“ IF YOU THINK ABOUT A CYCLIST RIDING IN TRAFFIC ; THEY WANT AS MUCH UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW AS POSSIBLE SO THAT THEY ’ RE ABLE TO SEE ALL AROUND THEM WITHOUT HAVING TO TURN THEIR HEAD AS MUCH .”
The eight models are available in eight lens shapes and colours , which are in more vibrant tones for the women ’ s range , and more subdued in the men ’ s .
At Smith , the biggest attraction for most people with rimless eyewear is field of view – especially in sport . Larger field of view or viewing angle is important for peripheral vision and motion detection , says Smith ' s Mark McCann , global category manager for eyewear .
“ If you think about a cyclist riding in traffic ; they want as much unobstructed view as possible so that they ’ re able to see all around them without having to turn their head as much ,” McCann says .
“ A head turn usually causes the bike to veer off course , so increases in uninterrupted sight lines are big wins in that regard .”
With a taller rimless lens like in the Attack MAX – riders won ’ t find themselves staring into the top of the frame when they ’ re in the head down riding position . They get the protection they ’ re looking for from sunlight , wind and debris - but also an unobstructed field of view that a typical rimmed piece of eyewear does not provide , McCann says .
The other factor is weight . Rimless glasses tend to be lighter because there ’ s less frame material required to hold the lens . Athletes love rimless eyewear because it almost feels like you ’ re not wearing sunglasses , which allows the wearer to focus on sport – not their glasses bouncing around or sliding off their faces .
20 Optical Prism November 2017