Fashion eyewear, NHS glasses, sunglasses and more

Cheers, went into the wee place I get my eyes tested and yeah, they’re happy to get the frames glazed if I provide them.

It’s just a wee family business place so no on site lab but they seem to have a good rapport with the lab that they use and I’ve always been happy with the glasses I’ve had from them so I’m confident I’ll get a good result.

Now to find the frames at the best price possible!

Sounds good. Continuity is a boon always. Nicer to support a family business if you can.

Take them to spectrum optics in Springhill they will do them for you and they are cheap.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I need at least 2 pairs, both with thinning, one polarised, so it adds up, but I see your point about the value of a good dispensing optician. I used an online reglazer for my current pair and they seem fine to me, but somehow in 5 years I've never got around to fitting them around the ears properly (or even trying) and i guess I've never had anything to compare them to, or the knowledge to spot issues. I guess my peripheral is not sharp, but as I understand that's symptomatic of thinning.

Having said that I might shop around for reglazing a bit more.

Has anybody seen Carrera frames in store in London anywhere? Their website is useless but they are available online from lots of places.

want to point people in the direction Auntie Aviator - she used to have a full shop but becuse of rents going up she is restricted to pop up events her stock of vintage frames is bonkers i got a lovley pair of vintage Moscot with lends for 95 quid. think she is doing another event after xmas
https://www.instagram.com/auntieaviator/?hl=en-gb

How long can you leave it between a test and getting glasses? In my 40s and my eyesight seems to be turning to shit so I figure even an April test might be a bit out of date now?

I want reading glasses and long glasses. The last set I bought with a weaker prescription than I have now sharpened stuff up in the distance a bit but not enough to warrant me tripping over everything that was right in front of me. So, I'm wary about spending big money on glasses when there's a good chance I'll not use the shitty things.

My missus has some cycling glasses that she bought from RX Sport or something. Her normal ones are from local joint.

Not sure if I should get both, just get reading glasses or what.

@hippy, as a mildly hyperopic presbyope (guessing), you are one of the most familiar dispensing challenges. There's no one answer. I would request a new sight test and be VERY clear with the Optometrist about your thoughts prior to the test. Spectacles are a tool to meet you visual needs. The more those needs are understood the more chance there is of them being met. A prescription is not absolute. Knowing the desired spectacle outcome (and history) can influence the decision over what to prescribe.

Incidentally, General Optical Council figures suggest an average dissatisfaction rate of 11% for glasses purchased at the prescribing practice, rising to 28% for those purchased elsewhere.

Ah, this came like -hours- too late. I literally just pulled the pin on a couple of pairs (Specsavers freebie offer) of reading glasses. I figured with the reading glasses, I'm not moving around so there should be less worry about wonky depth perception, etc. So, plan is to get these and test them out on the computer and with books and working on bikes. That should address the immediate issue of reading tiny text on stuff (beer can labels in low light, mostly! :D)

The distance ones, for cycling, is another issue. My missus is happy with her RX Sports ones so I guess I'll probably wait until next year before getting another test done and then maybe investing in a cheaper-end pair of those to see how I like them for riding with.

Thanks for the response though.

If I did want to get a test and "sports" glasses from the one place, Specsavers isn't that place - is there any other good walk-in shop rather than online that can deal with cycling-specific glasses?

Ah well. Not much to recommend near me other than Oakley.

How cycling orientated do you want though? I had a fairly standard frame made with polycarbonate and photochromic lenses.

A lot of Opticians have access to a sports catalogue. The cheaper high street options tend to fall into two camps, those with a glazeable insert behind a tinted shield, and those with a wrap and sports adjacent styling but smaller lenses. There are sound reasons for this optically. To get past these limitations you often have to pay more or head on-line

Why are varifocals so fucking shit?

The lenses are a nightmare, you end up having to try loads till you can get one that works for you.