Bolle Speed sunglasses

While goggles generally come down to lens color as the most pertinent choice, sunglasses have significantly more variety of frame design. Do you want your backcountry sunglasses to look good on the apres patio at the expense of practical performance? Again this is a personal choice, so for the purposes of this review, I'll be saying little of style comparisons.

The Bolle Speed sunglasses, the name suggests, are built for aerobic activities that generate a lot of sweat. The wrap around design is intrinsic to these type of sunglasses as you require protection from both the sun and foreign objects from all angles. The Speeds are comfortable and lightweight and great at staying put on your nose during physical activity.

While the lightweight plastic used for the frame may feel a bit fragile at first, there is plenty of elastic give when flexed. They probably wouldn't survive a trucker sitting on them, but both the arms and hinges felt like they could take general day to day abuse.

If you want to read about Bolle Goggles then head over here to have a gander at the Bolle Gravtiy Goggles.

The polarized offshore blue lenses had just the right amount of tint to withstand all day glacier travel and still transmit enough light for travelling through treed terrain and twilight. Such versatility is refreshing in a pair of sunglasses, but as stated earlier they may seem a bit 'Eurosport' for some consumers to wear outside of activities. This is not a design flaw however, as the intended use is for aerobic sports.

One thing I like to do with sunglasses a lot is wear them on top of my head. This is one place where the Speeds would not really stay put, but it is hard to fault them with such a specific application. On the face is where they belong and I could wear them for an entire day without taking them off once. The sleek, light yet protective case comes loaded with a retainer for when you are out on the water and a microfiber cleaning cloth.

Verdict:

Practical and fully functional, these are sunglasses designed for ski touring, biking and marine sports. This is an excellent price point for polarized lenses in a lightweight yet sturdy frame design.

SPECS:

Cost: $120
Weight: 50g / 1.76oz
Size/fit: Medium
Colours: Shiny black/red Polarized Fire, Shiny black/grey, Shiny anthracite-blue Gun, Marine blue/grey Polarized, Shiny black/grey Polarized, Shiny black/blue off shore Polarized blue (pictured), Shiny white/silver Polarized Gun

PROS:

Light, comfortable, durable and affordable.

CONS:

Specific for sport, don't stay on top of your head.

Rating: 8/10

Fit / Comfort  1/2
Vision             2/2
Features         1/2
Quality           2/2
Price              2/2

This is only our opinion. Do you disagree? Did we miss something? Are we totally out to lunch? Join the discussion in the forums here, and let us know what you think. People like/dislike gear for different reasons so chime in and we'll get a well-rounded evaluation.

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