Prizm Road Rant!

[aaron.schies]

 

[jrd5497]

This is the only lens I'll wear while riding my road bike now. You can see cracks, pot holes and debris in the road very well with this. Hitting any of these could lead to a flat tire or worse. I've used it on the brightest days, to some overcast and rainy days, with 0 issue. Not one person has referred to them as girly glasses, and cyclist are notorious for give other riders crap about what they are wearing.

 

[Jerome]

I use Prizm Road in my Jawbreakers for cycling and I’m a great fan of Prizm Road. It does provide a good contrast. For the super bright sunny days it might be a too bright lens, I use a darker lens for the very bright days.
However, I noticed that Prizm Road in my Flak 2.0 XL (that I use for driving) performs just a bit less than my Jawbreakers. I think this is due to the fact that the Jawbreaker lens really wraps around the face and the Flak 2.0 XL leaves a small space for light to creep in from the sides.

Prizm Road is indeed a lens with a higher VLT and when some extra, basically unwanted non prizm filtered light, can creep in from the back or outer side this can mess with the overall performance of the lens for your eyes.

You have Prizm Road in a Targetline frame and this is even a less curved lens than Flak 2.0 XL. I think that the extra light that is creeping in from the unshielded sides is messing up your vision and is underwhelming your contrast.

If you want to see what I’m trying to explain here go to your local optician and try a pair of Prizm Road Jawbreakers, close your eyes, take of the Jawbreakers and put on your Targetlines and open your eyes again. You will see a difference I think. Same lens, but the experience is different due to the shape of the lens.

 

[Zax]

So, I got my first pair of Prizm Road on a Targetline frame, hoping to make it a driving pair that'll stay in the car...



First off, the Iridium didn't turn out to be red as I had seen on one of the showpieces at the mall, but a very blue tint (which fortunately was still legit as confirmed by @IAMOBS). The iridium was pretty faint leaving my eyes visible - not a deal breaker though.

But what really turned me off was the the rosy hue that made the world feel like I was wearing girlie glasses. My eyes didn't get "adjusted" to the tint like they do with other lenses. Eg, 5 minues after I'd worn my DWPs, I'd forget they're even there, they feel so natural. Didn't happen with Road, the pinkishness is persistent. Talking of contrast, there is a bit of pop to it, but then DWP or Sapphire are equally good at upping the contrast. Oh, did I mention that this lens didn't do anything spectacular in terms of reading the road texture and spotting hazards? That's something my Sapphires and DWPs did equally well.

The weather yesterday allowed me to test the lens under several lighting conditions. Was it good for Sunny days? No, it had too high VLT%, it was too bright and to some extent bothersome. On cloudy days? Again was a dud, made the world too cold. I'd prefer Tungsten or Trail on a cloudy day. The only scenario I found this lens actually good was when the sun was golden and warm, but not strong enough - mornings and late afternoons.

Others who have used Prizm Road - what's your experience? What justifies the "road-specific" tag this lens brags, when other lenses perform much better? Do cyclists look for something else on the road, that motorcyclists and drivers do not look for?

Love Prizm road for cycling and running. No idea if they’re really that much more beneficial over standard Grey/black, but they feel better. No eye strain and lack of polarization makes cycling safer. I love the roses hue though.
I would not use them for driving though, just due to their lower % rate.

Prizm Black is a solid, neutral lens for driving. I personally love my OO BIP set that I use for driving. Has a rose hue, but polarization cuts the glare and reflections off of dash on the windshield, and dark enough for heavy sun.

 

[Tom.]

You have Prizm Road in a Targetline frame and this is even a less curved lens than Flak 2.0 XL. I think that the extra light that is creeping in from the unshielded sides is messing up your vision and is underwhelming your contrast.

exactly

 

[kmbijit]

unwanted non prizm filtered light, can creep in from the back or outer side this can mess with the overall performance of the lens for your eyes.

You have Prizm Road in a Targetline frame and this is even a less curved lens than Flak 2.0 XL. I think that the extra light that is creeping in from the unshielded sides is messing up your vision and is underwhelming your contrast.

You have a point here! My first experience with Prizm Road was with a Radar frame inside SGH and that lens certainly felt better. I was thinking it was due to the warm indoor lighting, but the contrast on those frames was certainly better.

Happened to come across the below comparison, the look & feel of my lenses was exactly the same as @kronin323 's Juliets with OO red - except that my lenses weren't polarized. And yes, the radars I'd tried on at SGH did feel like the latter pics.

Oakley's new Prizm Lens Line

the daily prizm polarized, it's a great lens ... but I wish was little darker where people can't see your eyes, the prizm lens that are not polarized have alot of color iridium options so don't have this worry.

www.oakleyforum.com

 

[kmbijit]

Prizm Black is a solid, neutral lens for driving. I personally love my OO BIP set that I use for driving. Has a rose hue, but polarization cuts the glare and reflections off of dash on the windshield, and dark enough for heavy sun.

A couple of years ago I used to hate contrast lenses and exclusively used BIP for driving. These days, I opt for DWP or Sapphire. But yes, driving (or motorbiking) without polarized lenses feels like a bummer! Was hoping the Prizm Road would change that, but didn't work well for me.

 

[NoFair]

A couple of years ago I used to hate contrast lenses and exclusively used BIP for driving. These days, I opt for DWP or Sapphire. But yes, driving (or motorbiking) without polarized lenses feels like a bummer! Was hoping the Prizm Road would change that, but didn't work well for me.

For bike riding polarized lenses are a bit of a no no since they make slick spots slightly more difficult to see. I hate non polarized when driving a car since the reflections on the windscreen drives me nuts in some conditions

 

[cmunozh]

I too find the pinkish tint annoying, and the VLT too high for road riding.
Anxious to hear any contrarian opinions...

+1

and I prefer as welll more darker lenses for sunny roads. I go always for Prizm Ruby or Jade.

 

[VirusSixZero]

I feel as though Prizm Road and Prizm Golf were never designed to be in direct sunlight. The VLT is a bit to high for "bare wear", and they are best when under a hat or helmet. Oakley of course addressed this issue with darker versions of both Road and Golf, but in medium or slightly overcast conditions both lenses do quite well.

I did trail running wearing Prizm Road and found them pretty good in the open areas. I switched to Prizm Trail Torch because I found it was a better compromise for open sunny areas and transitioning into filtered light through tree canopy.

All-in-all I'd say Road is a good all-rounder that will suit a wide variety of conditions ok. When cycling for hours on end, the conditions can change and you don't want to be stuck with something too dark or too light, so a medium has to be struck. I'd rather squint a bit behind a lighter lens, than be stuck wearing a dark lens as clouds roll in.

I'd definitely like to try Road Jade, as Prizm Jade is one of my favourite everyday wear lenses.