Since the early 1990s, I have been an avid user of the Oakley Mumbo and M-frames with the Sweep lenses for all forms of cycling. They have protected my eyes from tree branches, sun, snow, mud, rocks, flying insects and anything else thrown my way. I never ride without them. They fit my head well and provide excellent coverage keeping the wind out of my eyes during fast descents. I have tried many other types of glasses and yet I keep grabbing my M-frames every time I ride… until now.
At Interbike this year, there were numerous eyewear companies and a number showing off photochromic lenses. Photochromic lenses darken when exposed to ultraviolet rays (UV) and fade back to lighter tint in low light areas or indoors. Shortly after the show, I received a pair of the Bollé Tempest glasses with their version of a photochromic lens, the Modulator, to try myself.
I am first and foremost a cyclist, but I run a few days a week to cross-train. Typically when I run, I choose a different pair of glasses than my M-frames since they actually block too much of the air flow, causing sweat to build around my eyes. This seemed to be the perfect time to use the Tempest for both running and cycling.
For the next few weeks, I wore the Tempest on all of my runs and cycling adventures. All of the runs occurred during the day, but some of the rides happened during early morning light or fading evening light allowing me to see firsthand how the Modulator lenses transitioned with the changing light levels.
Adjustability
The Tempest only has one area of adjustment – the nose piece. The nose piece is constructed of a metal skeleton with a rubber coating. The nose piece can be opened or closed depending on the width of a person’s nose. In addition, the distance that the lenses are positioned from the face can be adjusted. Once the nose piece was adjusted for my nose width and preferred distance of the lenses from my face, the metal skeleton did a perfect job holding its shape and did not come out of adjustment through all of the running and cycling.
Fit and Coverage
Bollé eyewear is known to have a slightly larger fit than is advertised and this was certainly no different with the Tempest. They are described as being made for small to medium faces, but they fit more like a medium. My Bell helmet size is medium and my wife’s helmet size is a small, and though she really liked the Tempest overall, she felt that they were slightly too big for her face.
Once the nose piece was adjusted for me, I was able to take the Tempest out for a spin. The first time that I used them it was for a five mile run; if I had an issue with the fit while running then hopping on a bike was going to certainly provide no better results. The run went perfectly fine, and there was no noticeable movement on my face and no bouncing. The lens coverage of the Tempest was large enough to provide proper sunlight coverage, but small enough to allow enough ventilation to minimize any sweat buildup behind the lenses. All subsequent runs with the Tempest had the same results – a fit that stayed in place, enough light coverage and adequate ventilation to avoid sweat around my eyes.
Cycling has a number of additional hazards over running and eyewear not only needs to protect the eyes of a cyclist from light, but also debris that can come from any angle – often at speeds considerably faster than running. The first test with any eyewear used while cycling is whether they will fit while wearing a helmet. The Tempest fit fine with the temple pieces easily passing over the helmet straps, resting above my ears with gentle pressure. There were no heavy pressure points and actually the pressure at first felt too light which made me think that the Tempest would slide around. The first ride that I used the eyewear on was a fixed gear road ride on mostly flat terrain. During those first two hours, the Tempest worked fine, providing a comfortable fit and adequate eye coverage. There is noticeably more air movement behind the lenses with the Tempest verses the Oakley Sweep lenses, but my eyes did not tear at all, plus there was no noticeable sweat buildup. The only fit issue that I did notice was since the temple pressure is light, I felt that they were actually going to slide off my head while looking down towards my water bottle – the Tempest did not move and stayed in place on my head.
After that initial ride, there were many other rides that the Tempest were used – road riding, mountain biking and even on our tandem. Through the rocky trails of Colorado and Wyoming and fast descents on the road, the Tempest stayed in place. Throughout the entire use, I did continue to notice how the temple pressure was light making me think that they would slip off while looking down or around, but that was not the case – they stayed in place for each ride.
As for the eye coverage at speed… there were numerous times that I hit 45-50mph and not once did my eyes tear from the air movement behind the lenses. This is often the first reason that I toss other eyewear aside for my Oakley M-frames, but there was no need with the Tempest.
Construction and Lens Removal
The Tempest frames are constructed of a flexible Nylon plastic with three vent holes in each temple. Metal screw temple hinges and a single metal screw is used to hold the nose piece in place. It is not uncommon to find higher end eyewear not use metal screws as the connection mechanism at the frame to temple junction, but for me it was a welcomed surprise. For years I have had an issue with removing my M-frames while cycling to get rid of a bug that had gotten on the inside of the lenses; but occasionally while putting them back on, the non-pinned temple of the M-frames would pop-off and sometimes fall to the ground. This never happened while using the Tempest.
