Magicshine Windbreaker

Magicshine Windbreaker Photochromic Sunglasses

The Magicshine Windbreaker are wrap-round sunglasses, with a TR90 frame and polycarbonate lenses. You can choose from three lens types, photochromic, polarised and classic. The photochromic lenses come in seven colours, polarised in two and classic has nine options.

Photochromic lenses

How do photochromic glasses work? Good question! A bit of Googling shows that the first ones were invented back in the 1960s. It was discovered that certain compounds could be embedded in the lenses that would darken when exposed to UV light. The process isn’t instantaneous, but if you whip them out of their case, you can see them darken. Initially it takes around ten seconds, but they will continue to darken the longer they are exposed. The reverse happens a little slower, so you won’t get them flickering as you ride down a sun-dappled lane! Interestingly they get darker in cold weather as the compounds change via a thermal process. That’s all I have on the process, if you want more try Wikipedia.

As well as coming in seven different frame colours, the photochromic version comes in two lens types. Three of the colour options are available in a light-grey lens, while the others are translucent. This gives the light-grey lenses are darker look. Meanwhile the translucent version is almost clear when out of the sunlight. Both lenses will go from Cat.1 to Cat3.

I love photochromic lenses

When it comes to sunglasses, I love photochromic lenses. While mirrored or coloured lenses look super-cool, for me photochromic lenses are more practical. I suppose this has something to do with living in the UK. While those in sunnier regions can rely on the sun being out all day, here it’s a little more variable! Having a pair of glasses that adapt to changing light-levels is much better. Whether that’s due to cloud cover increasing, or me still out as the evening draws in, having good vision is vital.

The Magicshine Windbreaker glasses are a frameless design that I liked as soon as I put them on. The unobstructed view is really good, I have to really strain to pick out the frame’s edge. Even in the typical head down riding position, I can’t see the top edge of the lens; which is exactly what I want. There are a couple of holes on each of the bottom corners. These are to help prevent lens-fogging, always a problem when slowly climbing in damp, warm conditions. So far I haven’t had any issues with them fogging, but then I haven’t had any damp climbs!

Rubber arms

While the arms and nose-piece are made from TR90 (a type of thermoplastic) the bottom edges of the arms are made from Thermoplastic Rubber (TR). This section has a gap between it and the arm’s upper edge. The flexibility of the TR allows it to sit comfortably on top of your ears, which makes for a very comfortable fit.

The adjustable nose-piece uses the same TR material and on long rides they were super-comfortable and left no nose-prints. The nose-piece is also grippy and combined with the light weight meant they stayed put. I found with these glasses there was no need to keep poking them back up into position as the pace and the sweat increased. Speaking of weight, the Magicshine Windbreaker website has the weight down as 28g and my kitchen scales agreed.

Conclusion

So to wrap up, these Magicshine Windbreaker glasses were perfect for me. They’re super light and the field of view is wide and uncluttered. I immediately liked the fact that the frameless design makes you feel like you’re not even wearing glasses. The use of TR for where they are in contact with your face gives a very comfortable fit. With some glasses I get pressure points, but not with these, which is also down to that lack of weight. You can get them from Magishine’s UK website for a very reasonable £49.99.

Magicshine Windbreaker features:

Wraparound polycarbonate lens: Provides complete eye protection.
UV400 Protection: 100% UV protection.
TR90 Frame: Ultralight and elastic frames made of TR90 and TPR materials.
Anti-Slip Temple Tips
Adjustable Nosepiece
Photochromic lenses: Change with the light condition between three levels, effectively preventing your eyes from strong sunlight, UV rays, and glare light, plus support all-weather use

Magicshine also make an impressive range of lights, rear radar and rear-facing cameras, some of which we are reviewing.