Thursday Tech Tip: Making Cheap/Custom Riding Glasses

Some of us out there either 1) don’t want to pay $100 for a pair of sunglasses or 2) have disfigured faces. Lucky me, I fit both of those categories! Well, actually the bridge of my nose protrudes a lot more than a normal person’s(that or my eyes are sunken into my skull) so mainstream eyewear sits really high on my nose. This causes the glasses to ride high. When I put them on all I see if the bottom rim of the glasses. Even if I could fit into most shades I’m so damn afraid of spending $150 and then dropping them or sitting on them. So here’s what I do to make cheap eyewear that fits comfortably.

First step is to go an buy a pair of those $12 clear glasses(or choose any you like). Found these pair in a buy one get one free deal in Laughlin, NV. Notice how high they ride on my face. If I look down at my feet I’m looking below the bottom rim. Not good when your speeding down a hill. Too much wind gets in and then come the tears. Non-functional glasses are as good as not having any.

All you need to do this is a Dremel tool, the cylindrical sandpaper attachment, and a little fine grain sandpaper. The cheapo plastic on the glasses makes it easy to shave away.

Evenly and slowly shave away plastic from both sides so you can stop and try them on, then shave again, until they fit just right. As you can see I got down to the clear lens on one side. That’s a pretty good indicator you’ve gone far enough. I actually did this on the first pair I made and they’re still kicking after a year’s use. No biggie.

Next, get a fine grain sandpaper and take away any sharp edges and smooth out the corners so they don’t irritate any part of your nose. And you’re done! I suppose you could put a thin strip of adhesive padding in there for comfort, but I’m a minimalist and as long as they don’t hurt me on a long ride, that’s good enough for me.

Before

After

My glasses now fit snug to my face and are low enough to give me a clear field of vision. Don’t forget to brush off the plastic dust with a lens-friendly cloth too.

This little mod helps me save a buttload of money that could be going toward cranks, jerseys, or other bike parts. The glasses I found even have a Styrofoam layer surrounding the eyes, from the inside, so the comfort is there too. Cheap glasses, cheap mod….Oakley Shmokley. Now I can go buy me some bike parts!