Product Tested:
Liquid Exhaust
Website’s MSRP:
$120
Specs:
Liquid Exhaust Sunglasses – Rumor has it you’re looking for not only a killer pair of shades, but one that provides functionality as well. Liquid Eyewear is all about lifestyle, YOUR LIFESTYLE. Sunglasses that provide protection from ANY element and still come out looking stylish. Product that is durable yet fashionable. The Exhaust offers a rugged hingeless design, no more looses screws or arms falling off. Made of Billet Aluminum, the Exhaust screams STYLE.
Features:
All Billet Construction
Durable Hingeless Design
Replaceable Rubber Nose Piece
Designed & Built in the USA
1 Year Limited Warranty*
About Me:
6’1†210lbs, 30 year old male. I’m a mountain biking enthusiast who enjoys rocking the 29er wheels.
Testing Grounds:
All over the Southern California Trails, Sea Otter 2010
The hingeless Exhaust make for a very comfortable fit and durable pair of shades
First Impressions:
Unique. The hinge-less design was something I had not seen before and I was a little concerned about the usefulness of this feature. They were also quite tight on my face. I immediately adjusted them outward, which was very easy to do. I was a little concerned that it would break as I did this, but the Exhaust has held up fine.
Strengths:
Style. The Liquid Exhaust are some styling shades. They worked very well on and off the trail. I was not afraid to take them off the trail and wear them as everyday wear type shades. Some sunglasses should remain as “active†wear, but these Exhaust shades moved from mountain biking to outings with the wife or family ease.
The Exhaust frame is a solid piece of metal. It is not wimpy and will not break apart if you take a bad fall. When I put them on my face, I knew that this frame could take some serious abuse. What surprised me though was the ease of adjustability built into this frame while still being a stout frame.
Out on the trail, the Liquid Exhaust does a great job staying on the face
When I received the sunglasses, I immediately had to widen the frame to accommodate my large noggin. After reading the directions on how to go about doing this, I was indubitably concerned that I might over widen the frame and snap it. After preparing myself for what might be a short review period, I realized that my concerns were unfounded. The Exhaust were easy to widen but had enough resistance which gave me the assurance that it would not widen on its own. Over a few months of use, it has continued to stay in the same shape.
Because of the adjust-ability, the frame can really stay tight to your face. Add to it the comfortable nose pad and the sunglasses stay on your face when you’re riding. Over the course of testing, I did not notice them moving around on my face as I rode.
Rolling with the Liquid Exhaust at Sea Otter 2010
Because of the hingeless nature, you take out a major failing point for glasses/sunglasses. I should know as I’ve worn glasses since grade school. Many glasses will fail here due to a variety of factors, but mainly neglect. Without a hinge, you take away that chance to fail and, in turn, make a more durable pair of sunglasses.
Weakness:
I got a chance to bring the Liquid Exhaust on a trip to Japan for a week. While there, I had them on and wore them constantly. The hingeless design began to show a flaw during this time. The flaw was that the sunglasses were hard to store. Without hinges, the glasses would not fold compactly and this limited where I could stash my shades when they were not in use. Normally, they had to go in the large pocket of my backpack where as hinged sunglasses could fold and be tucked into my shirt pocket or into smaller pockets of my backpack.
Summary:
The Liquid Exhaust is a styling pair of shades that work very well on the trail. They stay on your face, are easily adjustable and the metal billet aluminum is durable. When wearing the Exhaust, these sunglasses do all that you want them to do but taking them off and storing them is a bit of a hassle due to their hingeless nature.
For more information about the Liquid Exhaust, click here.
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Show CommentsThanks for the review. How was visibility compared to other eye wear you’ve used?
Definitely a bright sunlight type of sunglasses. Before testing I thought that the actual “glass” portion was small and would limit visibility. Not true. When in use I never got the feeling of “wish I had more coverage and less frame”.
Jer, did the glasses fog up at any point?
They do have a sweet design but that whole hingeless thing is a bummer. Someone needs to make some aviator mtb glasses!
Tim,
The hingeless thing is part of the design. Makes it super durable. Besides they do offer a hard case for it. Oh and get this, Liquid offers an Aviator style…
No fog up. I agree, the hingeless is a tradeoff: durability for “pack”-ability. Most of my mtb stuff stays in a bag so the hingeless design’s fault is not that much of an issue for me. For those with limited space or traveling, I can see the downsides to the hingeless not being able to pack into a smaller, more space efficient design.