The Tempest is a ’half-frame’ style of eyewear allowing for easy lens swapping of the two independent lenses. Bollé provides detailed instructions with the Tempest for the lens swap, but basically you flex the frame, pop the lens out and install the different lens. The lens swapping was much easier with the Tempest when compared to the older M-frame, but with the Modulator lens I found the process unnecessary as I did not need to swap for a lighter or darker tint during daytime use..
Modulator Lenses
The photochromic lenses used in the Tempest were the ‘hook’ for me – especially for mountain biking. Having a lens that could darken with increased sunlight, yet lighten when in the woods sounded perfect. The Modulator lenses that were included in the Tempest were the ‘Photo Rose Gun’. They are described by Bollé as providing “Enhanced contrast in both the light rose and dark rose state, a silver flash mirror reflects glare improving visual acuity in the brightest conditions”.
Both my wife and I had the same initial impression with the Photo Rose Gun lenses – they have superb optical clarity. Lower end sunglasses often use a cheaper mirror coating which when you look straight forward through the lens, appear normal, but as you look out the side of your eyes, they actually will look darker or a different color. Not only will the tint appear different, but there can also be minor distortion along with the coating easily chipping. There were none of these issues with the Tempest.
Before even wearing the Tempest on a run or ride, I was curious how quickly the Modulator lens would change from their light rose tint to their dark tint. I walked outside my home, cover one lens and held the glasses up to the bright, clear Colorado sunshine. On average, an immediate darkening of the exposed lens was notice with the full dark tint happening between 30-60 seconds. Upon returning inside, it seemed to take about the same amount of time for the tint to lighten. This certainly was not the most scientific way to test the photochromic qualities, but it gave me a sense of how long it would take to expect a change in the tint.
During that first run, and frankly every run following, the Modular lenses performed the same. Since I run during the day and Colorado has at least 300 days with some sunshine, the lenses darken to a comfortable level, keeping the sunshine from straining my eyes. The rose lenses did give everything a slight reddish tint, most noticeably the red leaves during the fall season look particularly a more vivid red, but everything else looked fairly normal.
Cycling with the Photo Rose Gun lenses provided similar results during periods of bright sunshine with one exception. During a few road rides in the mid-afternoon as I was heading north, I noticed a dark spot on my left lens. At first I thought it was a bug so I removed the glasses to send the critter on its way, but as it turned out it was not a bug at all. It was an area of darkened tint. This abnormality only occurred while heading north for an extended period of time while the sun was in a lower afternoon position over my left shoulder. The best that I can figure is that my helmet was shading most of that lens except for a sliver allowing the sunshine to hit just that part of the lens from the inside. In reality it was no big deal, but none the less, it did occur.
Besides that abnormality, the Modular lenses lightened and darkened as predicted. There were two places where the transitioning of the tint was too slow. One was very dark tunnel and the other was a few very short sections of dark woods while mountain biking. The photochromic lenses just did not shift quickly enough and I was through those sections before they lightened enough to easily see obstructions in front of me.
In other low light situations of early morning and dusk, the Photo Rose Gun Modular lenses were just light enough to not warrant their removal. I did try them at night and it was only then that the lightest tint was just a little too dark to allow me to quickly pick out objects on the trail. If I did not have a pair of clear lenses, I would probably wear these instead of nothing at all, but I would still prefer a set of clear lenses for night riding.
Overall Evaluation
The Bollé Tempest with the photochromic Modular lens worked great and fit well both with and without a cycling helmet being worn. In just a handful of situations the photochromic lens shifted a little too slowly and dark spots appeared if the sun hit just on one part of the lens, and at night I would have preferred a clear lens. I would not consider these issues, but rather observations during the evaluation. For me, the Modular lenses performed well in most daytime light situations and the Tempest frames fit my medium-sized head comfortably even while wearing a helmet. The Bollé Tempest are now my eyewear of choice during daytime runs and rides.
Along with the glasses, a lens cleaning cloth and semi-hard case are included.
Pros:
– Light fit on the head with no noticeable pressure points
– Modular photchromic lenses work great for daytime use
– Lenses are just light enough to use at first and last light of the day
Cons:
– Lack of adjustable temples
– The Photo Rose Gun tint is just a little too dark for night riding
– Very rarely, if the sun is in the right place, a dark tint area can appear on the lens
Style: 11483 Tempest Satin Crystal Tort Black
Lens: Non Polar Photochromic Rose Gun
Fit: Small to Medium (in reality, medium size heads)
MSRP: $189.99
Country of Manufacture: Italy
Bollé Tempest Official Website
Modulator Photochromic Lens Simulator