BZ Optics PHO Bi-focal Photochromic Glasses

The BZ Optics PHO Fluro Yellow Frame with Photochromic Bi Focal Lens is a fully featured item of sports eyewear, for people who need bi-focal assistance in all conditions from darkness to bright glare. For £99.99 with interchangeable lenses, they're a pretty good pair of goggles in their own right.

Being one of challenged ocular capacity, I can wholeheartedly sympathise with the founders of BZ Optics: two Australian sportsmen who found with advancing years their ability to read various bits of kit – bike computers, phones, GPS units, watches, maps – was decreasing. Add into the mix the need to operate safely on road or water in conditions ranging from pre-dawn dark to bright Australian sunshine (British readers: see here) and the sporting eyewear market wasn't delivering. You could have bi-focal lenses, or photochromic lenses, or changeable lenses. But not all at once.

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With a business history in eyewear and multiple sporting disciplines, the pair set out to create the solution. A failed Kickstarter later, they decided to self-fund the project, displaying admirable passion for a product that the growing number of mature cyclists would inevitably benefit from. What they realised was, this problem of trying to see small things in either dark or bright conditions was not limited to cycling – motorcyclists, runners, golfers, sailors, hikers and many others could benefit from light, tough, adaptive lenses with the correct prescription for close-up viewing.

Safety first

At first glance the PHOs look like any other pair of cycling glasses, albeit clear ones if seen indoors the first time. Clear lenses always run the risk of resembling safety specs, and in this regard the PHOs aren't wide of the mark – particularly in fluorescent yellow ('graphite' and white are also available).

The near-ubiquitous design of a single top frame facilitates the changing of lenses, done via a nifty wee grey clip at the temple that pivots out to unlock things. I must confess I wore the PHOs for a month before realising the lenses could be removed, the mechanism is so well hidden and its hold on the lens so secure. Additional lenses are available in photochromic non-prescription and with a 'blue mirror' finish, and of course as a replacement should you damage the original lens. The 'Reader' lens with the bifocal bit is available in +1.5, +2 and +2.5 powers.

The bearable lightness of seeing

The photochromic quality is half the show here, and having owned such glasses in the past I was prepared for disappointment. The lenses transition from Category 0 (clear) to Category 2 (suited for bright sunlight), and while the change isn't fast, it's perfectly adequate. I never found myself squinting or missing detail on shaded roads, the speed of lens change always seemed to be just right.

The lens darkness under bright sunshine isn't as much as you'd expect – certainly lighter than most sunglasses. It's now got me thinking that normal sunglasses are typically too dark, certainly for activities like cycling where the ability to pick out a hazard on a shadowed road can make the difference between an event-free ride and a trip to A&E or, worse, the wheelsmith.

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The positioning of the bifocal bit is perfect for cycling. On first donning them you might think it's too high, then once on the bike either on the tops or in the drops, you realise the bottom third of your field of vision is wasted anyway (something Oakley has made a big fuss of with its Cavendish-approved 'sprinter's glasses'). The high frame placement maintains a clear field of vision upwards, and they sweep back far enough that it's a real effort to even spot the hinges.

The gap between lens and cheekbone (on me anyway) was just right for protection and ventilation – I didn't once encounter any fogging. The non-slip arms and adjustable nosepiece did the job of keeping things fixed in place under all conditions of perspiration.

Conditions: changeable

Out for long or short rides, the PHOs worked, protecting my eyes from glare, UV rays, rain, hail (once), insects and grit, while letting me see what I was actually riding over as the lighting conditions and environment changed. They just work.

Their RRP of £99.99 isn't loose change, and yes, you can buy far, far cheaper glasses that will do the basic cycling job. I recently completed a 300km day ride in a pair of £2.99 Aldi specials that in three years I have failed to break, scratch or lose – the inverse curse of a £299 pair in my bank-balance-chastening experience.

However, if you need the extra magnification to check information or operate sporting kit (and read the post-ride café menu), if you need the safety, comfort and protection that a lens able to go from clear to dark and back affords, and if you need these features wrapped up in a lightweight, stay-put package that can fit under a helmet, the BZ Optics PHO might well be the pair you've been looking for. Literally.

Verdict

A great choice if you need bifocal powers when out sporting in the light or dark