Want it Wednesdays: Rudy Project Ekynox

Following the Chain Line is a blog I follow. Jez has an interesting feature where he links to readers that share one bike item (on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month) that they have, or want, that is, I don’t know, extra blingy. I’m not sure I am disciplined enough to blog every other Wednesday but here is my first attempt.

But let me put my point of view in perspective. I am consumed with guilt anytime I buy so much as a chain ring for my bike. I ask myself if it really is the best decision for my family. It seldom is. And I try not to buy any part just for emotional reasons; there needs to sound reason for it. I violate this guideline too. I work in a grey area between Engineering and Marketing and this affects my decision making. I listen to arguments over, say, brakes on lite duty full size pickup trucks. The brake Engineers want to use rear drum brakes for cost, performance, and manufacturing reasons. The Marketing people want disc brakes because they look better in sales brochures. Both valid reasons but I tend to side with the Engineers. This is why I was the last person to get disc brakes for their mountain bike: yes they work great, especially in the rain, but I don’t often ride in the rain, and slowing down is perhaps the only riding issue I don’t have. Bleeding disc brakes isn’t all that much fun and they tend to be heavier than V-brakes even if you consider the rotating mass savings from disc specific rims. My god, I am actually boring myself with my own disclaimer.

Okay, my only nonessential purchase in the last two years was a pair of Rudy Project Ekynox sunglass. I didn’t realize one could adore their glasses as much as I adore these. They cost $179 which is about $100 more than I have ever spent on riding glasses. In just one month I lost or consumed the three pair of glasses I have been using for the last 5 years. My normal riding glasses are cheap sunglass frames with clear prescription lenses that have been broken and repaired so many times that there was little, if any, life left in them. My road riding glasses have the same cheap frames with tinted prescription lenses which I lost in November, the very same month I lost my Smith non-prescription sunglasses. The Rudy Project Ekynox glasses replaced all three. They have prescription transition lenses that (in theory) go from clear to dark and the frames came with two sets of interchangeable tinted non-prescription lenses. I’m a little disappointed with the transition lenses. They don’t seem to transition, they are stuck in a gray, middle area. I sent them back and three weeks later they were returned to me, still not transitioning, with an explanation that they work OK in California. I am not sure how to even respond.

I never had a good set of riding glasses before. The Ekynox wrap around nicely for protection, have no distortion, vent well, and stay secure to my noggin. And they are white to match my bike, just for vanity sake.

After I bought the glasses I went on Rudy’s website to see how to interchange the lenses and saw they had a combination special where if you buy a pair of glasses, they would send you your choice of helmet, watch, kit, or backpack. I chose a backpack to replace the pre-vintage Jansport I bought 20-some years ago. Since I didn’t buy the glasses at the same time I filled out the form for the free offer, I wasn’t sure if they would send it to me. They did. It has a helmet holder and lots of pockets for bicycling things. It’s a clever design and just added to my veneration for Rudy Project.

Thank you Rudy.