Friday, April 23, 2010

Damn You Jan



Witness the detached arm - is that the correct term? - on my beloved pair of Rudy Project glasses. It snapped off quite easily while removing the glasses from my helmet this morning.

From my helmet? Yes, placed there upside down in the vents to look oh so pro, while walking from the office bike room to my cluttered desk. I was hacked. This is the second pair of Rudy Project glasses to snap an arm off for me.

The last time was a few years ago while talking to a neighbor straddling my bike. Glasses caught on my STI shifter cable while I was "talking with my hands" - hey, they're Italian glasses - and snap, the arm falls to the ground. Not much force at all. I was bummed. Bummed enough to buy another pair, since I owned multiple lenses and dug the way they looked.

I know it's a complete, absolute rip off to pay $100+ bucks for sunglasses, no matter how "technical" they are. So, now I've paid $200+ for Rudy glasses - both now broken.

I'm blaming Jan Ullrich for this debacle. Every since I spotted him wearing Rudy shades, I thought they looked super cool. So Euro, so PRO - I wanted 'em.....



Here Lance congratulates Jan for having such cool shades.



First, Jan leaves the sport under the suspicion of doping. Now, my Rudy glasses fail. I'm crushed and have lost the will to live. What will I do?

Wait, maybe there's a warranty on my stylish, yet protective eye wear. I check the Rudy website and indeed, covered for three years. Maybe there's hope after all. I read the details: Need to fill out some form and send in $19.95 for "shipping and processing" and let them decide if a warranty replacement is in order.

Hmmm, how much you wanna bet the glasses cost around $20 to manufacture. Anyone?

I may give this a shot and be out $20. I'm not spending another $100 for Rudy Project glasses, even if Jan did wear 'em. Plus, looked what happened to him. I can't take that chance. Anyway, $300 total for Rudy shades? That would be nuts.

I need to be sensible about this. Let's check out the Oakley site - yeah, some nice, cheap glasses there.

I guess I'm sucker for some things. I justify it by wearing these shades almost everyday - riding and just for general wear. I pop clear lenses in for rainy days, night commutes, and mountain bike woods use. Dark lenses for sunny days. Amazingly, we do get a few in Seattle. Don't tell anyone.

I rode for years without eye protection, now can't imagine riding without it. It's less fatiguing, keeps some pollen out of my allergy sensitive eyes, and face it - it's a style thing. They look cool.

Damn you Jan.

6 comments:

  1. Try these http://www.wileyx.com

    I have been using the Romer for two years without and issue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cool - never heard of 'em. I'll check it out. I rode without glasses yesterday and it felt weird. It's amazing how used to them you get.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW. You are saying all the right things! Jan was the greatest! Never has a gent looked so cool on a bike...

    Almost bought the Rudy's for just the same reason, but they always felt flimsy...I guess they are.

    I've been riding Oakley for a while and - yeah - they're pricey, but they are sturdy. And the new Jawbones are easy to change lenses on.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jan was cool. I always enjoyed watching him race. He also seemed like an incredibly normal, nice dude. Too bad how it all ended.

    Yeah, I'll probably go for a pair of Oakley shades or something just as expensive. I've been looking around for the last two weeks and most things I see are pretty cheap looking. I'm also picky on how they look. Pretty goofy, since Mr. Fashion I'm not. My neighbors joke how my bike and kit is all color matched, while dressed normally - nothing fancy for me.

    I've been riding without shades for two weeks now - I do miss 'em.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not sure if your blog is still going, but what was the name of the Rudy glasses you broke in 2010 -

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yup, blog is still going - but in slow motion at times. They were the Ekynox model, though the older issue. If I remember correctly, they still used the Ekynox name later, though with small frame and lens. I dig the older, bigger style...

    ReplyDelete