off-road.cc

The Walter glasses by Lazer are a lightweight and comfortable set of specs that offer decent coverage. However, changing lenses is tricky, and those lenses cling onto grime more readily than other glasses.

• Adidas Zonyk Pro Vario glasses review
• Smith Optics Ladies PivLock Asana Chromapop glasses review
• 10 pieces of essential mountain bike clothing for beginners

The Walters feature a full-frame shield lens with a water repellent coating. The nosepiece is adjustable and coated in rubber for grip, as are the arms, and the lens-top vents work really well to stop them fogging. It’s clear they’re very well made. Also in the case are a clear lens for the dark, a yellow one for dull days, and a microfibre bag.

Upon putting on the Walters, the first thing you notice is the colour cast of the lens. It gradates from blue at the edges to a yellow/green in the center. At first, this caught me by surprise; it takes a few rides to settle into the unusual new colour the world becomes. Even now I'm used to them, it takes a bit of time to adjust.

Faced with reflective objects, the lenses have a tendency to flare in a way that repeats certain parts of, say, the shiny car you're passing. So you end up with blue floaty bits of car in your vision. Kind of weird.

While the lenses are a little strange, the frames are super comfortable. The adjustable nosepiece uses a bendy metal skeleton coated in that ultra grippy rubber, and it’s really easy to mold to your nose.

The coverage is also top notch. If I had any complaints I might want a little more along the bottom of the lens but, once in that saddle, it’s not a problem at all.

What is a problem for the Lazer Walter glasses is a lens swap – they take some serious manhandling to get it done. You need to pull the frames away from the lens and, with enough effort and patience, it pops free. It gets easier with time, but you still need bravery and that microfibre cloth... you're left with a well-smudged lens once it's in.

Actually, these shades are oddly difficult to clean with just the microfibre bag. With most glasses it doesn’t take much effort at all, but for some reason the Walters ask for a good helping of elbow grease to buff any smudges out. Not ideal if a bead of sweat finds its way into the lens, which it often can.

If you can ignore the pitfalls, the Lazer Walter glasses are super comfortable and provide great coverage. They deal with fog really well, look pretty sharp and are easy to adjust – if you ride mainly off-road and away from shiny objects, and rarely swap lenses, they're most definitely worth checking out.

• www.freewheel.co.uk

You might also like:

• Buyer’s guide to summer mountain bike jerseys
• Buyer's guide to mountain bike helmets: get the best bike helmet for you