Sunglasses for a large headed cyclist

Finding a pair of sunglasses tends to get complicated when you’re finding out there’s a plethora of options, all of which don’t combine to the pair you’d shell out enough money for while feeling certain you’ll wear them with pleasure for life (or at least, a good bit of it).

Now I’m blessed with a large head, on which I’ve been carrying comically tiny glasses, as I never really dug into the possibilities.

No more.

Same as with being overly tall, it can be a blessing in disguise, as the initial filtering for ‘XL-without-McD’ options leaves perhaps 2 or 3 options per brand.

Then comes the filtering for sports, as they’re meant to not fall off my face while ‘shredding’.

Lens

Furthermore, very important, the right lens color/tint. The following image shows an overview of what might work. No science here, just a picture from the internet which has plausible words.

Life In Color

Furthermore, I want it to have at least polarized or photochromatic lenses, with a preference for photochromatic. Have great experience with it (albeit being the comically small pair).

Sizing

Almost there. Sizing. After a visit to a store to try out a few, sizing comes down to ballpark measuring, as the clamping force may be too much or too little, or your nose has a weird shape. So it’s always important to try before you buy(/keep).

How sizing works is quite confusing, as the store guy said the lens width is a measurement of the widest part of the lens, but plenty of websites mention it is literally the (horizontal) width.

Some measurements I took away from my visit was, I need/prefer about 140mm for the temple length, a lens width of 60+, and a bridge width of… I’m not sure.

My temple-to-temple distance is 155, so the frame width needs to be just a bit wider than that. My IPD is 75 (say goodbye to headacheless VR 🥺), which dictate where the lenses should be centered. My bridge width is 20mm.

So, according to youtube, (155mm+6mm-19mm)/2 = 84,2mm is my ideal lens width. That’s huge. I’ll probably have to settle with the seemingly common 63mm, and somehow make this all work.


Frame width	155mm
Lens width	63mm
Bridge width	20mm
Temple length	140mm

Preference

Finally, personal preference. They, of course, must look 😎!

I’m going for an everyday look, so not the rad Oakley’s.

Time for a list.

Smith

Deckboss - Matte Gravy + ChromaPop Polarized Bronze Mirror Lens Deckboss

Guide’s Choice XL - Matte Black + ChromaPop Polarized Gray Green Lens

I’d prefer the brown lenses, but the accompanying frame just reminds me too much of the frames my mother used to wear (or probably still does).

Here I also realize, the above aren’t available in Europe… Let’s have a look closer to home. So adding the filter for bullshit-less shipping in/to Europe.

Leadout - Black + Photochromic Clear to Gray Lens