Smith Optics Bobcat sunglasses with the ChromaPop Bronze Mirror lens are super comfortable, stay put and work with various helmets. The ChromaPop lens delivers wonderful colour separation and clarity in bright conditions, making everything seem warm and sunny. Show them dark conditions though and they are a little overwhelmed although swapping to the clear lens is simple and quick.
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Smith Optics Bobcat +ChromaPop Bronze Mirror sunglasses - Technical details
Smith Optics Bobcat sunglasses are designed for Enduro riders, gravel riders and even winter sports fans. They feature a slightly curved lens (called Phase 5 by Smith) and look goggle-like. For reference Phase 8 or 9 would mean a tight wrap-around shape to the lens and be more useful for snow and waterports allowing no wind or sun to sneak in and Phase 4 is used for prescription lenses which are most commonly flat. Not being curved and flush enables the Bobcat to sit off your face and offer better air circulation behind the lens.
The Bobcats ChomoPop Bronze Mirror lens is made from Carbonic material which is lightweight and impact resistant and the ChomoPop™lens is designed to offer enhanced colour separation, clarity and definition by filtering crossover areas of blue and green, green and red and presenting all three wavelengths without overlap and in greater definition. This lens has a VTL rating of 15%. VTL means the percentage of visible light transmission through the lens to your eyes and the lower the percentage the less light gets through the lens. These sunglasses are designed for sunny to mostly sunny days.
The frame is made from Smith’s own Evolve material, which consists of 53% bio-based material injected into the polymer during manufacture. Smith claims to offer the largest collection of eco-friendly sunglasses in the world.
The frame has a smart matt finish and has Megol temple pads and two-position nose pads to prevent slipping from your face. Megol is a thermoplastic elastomer compound that feels like rubber and grips skin better as it comes into contact with moisture.
Branding on the arms is subtle with Smith's name in capital letters on each arm and the Bobcat name only appears on the inside of the right arm. Smith lists the Bobcats as a Small to Medium fit with large coverage. They have 130mm arms and a 135mm wide lens which is 59m tall. I ended up testing them as one of the other reviewers found them a little too tight.
Bobcats weigh in at 27g without the bag. (Melon's Alleycat are 31g and Koo's Demo is 33g)
Smith Optics Bobcat +ChromaPop Bronze Mirror sunglasses - Performance
Smith's Bobcat sunglasses look pretty cool to me, and their lack of overly curved or funky cutout lens shapes means they are more presentable than many cycling glasses if you get caught wearing them off the bike.
In this Matte Pacific Sedona colourway, they are a good-looking pair of sunglasses and a perfect match with Smith's helmet lineup. If you don't have a matching helmet that's okay as they work well with other neutral/matte colours, grey, black and white white and even the rental Giro Helmet in the review's main picture. The finish on the glasses is first class with tight shut lines and the arm hinge action and adjustable nose piece both fold with reassuring soft clicks.
The Bobcats happily work with trail helmets with their large peaks and shaped temple areas for glasses/goggles as well as slimmer gravel helmets. Compared to some of the glasses and helmet combination monstrosities you can see in Pro road cycling they look pretty good with most helmets I've tried.
The ChromaPop Bronze Mirror lens is classed as good for everyday use when the scenery is abundant on the trail and sunlight is strong to slightly cloudy. Unfortunately, this was not quite how they performed for me. Fresh from the chair lift and out in the open looking over the start of an alpine run these glasses offered superb clarity. Everything was sharply defined with the blue sky and green forest literally on colour boost level 11 – but with control.
The definition was excellent and the open sections of the runs were stunning in technicolor. However, ripping into the woodland sections meant heavily reduced light levels and the Bobcat's light transmission level of 15% reduced that to the point that I couldn't see properly at times and had to pray the trail was where I thought it was. Swapping to my son's massively cheaper set of Rockrider glasses with light grey lenses (no VLT provided) showed me how he was able to ride so fast through the woods (other reasons might also exist) – he could simply see much better than me.
Whilst other frame and lens colours are available for the Bobctas, most of the options appear to allow even less light through. The Rose Gold Mirror or the Photochromic Clear to Gray lens would have been more useful and able to deal with the massive light changes as both have a wider range of light conditions but the price would certainly leap upwards from the Photochromic pair.
Turning to gravel riding on sunny dusty tracks the Bobcats provided a much better experience even with low tree cover. The Bobcats were especially good on baked white or light stone /crushed gravel trails of the midi Pyrenees where hours of zig-zagging up and across the terrain on wide double track and passing through steep valleys was never an issue. The deep lens design works well and protects your eyes from gravel reflection making longer rides less frazzling.
During my mountain biking and gravel riding, the Bobcats stayed put on my face without slipping or bouncing around causing a clicking noise against the helmet. Some glasses seem to be much better than others at this and the Bobcats with their Megol rubber temple and nose pads were rubbery perfect in this respect.
Back home and fitted with the clear lens the Bobcats were excellent as miserable British summer weather glasses with good levels of rain protection and breathability provided by their mini goggle-style lens shape. Coverage on the face is excellent as although not as shaped as some, the 59mm lens height equals a decent amount of face coverage. The ability to move them nearer or further from your face due to their two-position nose pad offers protection when it's hamming down or increasing air circulation on hot or steamy rides.
Another positive feature of these Bobcats over various other sunglasses I’ve owned is that changing the lens is actually pretty easy and you don’t feel like you are likely to break the lens or the frame at any point.
I don’t have a small head (I wear a 57cm helmet) or what I think is a particularly narrow face, but these small to medium sunglasses were a very comfortable fit and extremely stable on my face regardless of the stupid mistakes made on the mountain bike or the levels of sweat produced. I found them much less tight and more comfortable than the Melons I’ve previously reviewed.
Unfortunately, the Bobcat does not accept optical lens inserts so if you need prescription inserts these are not going to work for you. At this price, this does seem a little odd as many other brands offer some form of clip-in option. If you live in the US, Sved Optical make an insert but you will need to send them your frames so they can modify the nose piece. Unfortunately, I have not found a similar service in the UK. If you know of one, please put it in the comments, thanks.
Smith Optics Bobcat +ChromaPop Bronze Mirror sunglasses - Verdict
There is no getting away from the fact that £195 is a lot of money to spend on a pair of sunglasses especially ones you are likely to drop, scratch or crash while wearing. Cheaper glasses do exist, of course, from brands such as Madison and Decathlon but then they don't have the superb lens clarity which has become part of Smith’s trademark. And of course, you do get two lenses for that money a decent case to keep them in and a simple off-white bag to use as a lens wipe and storage pouch when the case is elsewhere.
Before you shell out your hard-earned cash on a pair of these, take a look at the £140-180 Koo Demos. These are even more comfortable than the Bobcats and feature lens venting, adjustable nose pieces and interchangeable lenses, plus you can get a prescription clip-in if you need one and a wider range of light conditions lens.
At the other end of the spectrum are Madison’s Cipher Photochromic glasses. These offer class-leading coverage and a photochromatic (yes you read that right) lens for just £70. They might not have quite the clarity of the Smiths or the Koo’s but they are very comfortable to wear.
Smith Bobcats are excellent sunglasses for sunny gravel (and presumably backcountry powder). They are beautifully made and supremely comfortable with their Megol temple and nose pads. Changing the lens is straightforward. The extras are all very useful especially the included clear lens which works well in the rain. As enduro/trail glasses, I feel that they miss their mark with this particular lens option but other frames and lens colours are available. Choose carefully and they will be an awesome set of sunglasses.
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