Sunwise Waterloo

I went out on the bike the other day in perfect testing conditions for the Sunwise Waterloo glasses. It had been chucking it down all day, the roads were wet but the sun came out. It was super bright and low, into my face on the way out (sometimes in Wales we don’t see the sun for a week or more so I’m not complaining), but then I was hidden in the shade on a wooded hill to knock out some threshold hill reps. Normally I’d struggle with a single pair of glasses but the Sunwise Waterloo’s are great for this. So it was a shame I hadn’t taken them as when I’d left the house it had been dark grey and chucking it down with rain. D’oh!
Fortunately I did the same workout a week later under similar conditions and took them that time!
They’re a bit clever, in that they have polarised lenses, which cut out the glare from the sun on wet roads, and they’re Chromafusion lenses, meaning that the darkness of the lens changes in response to the brightness of the light. Sun in your face? No problem. Shady woods? No problem. Dark clouds rolling in? Not to worry.
I’ve been very impressed, and I like the styling too. I’ve got the white pair – white seems to have become a colour of mine since starting racing again. The polarised lenses are great at cutting the glare from the sun reflecting from puddles in the road, but they’ve never hidden the water on the road (or ice, as I found out coming down the Black Mountain the other weekend) so they seem safe for cycling to me. I can see the puddles and avoid them. They’re great for rock pooling too – you can see through the water to spot the crabs and gobies, although I tend to wear my orange Shipwrecks on the beach.

The grey lenses give a very natural tint, and as they adapt to the brightness of the day I usually forget I’m wearing them. They’re my favourite for running on sunny days too as they sit well on my face. Light. I often walk back into the house still wearing them as they adapt to the light so quickly. The size and shape of the lenses mean that their coverage of my view is better than some of the other glasses I use. If I’m on the bike and glance down to my bike computer on the stem it’s still within the Waterloo’s lenses. The polarised lenses give a funny effect to LCD screens too, usually giving the display a little more contrast. Another interesting effect is that you can see into cars. Because the reflections from the glass are cut out you can see quite naturally into the cars around you. The advantage of this for me is in aiding my cyclist’s telepathy: on the bike you have to second guess what drivers are going to do as many don’t bother indicating (or looking) and being able to see the driver helps with this. And if a mate toots his horn I can look inside the car to see who the hell it is and wave or give a two fingered salute (depending on how well I know the occupants).
This is a top quality pair of glasses that I really like the look of, that work really well, are polarised and adjust to the brightness of the day. And you can pick them up on the internet for under £60.
OK, don’t forget that Sunwise are sponsoring me and my racing in 2012, but I’ve been using and recommending their glasses for years (check back through my Flickr photos and you’ll spot them).
Links
Sunwise Waterloo on the Sunwise website