Sunglasses for riding continue to improve. is light and simple and virtually unnoticeable when riding. The lenses on the almost never fog and the interchange system is absolutely ingenious. And the has unmatched clarity and coverage.
But these high-performance shades are as ridiculous looking off the bike as they are effective on it.
You wouldn鈥檛 bust into your favorite bar in your bib shorts, would you? Nor would you ride your Scott Addict on that cruiser ride with the neighbor and his kids. So for god鈥檚 sake, don鈥檛 let your sport shades do double duty鈥攇et yourself some decent sunglasses to wear when you aren鈥檛 riding.
All the major players have solid lifestyle offerings. But the best downtime shades I鈥檝e seen in a long time are from a small SoCal startup called . This collaboration between designer Jerome Mage, once creative director at , Pete Fox of infamy, and skateboarding entrepreneur Rob Dydrek is in its relative infancy. But the company is producing some of the freshest looking鈥攁nd highest quality鈥攕unglasses around. Most of the frames are made from quality block acetates from Italian eyewear supplier Mazzucchelli 1849. The optics are all sourced from Carl Zeiss Vision. And as a complete package, each pair feels substantial, well-crafted, and durable.
Two of our favorite styles are , an oversize wayfarer model with substantial strips of polished metal on the temples, and the take-no-shit metal-frame . These shades aren鈥檛 inexpensive鈥攐ver $100 apiece鈥攂ut neither are they horrifyingly extortionate like Armani, Prada, or, dare I say it, some offerings from even the mainstream outdoor brands.
Perhaps George Hincapie could get away with those Oakleys full time.
Perhaps.
Thankfully for all the rest of us, now there鈥檚 IVI.