Earlier this year I wrote about how hard it is to find good prescription cycling glasses. Specifically, I wished for a company that designs performance glasses for prescription lenses from the ground up. While I have yet to encounter this exact scenario, I have since made an effort to seek out high-quality prescription glasses to test out.
One of these is the French company Julbo, headquartered in the Jura region near the Swiss border, which has developed a proprietary prescription system that uses a “baked-in prescription insert that is cohesive with the lens.” The company is best known for its climbing and mountaineering products, but also has a full range of cycling glasses and sponsors the Groupama-FDJ WorldTour team as well as several World Cup XC athletes.
To begin the ordering process here in North America, I got in touch with Julbo’s U.S. headquarters in Vermont, where the customer service team asked me for my most recent prescription and MPD (monocular pupillary distance) values for both eyes. They were able to then determine which models my prescription was compatible with: initially, I was interested in the Ultimates, but they were ruled out due to the strength of my prescription, so I instead opted for the Fury model. Julbo doesn’t list prescription limitations on its website, so you’ll need to speak with someone to ascertain what will work for you.
Once we sorted through this, the Julbo team submitted the order to the lab in France, where the lenses were made specifically for my eyes. The completed glasses were then sent to Vermont for a checkover, before arriving at my doorstep. This entire process took roughly three and a half weeks, and according to Customer Service Manager Molly Carolan at Julbo, the majority of that time was spent moving through US customs. Julbo quotes a 3-6 week turnaround for most Rx orders.
On the road
I was excited about testing out these glasses. Even though I get the opportunity to test high-end bikes and gear frequently, there’s something about sunglasses that feels different. They change the way you look and the way you feel. Good ones disappear on your face comfortably, while ill-fitting ones seem to make everything else worse. My last pair of prescription sunglasses, which I wore until recently, are from 2014. It was clearly time for an update.
Out of the box, the Julbo Fury glasses are slick. I opted for the somewhat flashy Light Green/Pink colour, which Julbo paired with Spectron 3 Gold/Pink lenses, as I requested something suitable for low-light conditions. Julbo also offers a light-changing photochromic lens that it calls Reactiv, in several colour variations, that is available on some models, but not the Fury.
Even with my (somewhat thick) prescription lenses, the Furys are impressively light at 34 grams. This goes a long way towards making them sit comfortably and unobtrusively on your face. The prescription part of the lens is only discernible from the outside as a thin overlayer in the shield-style lens, as the bulk of it sits behind the lens on the inside. These inserts cover a significant part of the overall lens, making for a nice clean visual experience.
The optics are incredible: Bar none of the best I’ve ever experienced. Also, this is the first time I’ve ever worn shield-style glasses with a single, ski-goggle-type lens, and I’m a fan. The field of vision is clear and broad, and the flat profile of the lens helps keep distortion to a minimum. The large lens also does a good job protecting your eyes from wind and road detritus.
Ventilation is solid—both ends of the lens shield sit away from the frames to allow moisture out. There is no venting in the middle, however. Since the lenses are made with the prescription inset, lens swapping for differing conditions isn’t an option (unless you were to purchase multiple prescription lenses). As such, choosing a frame that is compatible with Julbo’s photochromic lenses would be prudent (I didn’t do this).
My only qualm with these glasses is the lack of adjustability. Julbo classifies the Fury as medium-width, which works well with my face shape and the arms are designed to be short so as not to interfere with helmet straps. The frames sit close to the face, which helps keep them from moving around, but the nose piece is just a rubber pad built into the frames, not two separate pieces that can be tweaked to fit your anatomy. For very bumpy riding, i.e. gravel and cyclocross, this added security and adjustability would be helpful. Because of this design element, these frames will not fit as many people as they could. Other models offered by the company seem to have more adjustability built in.
Value and conclusion
If your eyes are anything like mine, it’s not possible to ride a bike without the aid of glasses. OK, I suppose technically, it is possible, but the ride would be shorter than the subsequent trip to the hospital. So, for me, good prescription riding glasses are a justifiable cost.
For non-prescription lenses, these same glasses are available from $139 USD ($229 with photochromic lenses). This prescription version is significantly more expensive at $425. That’s a lot of money, but considering that each lens is made to order in France, specifically for each person’s eyes, it’s understandable. This cost may also be offset somewhat with some health insurance plans, depending on where you live. And being able to see comes in handy, no matter the cost.
