Last summer at Crankworx Whistler, Leatt was showing off a new line of cycling eyewear, including the RideViz Pro sunglasses. I got my hands on a pair for testing, which featured an optional photochromic lens. With a full-frame design and a large-coverage lens, these shades are made for mountain biking, but can easily work for any genre of cycling.
I rode with the Leatt RideViz Pro sunglasses from mid-summer to early winter, then again this spring. Between the fantastic performance from the photochromic lens, their excellent resistance to condensation, and their comfortable and secure fit, I’ve found the RideViz Pro to be a top-notch pair of sunglasses that perform well in any conditions. I was particularly happy to find the lens lived up to its claims, offering a wide visible light transmission (VLT) range with reasonably fast transitions.
RideViz Pro Sunglasses – Construction Features
The RideViz Pro frames are built with a Biopolymer material with soft anti-slip rubber temple inserts and adjustable nose pieces. The frame of these lightweight sunglasses is essentially built around their lens. The upper frame, lower frame, and arms are all separate pieces that clip onto the lens.
The RideViz Pro features a cylindrical lens, which is designed to minimize visual distortion. Cylindrical lenses are flatter (vs. the dual-curved Toric lenses found on other Leatt sunglasses), so they don’t sit quite as close to your face and allow for plenty of airflow.
The RideViz Pro’s lenses are 60mm tall. They offer an expansive vertical field of view, which is meant to work well for aggressive riding positions, with a pronounced wraparound shape that helps ensure good peripheral visibility.
Two sizes of the RideViz Pro sunglasses are available. Small frames, intended for small or medium faces, measure 135mm wide with a 20mm bridge width and 130mm temple length. For medium and large faces, the large RideViz Pro frames and lenses are 145mm wide, with the same bridge width and temple length as the small size.
The two sizes even get unique lenses with different curvatures. The large size uses a Base 6 lens, while the small has a Base 7 curvature.
The small RideViz Pro sunglasses weighed in at 34g on my scale. Interestingly, Jeremy has a pair in size large, and they weigh 34 grams, too.
Lenses
All available lenses for the RideViz Pro sunglasses are interchangeable, polycarbonate lenses. Following Leatt’s ethos of keeping riders as safe as possible, the lenses are impact-tested to ANSI Z87.1 standards. There are four lens options offered with the RideViz Pros:
- Iriz lenses feature a mirror coating to reduce glare and protect your eyes from bright light.
- Cryztal lenses enhance contrast to sharpen details and separate colors.
- Cryztal Iriz lenses offer both contrast enhancement and an anti-glare mirrored coating.
- Photochromic lenses automatically tint according to light conditions. Leatt’s lens offers an impressive range of 25% to 90% VLT (90% achieves nearly clear status — Leatt’s clear lens is listed at 91% VLT). These photochromic lenses also respond very quickly to changing light conditions.
All RideViz Pro sunglasses come with your choice of lens and a spare Cryztal Rose lens (except the photochromic models). Leatt says their timeline for availability of spare lenses is TBD, so buyers will have to choose from the stock frame/lens combos for now.
The RideViz Pro sunglasses come in seven frame color options: Clear, Black, Grey, White, Neon Yellow, White/Black, and Satin Black. Prices range from $153 to $186, depending on lens choice, and each pair comes with a soft bag.
Ride Impressions – Fit and Helmet Compatibility
I have a smaller head, so I am wearing the small RideViz Pro sunglasses. The width of the small is perfect for me; the arms are snug but comfortable, and the frames aren’t excessively wide, which can be a problem with many of today’s large coverage riding shades.
The RideViz Pros’ field of view is very good all around. The tall lenses do offer excellent top and bottom visibility, and the glasses’ wraparound shape puts the sides of the frames almost completely out of view. Even pushed right up my nose, the RideViz Pros’ frames don’t sit too close to my cheeks or forehead, leaving room for airflow all around.
The RideViz Pros fit with some of my open-faced MTB helmets, but not all. I have a shallow head, and while the top of the frame is only slightly curved on these glasses, it sits high enough on my forehead to interfere with my deeper-fitting helmets.
My Oakley DRT5, Abus MoDrop, and new POC Cularis Pure helmets all fit fine with these sunglasses. My POC Tectal and Kortal lids were both too deep at the forehead, and my Endura MT500 fits too narrow at the sides for the sunglasses’ arms. Helmet interference will vary from person to person and helmet to helmet. Jeremy says he has worn these sunglasses with all of his half-shell helmets (six different models) without issue.
Photochromic Lens
The RideViz Pros I have been testing came with Leatt’s photochromic lens, which I would be my recommendation. The lens meets Leatt’s claims of offering a vast transmission range and transitioning quickly from clear to fully tinted and back again.
When there’s no sunlight, the photochromic lens stays totally clear. Riding these sunglasses in rainy, dim conditions, there’s no noticeable difference between the photochromic lens and any other clear lens. It doesn’t take much light to activate the tint, though. As conditions get brighter, they automatically get darker in response.
Even in full sunshine, I found the darkest tint of the photochromic lens to be adequate. With the photochromic lens, I’d say the RideViz Pro sunglasses could work for any ride, regardless of light or weather conditions. These glasses were always the appropriate tint, and while the lens does transition relatively quickly for photochromic, 20-30 seconds, it’s not noticeable or distracting.
I noticed a hint of visual distortion when looking through the very top and bottom sections of the cylindrical lens. Thankfully, this was never a problem while riding, as the fairly flat mid-section of the lens (where you’re mostly looking) does not produce any obvious effect.
Condensation
In addition to the lens’s photochromic performance, I was very happy with the RideViz Pros’ ability to resist condensation. During many rides in damp fall conditions, plus warmer rides in the spring, the RideViz Pros have reliably kept their lenses clear.
I wore these glasses throughout many climbs, and the only fogging I ever experienced was a bit at the top of the lens — but only when I stopped moving. Even on a rainy climb that left me soaked with sweat, the lenses stayed perfectly clear until I took a break. As soon as I started moving (even at climbing speeds), the lenses cleared up within seconds, and they always stayed clear during descents.
Comfort and Protection
From the first ride, I never had any comfort-related issues with the RideViz Pro sunglasses. The rubber nose piece and padded arms always remained perfectly comfortable throughout my rides. Even better, these sunglasses stay put. I never managed to make them budge out of position on my face or slide down my nose at all, despite several wet and sweaty rides and countless rough descents.
Finally, the tall, wraparound lenses do offer good eye protection. While some wind can be noticeable from the sides, the lenses block the breeze from the front very effectively. I never once found my eyes watering on descents, and in sloppy conditions, the RideViz Pros kept all the water and mud splatter safely away from my eyes.
Needless to say, I’m a big fan of the fit, stability, coverage, and lens performance of these shades. Check out Leatt’s website for all the details on the RideViz Pro sunglasses.
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