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Product Review

Uvex
There is nothing better than heading out on either the road bike or the mountain bike confident that clear vision will be part of the ride from woe-to-go. This is exactly what I have found since using Uvex Crow Pro glasses.

My first use of the Crow Pro’s was during the 7 day Terra Australis Great Southern Mountain Bike Epic contested in the Victorian Alpine region. From the very beginning the fit was compliant and comfortable. The light frames were seemingly un-noticeable to wear, which is worth a lot more than can sometimes receive credit as it left me able to focus (with crystal-clear vision) on the physical battle that lay 580km before us. This proved to be of great benefit as many of the sections presented some long slogs of climbs followed by rapid descents across rocky terrain throughout the 5 to 7 hours of riding each day.
The weather during the week-long event was of typical, mid-autumn, highland character – very brisk mornings for the 8am starts that cleared to cloudless mid 20’s to 30 degree C days. Taking the weather into account and in combination with the effort exerted on climbs and it was excellent to never have the lenses fog, the subtle vents at the top of the lenses along the frame line not allowing condensation to build-up. This advantage really paid off when heavy work sessions were followed by fast descents and every part of the terrain was still visible, that is, not obscured by fogged lenses as the bike speed increases and a deeper field of vision becomes paramount.

Since that week the weather has seemed to have turned a little more wintery. Once again the glasses have been resilient to these challenges, from training rides along local trails and nearby Mt Dandenong, to weekly night rides, and to 6 hour enduro events that have offered all weather conditions within one event.

Another feature of the Crow Pro is the inter-changeable lenses, making the specs adaptable to many conditions. Most days I will use the darker tinted lense, which has transitioned well between areas of full sun and areas of dense tree-cover. The yellow lense is good during the half-light that sees us into darkness or extremely over-cast days, but once darkness has set in I use the almost clear lense although it is slightly tinted. For night riding I use a reasonably bright HID light and this lense is adequate but an untinted, clear lense would be a preferred choice for use in the dark.

Fitting the glasses below a helmet is no trouble. The rubber temple ends resist any sliding forward down the nose and reduce any shake or vibration of the frames as they softly grip around the head. This is of great benefit on fast or slow technical and rocky sections, and something that doesn’t even come into mind as there is nothing moving between the eyes and the field of vision. Other glasses I have used have always ‘bounced’ on the bridge of my nose or slid down, a distraction that you don’t need as the riding becomes faster, rougher and more technical. The soft nose piece also plays a major role in this comfort and control. The fit and comfort has remained consistent through hot, sweaty days as well as cold, rainy days.

Once all the hard work has been done it’s nice to be able to store the Crow Pros in the semi-hard case that keeps them protected and accommodates all the extra lenses within their own, isolated slots to help eliminate scratching.

Bryce Young

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