Pro-Vue Prescription Goggles

PRO-VUE PRESCRIPTION GOGGLES

CW EVALUATION

Visual aid

OFF-ROAD RIDERS WITH LESS THAN 20/ 20 eyesight know what a hassle it is to wear corrective lenses under a set of goggles. Contact lenses often trap dust against the wearer’s eyes, while glasses fog and/or rub uncomfortably against the bridge of one’s nose or the back of one’s ears.

Fortunately, Pro-Vue Lenses (10630 Third Ave. NW, Oronoco, MN 55960; 507/282-0323) has a solution: Prescription goggles.

While prescription goggles are nothing new, Pro-Vue’s are the most innovative and attractive that we’ve come across. Pro-Vue grinds plastic lenses to the customer’s prescription, and mounts them to a Lexan goggle lens using tiny screws, wire hangers and a foam seal. This assembly is positioned behind the lens of an ordinary set of Smith goggles, using a pair of plastic push-pins like those commonly used to secure sportbike windscreens. Thus, the prescription lenses are protected from dirt and flying debris, while the standard goggle lens

can be replaced in the usual manner (save for drilling a pair of 7/32-inch holes to accommodate the push-pins) and will readily accept tear-offs or roll-offs.

We found the Pro-Vue prescription goggles to work very well, with mild fogging of the prescription lenses at a standstill being our only nitpick. We were a bit suspect of the wire hangers securing the prescription lenses, as their proximity to the wearer’s eyes appears dangerously close in the event of a face-first fall; however, the manufacturer has already addressed this situation by fitting small plastic caps over the wire ends. Even without the caps, we had no problems, and the wire hangers never made contact with our tester’s face or eyes.

Pro-Vue prescription goggles are available in eight colors for $ 1 19.95. Not cheap, but when you consider the price of a pair of contact lenses or prescription glasses plus a set of goggles, they’re a real bargain. fa