Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses

8
£59.99

VERDICT:

8
10
A really nice set of glasses with an excellent polarised lens and good comfort
Excellent lens clarity
Nice, lightweight design
Good looks
Comes with hardshell case
Some issues with steaming
Lack of colour options
Weight: 
30g
Contact: 

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.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

The Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses come from a company much better known for its well-priced bike lights – but its sunnies have an excellent lens, a low weight and a good build quality. And all at a very competitive price, too.

If you are looking for new sunglasses for spring and summer, do check out our best cycling sunglasses buyer's guide.

Keeping in fashion with modern cycling glasses, the Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses have a large lens, which aids in excellent visibility and gives it a distinctive style.

It was apparent from the second I put these glasses on that the lens quality is excellent. The polarised lens reduces light glare and eyestrain through the use of a chemical that filters the light. In practice this means that only vertical light rays pass through the lens, so that reflections from water and cars are significantly decreased. This delivers a crisp and clear image and means that when you're riding, there's a lower chance of being temporarily blinded.

2022 Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses - front.jpg

The glasses have quite a minimal frame, with vertically flexible arms to allow for contouring over your ears, and a minimal nose bridge, with a frameless design around the lens. This keeps the weight low but does mean the lens is non-removeable unless you take a screwdriver to the arms.

2022 Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses - in case.jpg

I found the glasses sat well on my face regardless of the terrain I was riding over. I wore these when I was mountain biking and even on fast descents I never had any fear of losing them. The combination of their low weight and the grip from the arms was a winning one, and they consistently felt snug and secure.

One issue I did run into was that the lens occasionally steamed up. My head gets quite warm when I ride, and if I stopped cycling while wearing the glasses I found they tended to steam up. This is a bit of an issue as the lack of airflow around the top of the lens meant they struggled to defog.

2022 Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses - case.jpg

In the box along with the glasses, you get a hardshell carry case, a microfibre cloth and a microfibre bag, which means it's very easy to look after the lenses if they get dirty, and you can throw the glasses in a kit bag in their case without having to worry about damaging them.

It took me a while to get used to how these glasses sat on my face, as the nose bridge sits quite low on the lens, and in turn this means that the glasses sit quite high on my face. This delivers excellent coverage when you're riding hunched over in an aero position, but if you're riding in a more upright position you can see underneath the lens. It felt a little odd at first but once I got used to wearing them it became much less of an issue.

2022 Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses - inside.jpg

Magicshine claims that the glasses have an adjustable nose bridge, and after working out what it means, I feel that claim is slightly misleading. You can't move the nose bridge up and down the lens, but the bridge is slightly pliable, so you can bend it in or out depending on the width of your nose, to ensure a snug fit. It's a nice little bonus but I don't think it'll make much difference to most of us.

Having ridden with these in some heavy rain, I was happy to discover the lens was extremely hydrophobic, giving it a great ability to bead water off so that my vision wasn't left blurred and dangerous in bad weather. This beading quality means it is very hard for dirt to stick to the lens too, making it easy to clean the lens, using the microfibre cloth to remove dirt and smudges.

2022 Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses - detail.jpg

I'd personally have preferred a greater choice of colours, as you've only one option for the frame – black – and a choice of black or gold lenses. Black is a nice, stealthy option but more choices would help those of us who like to colour coordinate our cycling kit.

I found these glasses sat well in my helmet's vents with no issues about losing them. This is a huge bonus to me, as I feel too many manufacturers don't take this into account.

Value and rivals

In use I felt the quality of the lens was comparable to that in the Oakley Sutro Glasses that David tested, which is very impressive for a set of glasses costing £59.99, compared to upwards of £130 for the Oakleys. Also, similarly to Oakley, the Magicshine lens seems to ward off scratches well, with the lens remaining unmarked during testing.

Similar priced eyewear that we've rated highly include the Endura Singletrack glasses that Liam really liked. These are around 20 quid dearer but come with three fog-resistant lenses: mirror, low-light orange, and smoke.

If you're on a tighter budget, the frameless Madison Stealth glasses have an RRP of £34.99 but are widely available for much less and also have the option of an RX insert for prescription lenses for just £4.99. Liam thought these were great for the money.

Conclusion

Overall, I found the Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses an absolute treat, with a top-notch lens and a high level of comfort, and I'd recommend these if you're looking for a well-priced eyewear upgrade.

