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review

Smith Attack Max sunglasses

9
£199.99

VERDICT:

9
10
High-quality glasses with two great lenses and a fast and simple system for swapping between them
Weight: 
32g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The Smith Attack Max glasses provide excellent coverage and great vision, and swapping lenses could hardly be easier thanks to a clever magnet-based system.

  • Pros: Excellent eye coverage, uninterrupted vision, easily swapped lenses
  • Cons: Price tag is towards the top end of the spectrum

Let's talk about swapping lenses first, which is taken care of by Smith's Mag technology. It might not sound like the most enthralling subject but it is a smart system.

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A hinge at the end of the arm serves a dual purpose, allowing you to fold the arm in when you're not wearing the glasses, and to swap the lenses really, really easily.

You pinch the arm by the Smith logo and pivot it inwards. This opens a jaw and releases the arm from the dock on the lens. Blink and you miss it.

smith_attack_max_glasses_-_removing_arm_2.jpg

Fixing the arm to the lens is even easier. You just push it onto the dock, the jaw opening and then clicking securely shut as you do so. Once on, that arm isn't going anywhere because of tiny magnets on each side of the jaw. It's a neat design and there's no element of bending or forcing anything like you get with some glasses, so you don't worry that you're on the brink of wrecking your new shades if you get it slightly wrong.

smith_attack_max_glasses_-_removing_arm.jpg

Swapping the nosepiece over is straightforward too. You hold the two sides between your finger and thumb, give them a squeeze and it pops out.

The Attack Max comes with two lenses, one of them Smith's ChromaPop Contrast Rose Flash lens (48% visible light transmission, VLT) for low light conditions. You can choose from three other ChromaPop lenses: Sun Red Mirror (15% VLT), Sun Green Mirror (9% VLT) and Platinum (12% VLT), which is the one I had, for sunnier rides.

smith_attack_max_glasses_-_extra_lens.jpg

The idea of ChromaPop lenses is that they 'filter two specific wavelengths of light that cause colour confusion...delivering greater definition, more natural colour, and unmatched clarity to allow you to see more detail'.

Pretty much every brand boasts that their lenses help you see better, but these really do make a big difference. The Rose Flash has been my favourite over the past few weeks, heightening contrast on duller days, making things clearer and the whole world a sunnier, more Disney-like place.

Each lens has a maximum width of 125mm and a maximum height of 53mm, if you want to compare that to any eyewear you're currently using. I've found that enough to provide really good coverage, and the rimless design means there's no interruption to your vision. That's especially noticeable when you glance over your shoulder to see what's going on before making a move.

smith_attack_max_glasses.jpg

If you'd rather something a touch smaller, Smith's Attack glasses (£195), with the same Mag interchangeable technology, have a lens that's the same width (125mm) but with a maximum height of 47mm, the top edge stepping downwards rather than upwards from the temples to the centre. This would be the safer choice if your helmet sits very low on your forehead. (Full review to come.)

The idea of the Attack Max's lenses being cutaway slightly at the brow is to improve ventilation, and they have a hydroleophobic coating that's designed to repel moisture, grease and grime. You'll still get them smudged up if you touch them with grotty fingers, of course, but they stay clear for longer than other glasses I've used and wipe clean easily.

The temples and nose pads are made from megol, an elastomer that feels soft like rubber and doesn't slip when wet. These glasses have always stayed put even when I've got super-hot and sweaty doing hill reps. The pads are two-position adjustable so you can alter the fit slightly to suit the bridge of your nose.

These glasses are designed for a medium face shape, the ends of the arms sitting 90mm apart, although you can flex them a further 3-4cm apart without causing noticeably more pressure on the sides of your head, so they work fine if you're broader across the temples.

Those arms are heat adjustable. You need to warm them to somewhere between 90°C and 120°C before bending them into the shape you're after. You might want to bend them slightly behind your ears, for example, or to move the ends of the arms out of the way of your helmet's fit system. Those arms are 120mm long, by the way, and they're slim enough to fit into the vents of every helmet we tried them on.

The Smith Attack Max glasses come in a semi-rigid case with a stash bag that doubles up as a lens cloth and the second lens I mentioned above.

> Buyer's Guide: 23 of the best cycling sunglasses

These are among the more expensive glasses that we've tested here on road.cc. The BBB Summit glasses we reviewed a couple of years ago, for example, come with three lenses and have a current RRP of just £79.95.

The Smith Attack Max glasses are certainly better than those; they're more like Oakleys in terms of quality and specifically with the EVZero Range in terms of style. The EVZero Range is a lot cheaper at £140, but you only get one lens. Personally, I'd definitely want two lenses to suit different conditions.

You're paying a lot for the Attack Max and that might not make sense if you're the sort of person with a track record of dropping, scratching, sitting on and generally abusing eyewear, but if you're confident of looking after them, the quality does shine through.

Overall, the Smith Attack Max glasses are well made, they provide very good eye coverage and they come with two very good lenses and an excellent lens swapping system. If you're in the market for some top-quality eyewear, these have a lot to recommend them.

Verdict

High-quality glasses with two great lenses and a fast and simple system for swapping between them

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Smith Attack Max sunglasses

Size tested: n/a Cherry red

Tell us what the product is for

Smith says: "The Attack Max is faster in every detail, with a larger lens for maximum visibility and increased fit than the Attack. Experience the sound of speed with Smith MAG interchangeable technology; the lens change innovation that enables fast ChromaPop lens swapping for varying light conditions. Two ChromaPop lenses are included, and have been crafted with a raised-brow design for increased coverage. The Attack Max also features our two-position nose piece that is engineered to give you perfect fit and all day comfort. Megol temples ensure that your glasses are secure at your fastest velocity."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Smith lists these features:

* Two ChromaPop lenses

* Hydroleophobic lens coating

* Extra ChromaPop Contrast Rose Flash lens

* Custom case

* Medium fit / large coverage

* Two-position adjustable nose pads

* Hydrophilic megol temple & nose pads for a secure fit

* Interchangeable Attack/Attack Max replacement lenses provide options for every condition

* Lifetime warranty

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

The Mag interchangeable lens system is the quickest and simplest I've ever used.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10

The little magnets add a few grams, but not so much that you'd notice in use.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

They're pricey glasses, for sure, but the quality helps justify that, as does the fact that you get two very good lenses.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Really well. These have become my favourite specs over the past few weeks.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

I really like the vision offered by the ChromaPop Contrast Rose Flash lens and the excellent Mag lens swapping system.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Well, I'd rather not pay £200, obviously, even if the quality is high!

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

If you average the marks above you get 8, but we don't calculate our overall score like that. The performance and construction scores are more important than the weight score, for example, which is why these deserve a 9.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 43  Height: 190cm  Weight: 75kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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1 comments

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nbrus | 5 years ago
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Swapping the lenses seems more of a gimmick than anything else given that a pair of arms costs pennies and they could simply have just sold these as two pairs of glasses with arms fixed permanently in place. Hugely overpriced to boot.

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