -0800, Sam Huffman <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

No, dressed mostly in reflective clothing. But there have been plenty of
rides where I wind up riding further than expected. Unless it's very
dark, I can see fine with sunglasses on. Certainly better than without
prescription lenses, anyway.

Sam

Sam Huffman said:

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

As I mentioned previously, polarized glasses do not work well for
bicycling (or driving in general) because glare is one means by which
objects of interest are recognized. My first use of polarized glasses
occurred on a sunny morning after rain in a mountain descent with
hairpin turns that traversed in all directions so the sun came from
Different directions. Polarization in sunglasses is horizontally
oriented to block horizontal glare, that which reflects from
horizontal surfaces.

I found striking that I could not distinguish dry from wet pavement
because the rules constantly changed, glare (only) in the horizontal
plane being filtered out. This was on a partly forested road so that
parts were still fully wet while others were dry. In places, the two
could not be distinguished, because some had light reflected from the
blue sky and others from direct sunlight.

I was impressed with how disorienting a pair of simple sun glasses
could make a task that otherwise was trivial. I don't believe
polarized glasses have any place in bicycling (or motorcycling). I
also believe that people use such glasses, never questioning their
usefulness and possibly become worse descenders while wearing them.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 17:33:27 -0800, Sam Huffman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Quoted message said:

No, dressed mostly in reflective clothing. But there have been plenty of
rides where I wind up riding further than expected. Unless it's very
dark, I can see fine with sunglasses on. Certainly better than without
prescription lenses, anyway.

Tcah! MiB reference clearly wasted there.

I use Rudy Project Kerosenes and have clear, smoked and polarised
lenses. I can see where JObst is coming from - where he comes from
bright sun and ice can happen together - but I live in temperate
climes and haven't had a problem. I like polarised bins because I
only have one working eye, so the "close one eye" technique for
managing temporary light overload is rather sub-optimal in my case.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

you know? said:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:11:01 -0800, Sam Huffman <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Guy

I received a Performance Catalogue last month that was hyping their
light system for fall riding. On the cover the rider was riding in
the dark with his new 10 watt headlight and he was wearing sunglasses.
What a hoot.

you know? said:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 17:33:27 -0800, Sam Huffman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Quoted message said:

No, dressed mostly in reflective clothing. But there have been plenty of
rides where I wind up riding further than expected. Unless it's very
dark, I can see fine with sunglasses on. Certainly better than without
prescription lenses, anyway.

Tcah! MiB reference clearly wasted there.

I use Rudy Project Kerosenes and have clear, smoked and polarised
lenses. I can see where JObst is coming from - where he comes from
bright sun and ice can happen together - but I live in temperate
climes and haven't had a problem. I like polarised bins because I
only have one working eye, so the "close one eye" technique for
managing temporary light overload is rather sub-optimal in my case.

My eyes have adjusted to this planet and hence I have no need for
sunglasses, ever.

Michael J. Klein [email hidden]
Dasi Jen, Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

Michael J. Klein said:

My eyes have adjusted to this planet and hence I have no need for
sunglasses, ever.

You have adapted some new form of UV blocking eyeballs? Cool. Lamark
would be pleased to know that.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Terry Morse said:

Michael J. Klein said:

My eyes have adjusted to this planet and hence I have no need for
sunglasses, ever.

You have adapted some new form of UV blocking eyeballs? Cool. Lamark
would be pleased to know that.

Can contact lenses filter UV?
--
Ben Pfaff
email: [email hidden]
web: http://benpfaff.org

Ben Pfaff said:

Can contact lenses filter UV?

Yes, you can buy UV protective contact lenses. But they only protect
the cornea. Getting a sunburn on the whites of your eyes is very
unpleasant, feeling as if there is sand in your eyes:

"V-absorbing contact lenses are NOT substitutes for protective
UV-absorbing eyewear such as UV-absorbing goggles or sunglasses,
because they do not completely cover the eye and surrounding area."

--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/