I had the unique pleasure of cycling on Saturday morning as the remnants of Ivan came through NYC. Have you even felt like you were going to drown while riding your bike? It’s wasn’t a great workout but I felt good for having done it.
While I was being powerwashed, I started wondering if something like Rain-X would help the rain sheet off my glasses and help me see better in wet conditions. Rain-X is a product designed for car windshields that allows the rain to “sheet” off the glass and makes it easier to see in rainy conditions. As it is now, the rain forms droplets on my lenses and they get hard to see through very quickly. Same thing happens in misty or foggy conditions. I thought it might make sense to coat the surface of my yellow or clear lenses so the water just rolled off.
Has anyone tried it? I’d love to learn from someone else’s experience before I wreck a $40 pair of lenses.
On a related note, has anyone had any luck with antifog coatings on sunglass lenses?
Lee Silverman
JackRabbit Sports
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Lee, the only thing about RainX is that, on a car, you’ve got to be going about 35mph for it to really wipe the water off. It does bead up nicely though. Like you, I’m waiting for someone with sunglasses experience before I ruin my shades.
It works. I use both rain-x and fog-x. As was said, it doesn’t really blow the water off of your lenses, but it beads it up in such a way as to not impede vision the way water will on lenses that are untreated.
Fog-x works, too, but its not as great a product. I wouldn’t buy it unless you already have some. Fog-x, for me, is a gimmick, while Rain-X is a damned fine product.
I think tht the only reason you have to be going faster in a car is that the water has to go UP the windshield. It may work at lower speeds, since glasses are angled the other way. ???
Just spent a little time on Rain-X’s web site and it says that it’s designed for glass windshields, and you should consult your manufacturer if you have a plastic windshield. Are your glasses actual glass or are they plastic? Any trouble applying the rain-x? Any tricks or tips to share?
I would imagine it would work very well and allow the beads to drop off rather than misting and making it impossible to see. Although I don’t think there are any serious plastic-dissolving solvents in Rain-X (I think the main carrier is alchohol), there’s definitely at least a small risk of messing up a plastic lens or the coating.
On the other hand, I’d recommend just taking off your glasses if it is raining that hard. Just squint a bit and the rain won’t get into your eyes. Trust me, I get caught in a massive rainstorm at least twice a month down here in Florida. It seems like it’s almost impossible to ride a century in the summer without at least a half hour of heavy rain. I gave up on trying to see through foggy/rain-soaked glasses a long time ago.
I ruined a pair of Paintball goggles many years ago with rain-X. it seemed to put a permenant ‘haze’ on the lens.
Best thing I’ve found for riding in the rain is those dorky little cycling caps with the dinky brims that road cyclists wear. It turns out that, in their 100+ year history as a sport, road cyclists have actually come up with some good solutions! : ) The hat fits under a helmet with no problem, and the brim is angled well to keep water, etc. off of your glasses/eyes and still be short enough to see below. In heavy rain you’re still best taking off the glasses and going with just the hat/brim for blocking the rain. make sure the hat is pulled back far enough so you don’t get a crick in your next from trying to look out underneath it all day.
As an added benfit, you will now look ‘Euro-cool’ amongst your triathlete friends ; )