Saturday, January 22, 2011

Outdoor Retailer-Julbo Ultra Dawn to Dusk Sunglasses

I am currently running and skiing with the Julbo Trail glasses.  Julbo is a small family owned French company in the Jura Mountains near Switzerland. They have been making exceptional optics since 1888. Despite their longevity they never stand still. Among their pro athletes:  Ed Viesturs of Everest fame and  Glen Plake, the long time  extreme skier with the huge multi colored mohawk. I saw him at the Julbo booth and you can't miss him.

I like Julbo's for 2 reasons.
  • Many of their lenses such as on the Trail are photochromic, they rapidly darken and lighten as light conditions change. Particularly useful for trail running and mountain biking. The optical quality is exceptional.
  • Call me goofy but I look for sunglasses which will fit over my prescription glasses and the Trail works just fine over my wire frames.
Coming this spring a new Julbo photochromic sunglass, the Ultra. Retail $180. The Ultra has what Julbo calls a Zebra 1 to 3 lens or Dawn to Dusk utility.

My Julbo Trails are 2 to 4 rated or Shade to Light. What 1 to 3 means is that the Ultra will lighten even further than the Trails for those dawn or dusk runs and will darken as the day goes on. Not quite as dark as the Trails at a 4 rating but I put a premium on the lower light situations so as to avoid having to remove glasses when plunging from sunlight into a dark forest or changing lenses or sunglasses for low light situations.  Not having to removing sunglasses as light gets low also insures that the eyes remain protected from branches, dust, etc...  

The Ultra's lenses are flexible, one can pull them forward to vent on the uphill, and they have the same superb anti-fog coating as my Trails.


Above a photo of the Ultra over the top of my specs. They clearly are at a Dawn to Dusk 1 photochromic setting. The large lenses provide exceptional field of vision. The fit was excellent with almost no light seeping over the top or side and no slip even over my glasses. The side temples are wider than the Trail and have anti slip material along their length.
I hope to review a pair soon.

1 comment:

Ant said...

Great Write up on the Julbo Ultra's Sam. I have the Trails and really like them, but those look ridiculously cool. I wouldn't mind a pair for Triathlon.

In a world where Oakley seem to rule, I think I actually prefer Julbo Sunglasses, they seem to have that little bit more heart and aren't over subscribed amongst the masses!