Bike racers generally love sunglasses. Perhaps its because we all spend a lot of time wearing slightly silly skintight outfits and feel like we need the eyewear to match. Or perhaps it’s more practical than that - proper eye protection is important both for UV rays and for any potential road debris that can get kicked up while riding in a group. Either way, I am no exception to this rule and love a good pair of sunnies.

Over the years I have owned a bunch of pairs of Oakley sunglasses, often looking to snag some of the limited edition Tour de France sets on sale. Then in 2018, I gave into my Sagan fanboy urges, and made the switch over to 100% Sunnies (sponsorship, it works!). Last year I made another switch - not to another $200 pair of sports focused sunnies, but to a brand I had never heard of before 2019, and a pair of sunglasses that I initially purchased entirely for off the bike use. Here is the how and why a pair of $25 Goodr sunglasses became my new favorite riding sunglasses.

Goodr Sunglasses Review: the Good

• Price price price - starting at $25, these Goodr sunglasses are cheap, but they don’t feel cheap. I have bought a fair number of cheap knock-off sunglasses, and these are not those. The build feels solid, especially for the price.

• A couple different fit options - I have always been a bit partial to some of the Oakley Frogskins, but they have never really fit my (large) face. Thankfully, Goodr makes a fit - BFGS - designed for anyone that needs a wider / larger fit.

• Thus far, they have good durability - despite my proclivity to throw all of my bike gear into my bag in one big lump at the end of a race weekend, thus far I haven’t managed to either break or completely scratch up my Goodr lenses.

• Goodr sunglasses are different - Oakley and 100% make some nice sunglasses, no doubt. But they also seemingly control at least half of the cycling market between them, if not more, so if you want a bit of a different or unique look, might I suggest Goodr?

• I had an issue with my initial order - Goodr accidentally sent an empty box that did not contain sunglasses! But, when I reached out they immediately responded and sent me the MIA sunglasses. For the quick response time and easy resolution, I’m marking this down under ‘the Good’.

Goodr Sunglasses Review: the Bad

• Lenses aren’t interchangeable, which is probably a bit of a bummer if you’re used to Oakley or 100% glasses. But the starting price point for Oakley Flight Jackets is $226 - you could buy 10 pairs of Goodr glasses for that price. I don’t suggest actually buying 10 pair of Goodr glasses, but you could buy 2 or 3 pairs with different lens shades and still save $150 versus a pair of Oakley’s with a single lens.

• Lenses feature UV protection, but there aren’t any fancy photochromatic options. But again, we’re talking about a $25 price point so there are some trade-offs with that lower cost.

Goodr Sunglasses Review: Add2cart?

On the final purchasing decision I don’t have a lot to say except that these are actually really darn good. Turns out you can spend a lot less than $200 to get good-looking, protective, polarized glasses for the bike. Even if you like premium-quality stuff, you still won't be disappointed in the fit and finish, especially at this $25 price point. I bought one pair, and liked them enough that I bought two more pairs. add2cart endorsed.

About Goodr

According to their website, Goodr was born several years back when the founders realized the mostly fashion related shortcomings of running eyewear. Their full manifesto is up on their dot com, but the four pillars of their business seem fairly reasonable from afar:

1. Work hard, play hard.

2. Don’t take life too seriously.

3. Ever tried, ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail Again. Fail Better.

4. Have fun!

Disclosure: I paid retail for all of my Goodr sunglasses. In fact, I liked my first pair enough that I went back Goodr.com and bought two more.