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On test: Uvex Crow Pro eyewear, March 16, 2006
Through T-Mobile's eyes
Jon Kenny peers out at the world through these Uvex sunnies with three lenses and likes what he sees.
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Uvex is the official supplier of helmets and sunglasses to the T-Mobile Women's team. The company is better known outside cycling for its high-end ski goggles and protective safety glasses, but the association with T-Mobile will encourage cyclists to sample their quality wares.
The Crow Pro model has been designed with the critical assistance of members of the T-Mobile team, notably Matthias Kessler who operated with the brief to help design glasses that provided optimum eye protection and also looked good.
The shared link between T-Mobile's Uvex-supplied helmets and sunglasses is Makrolon polycarbonate, which is the trade name for the toughened plastic manufactured by the massive German multi-national, Bayer. Makrolon, which incidentally sounds so much cooler than "plastic", is the material used to strengthen the outer shell of the helmets and the lenses in the eyewear.
According to Bayer, Makrolon is "an amorphous, thermoplastic moulding compound [that is noted for] its high light transmission, high heat resistance, high toughness, high creep modulus, high dimensional stability and good electrical insulation properties." We won't be worrying too much about electrical insulation, but toughness and light transmission are good things in eyewear.
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The glasses come with three ventilated and readily interchangeable Makrolon-reinforced lenses: silver for use in sunlight, yellow to enhance contrast when visibility is poor in rain and fog and clear for protection from flying particles and insects.
Feeling reassured that my eyes were clad in lenses with a high creep modulus for a change, I wore the glasses in a variety of light conditions. The lenses are simple to change and the stout frame design means that they can be changed with confidence, slotting into place with a reassuring snap. I'm not a huge fan of yellow lenses in general but the other lenses proved useful. I found the "clear" (they have just enough tint to take the edge of any glare) lenses the best option for low light, providing better clarity than the yellow.
The silver lenses are the pick of the three options. In full sunlight, they helped lessen squinting but did not overly darken the view. For green eyes like mine, blue or silver tints seem to provide better clarity and focus than browns, oranges and yellows. Reflective lenses also seem to be popular amongst fashionistas at the moment, giving the wearer some hipness by association.
Significantly, all of the lens options offer 100 per cent UV protection, regardless of the lens colour.
During testing, I was thankful that the laboratory-replicated 600 kilometres-per-hour rock fall cited by Bayer did not occur in real life. Despite all the hyperbole about protection on the Bayer website, Uvex says - in a warning on the packaging - that the lenses are not designed for protection against hard or sharp objects or against severe impact. The glasses are "designed for protection against wind, snow and glare only." Uvex's cautious labelling probably doesn't do justice to the protection offered by the lenses, which seem pretty tough to me. They cope ably with the bending required to get them into the frame. Also, the frames are significantly more robust than some better-known brands that I have encountered, with a sturdy hinge that stood up to some torsional stress that I placed on the frames (I gave them a bit of a twist).
The frame fit was too relaxed for my medium-sized head, but the rubber grips on the nose and ear pieces mostly kept the shades in place when the weather was cool. Unfortunately Sydney's humid February weather in the testing period didn't help matters, as the frames frequently slipped down my nose. A snugger fit would help keep them in place.
The shades come with a stylish hard case and soft bag which is useful for cleaning and to hold the lenses when they are being changed. The hard case has soft compartments to keep the spare lenses clean and safe from scratches.
The warm weather of the testing period did not allow any significant testing of the claimed anti-fog properties of the lenses. The lenses also offer scratch resistance on both sides and the glass reinforced Makrolon is rigid and shatter resistant.
Price: Around 80 Euros
Pros: Versatility, UV protection on all lenses (including yellow and
clear)
Cons: Bit loose in humid conditions
More information: www.uvexsports.com
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