final on cycling glasses

Six months ago (sheesh!), I wrote a post on getting cycling glasses. At the time, I thought it might be a "stuff that works" post, and it's turned out that way, but it took some doing.

I wrote that I'd decided to go with the Serfas Gladiator glasses.

They showed up for Christmas, but before they did, I sent the prescription inserts off to LensesRx to get bifocal lenses installed. (In that earlier post, I wrote how nobody local wanted to do the job, ether at all, or for what I thought was reasonable.) I got the bifocal-lensed inserts back, and, for distance, they were a great improvement over the glasses I had been using.

For close-up, though, they really didn't work. The bifocals were set for focus about twelve to sixteen inches (30-40cm) from my face, but my GPS is farther than that, and I couldn't see it well. I went back to the LensesRx site, and saw I could get progressives for only a little bit more than the bifocals.

I ordered another prescription insert from Serfas on December 29. When I hadn't received evidence that it had shipped by January 8, I called; evidently, some of those post-Christmas orders had been dropped behind a water cooler, or something, so it only went out after my call. While I was waiting for the insert, I paid for the lenses to be installed (there was a great sale at the holidays), but I didn't pay for expedited service. The service was much slower than the first time I'd gotten the lenses.

But they've finally come, and they're great. The distance vision is right, and I can see the GPS on the bike. I can't see the real close stuff... but I don't need that when I'm riding (I can certainly see well enough to do road repairs).

I can recommend the Serfas glasses and the LensesRx lenses, with some caveats:

1. Don't order from Serfas when they're recovering from the holiday party;
2. Go for the progressive lenses; and
3. Pop for expedited service at LensesRx.