Feb 4, 2008

Fastrack Bikers Collection: rearset's in it too!

Fastrack sunglasses model MA016BK2I got a message from a lady who wanted to send me four pairs of sunglasses from FastTrack. Yeah, Bikers collection, peer review, you know. Then I got a second message, that the four was a typo. I took a long look at the peeling matte coating on my current pair of FastTracks, and smiled – I knew it was too good to be true. Anyway, I got to pick one of four styles. So I picked the one I thought looked best. Now, great men think alike. Or, if you prefer, fools seldom differ. The result, is that Payeng and I chose the same pair. And so did Captain Chitnis. Heh heh, damn cool!

Anyway, so here's the peer review.

As glasses go, receiving Rs 1800 worth of booty/swag in the mail is always a good thing. So yeah, the glasses are good. I've worn (down) a number of googles in helmets to date (dark and mirror visors are a recent thing for me) so I can say with some authority that er... sorry, they won't go into a helmet. If they do, your helmet's too loose, get a more snug one. Sorry. The problem, I think is that the tips of the stems are rectangular in section. A vertical knife blade like stem woulda fit, this won't. And I have two stinging welts on my temples to prove it.

So, that aside, the glasses are very good indeed. They look good, despite my mug, that is. The finish is good and my only observation (notice neutral stance) is that they're a fair bit heavier than my earlier pair, which were all-plastic, and thefore featherweight. The Wife, for the record, doesn't mind them, but hates the way the lenses stick out the sides.

I wish (and I always wish this) that the lenses were darker though. I read somewhere, years ago, that a good pair of goggles would not allow you see your eyes in the mirror when they're on. These (and I think almost every non-reflective pair I've ever owned) do.

But serious respect for the build quality. I walked into a glass door the other day. Not in the interest of testing them, but because the glass was obscured by a downed shutter on the outside, and I was trying to look sideways through a gap in the shutter to spot my cab driver. BANG! The glasses flew off and landed a couple of feet away, having taken the brunt of the impact. One rimless lens now bears a tiny pockmark, but the glasses are perfectly okay. Impressive. The top of the rubber bridge broke off on impact, but one screw removed and a little FeviKwik and its brand new from the outside, and no different in feel from the inside.

5 comments:

sanket kambli said...

for me goggles have been only a dream..thanks to me wearing glasses since 6th standard....
the doctor said in my formative years..my height grew too fast in a year..and eyes could not adjust to it...so I will have far-sightedness...he said not to worry...the number of the lens will stop growing after the age of 21 when your growth stops..
right !!
now i wear glasses with 6 number....people with headache wear 0 number glasses so you get the drift.....till now i used glass for specs lenses...
now my salary affords me plastic ones....
the current one is expensive...its of HOYA....its got anti-glare(others headlights dont affect me a lot now)
anti-scratch(no distortion)
anti-stick(dust and water don't stick to it)
unbreakable to some extent and very light...
so all this features meant it was a bit thick....there were other lenses which were thin..but didnt have all these features....
so now these hi-tech lenses are perched on my nose by a frame which
has curvature like a goggle...covers eyes!! .. but the frame is wierd..
and take some effort to wear it inside a helmet...
first i wear the helmet..
but only half way through...
then i slide the glasses in but only enough for them to hang on..
then put the helmet in place..
and then the glasses go in place...
tricky system ...it works...

Cé$âr said...

Sankoobaba, y dont u get powerised sunglasses? You can get powerised polaroid lenses and fit into any frame.. (there are some 600/- Rs frames even which are really good)

sanket kambli said...

powerised sunglasses...hmmm...
heard of them....hmm...will try 'em out@

Anonymous said...

"30% of on all sunglasses"???

lol

Kautilya said...

"I wish (and I always wish this) that the lenses were darker though. I read somewhere, years ago, that a good pair of goggles would not allow you see your eyes in the mirror when they're on."

The fact that your glasses leave you wishing that they were darker is a good thing actually. If they didn't, they would almost certainly be too dark to be 'driving rated'. So your not-too-dark glasses, besides building character, are probably keeping you safer.

I don't know where you read the second sentence but it's quite correct. According to European and ANSI standards any sunglasses with a filter category of more than 3, which means that they allow less than 10% transmittance are for special purposes only for snow, sand, on mountains, etc. and are not safe for driving. Mirrored glasses are worn by fighter pilots and alpine skiers for a reason.

Good all purpose glasses, with one of the purposes being driving, usually have a filter category of 2 (allows between 45% to 25% transmittance) and wearing them, you will almost always be able to see your eyes in the mirror.