Riders looking for a bargain pair of cycling sunglasses should seriously consider Bolle’s range of safety glasses.

My important criteria for cycling glasses are:

• will not shatter on impact
• lightweight
• wraps around your eyes, allowing peripheral vision
• sits high on your face to that you can still look through the top of the glasses when riding
• do not slip down your nose
• clear and smoke options for sunrise and daytime respectively.

I purchased the Bolle Mamba and Viper glasses off eBay for about $15 each, including delivery from the UK. Both contain optical quality lenses, something that some safety glasses do not.

Bolle safety glasses: Viper (left) and clear and smoke Mambo

The Bolle Viper sunglasses, despite having adjustable ear hooks, did slide down my nose.

The Bolle Mamba sunglasses meet all my criteria though, better than many brand-name dedicated cycling sunglasses I have tried. The Mamba sunglasses, despite not being adjustable, wrapped around my head and clung on without slipping down my nose despite regular downward glances at my chainrings and cassette, as well as the vibration of a bike on uneven pavement. At $15, I bought both clear and smoke glasses for cycling during the day and at night.