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review

SMITH Attack Sunglasses

8
£195.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Comfortable and versatile shades with a fantastically innovative interchangeable lens system.
Weight: 
30g

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 shades are well designed and a pleasure to wear, with a genius interchangeable lens system. They are very expensive even compared to other premium sports eyewear brands - yeah, okay, Oakley, but you get what you pay for which in this instance is a very good pair of shades with lens options for all weathers and light conditions.

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Pros: Easy lens changing, solid build, options for most light conditions

Cons: Very expensive, mirrored lens not the best I've tried in terms of glare reduction

SMITH Attack Sunglasses - side.jpg

As you'd want and expect for £195, the Attacks come with multiple lenses (two in total, if we're being precise), a fancy hard case and a drawstring soft pouch that you can also use as a cleaning cloth. The lenses on my test pair were the Chromopop Sun Green Mirror with 15% Visible Light Transmission, and an additional set of Contrast Rose lenses for duller conditions (48% VLT). Chromopop is Smith's own lens tech that claims to enhance definition across a wide range of light conditions, and also help you to distinguish between colours that would be troublesome with more basic lenses; where the blue and green, and green and red wavelengths cross are two examples cited by Smith, the bottom line is though that out in the real world they do make things look a lot crisper, clearer and more well defined.

SMITH Attack Sunglasses - extra lenses 2.jpg

The lenses have a lower brow design and dip in the middle for increased airflow. The Smith Attack Max versions that Mat recently reviewed (£199.99) http://road.cc/content/review/241495-smith-attack-max-sunglasses rise in the middle instead, so if you're prone to a sweaty forehead and want extra ventilation then the regular Attacks on test here would perhaps be marginally more to your liking.

At just 30g and with a super soft rubber 'Megol' temple tip on the end of the arms you can hardly feel your wearing them. This rubber has plenty of flex to wrap around any head shape, and I found they paired fine with four different helmets I used with the Attacks during my testing period. The nosepiece is also very soft and flexible to suit all shapes and sizes, with a tiny bit of adjustability up and down so you can get a perfect fit.

The Sun Green Mirror lenses are recommended as the one for brighter light conditions from partial cloud cover to very bright sunshine (you can get Chromopop Platinum lenses that are supposed to cover a slightly wider range). While looking cool and stealthy they offer really good clarity and as promised, distinguishing between the various shades of green and spotting rogue branches to dodge on my cycle path route was easy. There's not really any kind of hue with these lenses, the colours look very natural while affording you the advantages of decreased glare and increased colour enhancement. My one criticism is that on very bright days, I didn't think they were quite as good at deflecting glare away as Oakley's Prizm Trail lenses on my benchmark Oakley EvZero shades. The Prizm lenses just offered that little bit more when riding right into the sun, although I find they are more prone to misting and fogging than the Chromopops. When the weather turned and it went duller I found the Green Mirror lenses perfectly useable in the sense that they didn't really fog up at all and did a great job of deflecting the rain out of my field of vision; the same goes for the replacement red lens, which then switched to when the sun was completely covered. I also used the rose lenses at dusk, and while it gives everything an orangey hue I wasn't straining when the night started to set in.

SMITH Attack Sunglasses - arm connection.jpg

For me, Smith's MAG lens-changing tech is a revelation, and by far the best system I've come across. No risk of smudging your lenses or the worrying snapping that is necessary with most interchangeable shades; it's just a simple click to release the arms at either side before sliding them out. To put them back on just slide them into the slots and then magnets take care of securing them to the frame. The nosepiece clicks in and out without much pressure needing to be applied, and is a similarly rapid task. It's so easy I did it while I was riding when the weather turned, and I'm not particularly dextrous so can't really ask for more.

In terms of value... well at a 'shade' (sorry) under £200 they are right up there with some of the most expensive sunnies you can buy, but you're paying for the lens quality and longevity judging from my test experience, plus that super convenient quick-changing. The Oakely EvZeros I mentioned above can be picked up for under £100 now.  You don't get a spare set of lenses and although as mentioned before I think they deal with glare better, for me they smudged and misted up more than Smith's Chromopop lenses. Other highly rated shades we've review recently include Julbo's Aerospeed with photochromatic lenses for £135 and Lazer's Magneto M3's, with the former again only coming with one set of lenses for all conditions and the Lazers having the quite restrictive magnetic retention system; so the Attacks trump both in terms of versatility to my mind. It also has to be said that if you shop around you can also pick these up for considerably less than their RRP - at the time of publishing this review the lowest price we found was £137.50 - we haven't made that our main buying link though because it wasn't clear whether that price included a spare lens.

SMITH Attack Sunglasses - front.jpg

It's also a good job that the lenses appear to be so hard-wearing and good quality, because having scoured the internet thoroughly I can only find replacement Attack lenses on Smith's US website at the time of writing.  All colours are $89.99 and it appears they don't ship internationally, so we'll hope Smith can stock up on their UK site soon. 

All things considered, I'd say Smith's Attacks are well up there with some of the best cycling sunglasses you can buy; although there are many very capable shades out there for half for price, so you'll have to decide whether the great clarity and easy lens changing is worth the extra.

Verdict

Comfortable and versatile shades with a fantastically innovative interchangeable lens system.

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road.cc test report

Make and model: SMITH Attack Sunglasses

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for

Smith say: "The next generation in Smith performance eyewear has arrived. The Attack is faster in every detail. 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 lowered-brow design for increased ventilation. The Attack 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?

MAG technology for fast lens changing

ChromaPop lenses with lowered brow design for better ventilation

Hydroleophobic lens coating

Two-position nose piece

Hydrophilic megol temple & nose pads for a secure fit

Interchangeable Attack/Attack Max replacement lenses

Comes with a hard case and soft pouch

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Great design, and so refreshingly easy to change the lenses. Solidly built and the lenses are scratch-resistance and don't fog easily. Comfy nose piece that's also easy to change.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

The mirrored lenses aren't quite as good as Oakley's Prizm lenses at reducing glare in my opinion, but in everything apart from very bright sunlight I found them to be very good. They also stay largely fog-free in misty and/or wet conditions too.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

Simple lens-changing system makes them less likely to break, lens coating is durable, hard case protects them in storage

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
9/10

Amongst the lightest shades out there.

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

Soft rubber nose bridge, arms sit well against the temples, and they're well positioned so comfortable when combined with a helmet.

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

They are expensive, even more than other 'expensive' shades, but you are getting a very classy pair of shades for the money

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

Comfortable under a helmet, nice fit, secure at high speeds, and provide decent clarity.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

How easy the lenses are to change, the versatility and the comfort.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The lenses don't offer the best glare reduction of the sunglasses I've reviewed

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

The MAG lens-changing tech is a revelation, and I was generally very happy with the Smith Attacks. For me I still think Oakley's Prizm lenses are better at deflected very bright glare (and these are my benchmarks for testing), but for most UK conditions the Attacks are great plus they are less prone to fogging up. The price is very high even compared to other high-end shades - which is going to drop the overall score a bit

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 27  Height: 179cm  Weight: 75kg

I usually ride: Road bike (currently Specialized Tarmac)  My best bike is: Ridley Chronus TT bike

I've been riding for: Under 5 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, Triathlon races

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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1 comments

Avatar
RoubaixCube | 5 years ago
1 like

Yeah.... I'll just grab a pair of of Bolle safety glasses for around £8-10...thanks for the offer anyway 

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