Verdict

A really nice set of classes with an excellent polarised lens and good comfort

road.cc test report

Make and model: Magicshine Windbreaker Polarized Sunglasses

Size tested: One Size

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Magicshine says: 'WINDBREAKER, MAGICSHINE's first professional cycling sunglasses series with extraordinary optical clarity, is tailored for professional cycling and daily commuting activities.'

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

Magicshine lists:

Wraparound PC Lens: Provides complete eye protection.

UV400 protection: Impact-resistant lenses for 100% UV protection.

TR90 Frame: Ultralight and elastic frames made of TR90 and TPR materials.

Ventilation Design: Quickly enhance air circulation to avoid fogging and reduce wind resistance

Anti-slip Temple Tips

Adjustable Nosepiece

Smudge-resistant Coating: Keeps dirt and oil off your lenses.

Front REVO Coating: Restore the original color, enhance contrast and provide visual clarity.

Back OAR Coating: Optimum anti-glare experience.

Polarised Lens: Improve contrast, increase clarity and eliminate glare so you can see more details.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

A nice light frame with a solid-feeling lens. The lenses stayed free of scratches during testing, which is a positive sign.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Excellent lens with incredible clarity.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

No scratches are visible. The glasses do have quite thin arms, though this hasn't caused any issues so far.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
7/10

The frameless design keeps the weight down.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10

These have a fit-and-forget quality, with no pressure points on the side of my head.

Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

At less than half the price of comparable Oakley glasses these are a great deal.

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

The lens quality is excellent, the fit is very good and I found them very comfortable.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

I loved the lens, it has amazing clarity.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

I would have preferred the lens to sit a bit lower on my face, and fogging did prove an issue on occasions.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

These are much less expensive than comparable glasses from the big-name optical brands such as Oakley, 100% and Rudy Project.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes, thoroughly.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes, especially if there were more colours.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yep, especially for the clarity.

Use this box to explain your overall score

The lens is excellent, and the frameless design is cool and lightweight. They are also great value.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 22  Height: 174  Weight: 72

I usually ride: Canyon Aeroad   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Semi pro

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, commuting, touring, club rides, fixed/singlespeed, mtb,

Add new comment

5 comments

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
0 likes

So the manufacturer's claim that these are "tailored for professional cycling and daily commuting activities" should really have the addendum "provided you commute [as the reviewer says] riding hunched over in an aero position." 

Avatar
Xenophon2 | 1 year ago
0 likes

So, they steam up easily and sit so high on your face that unless you're in an aero tuck it's easily possible to see under them.

What's not to like?

The fact that they're not photochromic and that you'll essentially be riding with a pair of shades even when it's semi-dark?  Or is the target audience just the 'I'll ride on sunday if the weather's fine' crowd?

Admittedly, these only cost 60 quid.  But I'll stick with my photochromic Oakleys, thank you.

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Xenophon2 | 1 year ago
2 likes
Xenophon2 wrote:

Or is the target audience just the 'I'll ride on sunday if the weather's fine' crowd?

Oddly enough, polarising lenses come into their own when the road is wet and the sun is low - typical winter conditions. Those times when the glare of the sun off the wet road is so blinding it hurts, polarising lenses do their thing that photochromic can't and selectively block the reflected light.

As to the high position of the lens - my chief gripe with sunnies is the noon sun coming over the top direct into my eyes (more of an issue in summer). Moreover, since polarising lenses can play badly with LCD screens, being able to see under them to read my Garmin is no bad thing. So I'd definitely consider these - except that I need a prescription 😎

Avatar
Xenophon2 replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
0 likes

Point taken but that's an extremely specific use case.  Maybe it's the weather here but honestly, I ride a bike every single day (commute + sports, mostly long distance events) and the conditions that you describe (direct sunlight at a very low incident angle AND wet roads) happen maybe 10 times a year tops  but I accept that they can be useful then. 

Matter of fact I own a pair of polarizing ordinary sunglasses but only wear them when sailing or when I'm up a mountain crossing snow.  Took them once in the air when sitting next to a friend who was doing the flying and well, they didn't play nice with the displays, I can tell you that (apparently polarizing glasses are prohibited for pilots, at least that's what he told me).

Problem is -at least in my case- the rest of the year they'd be useless for the cycling that I do.  I wear cycling glasses to shield against high light conditions but also -especially- to protect my eyes from all sorts of impacts with insects, debris etc.  Couldn't wear them at night or on early morning winter commutes and during regular daytime my photochromics are fine.  

Avatar
quiff replied to Xenophon2 | 1 year ago
0 likes

Xenophon2 wrote:

What's not to like?

The fact that they're not photochromic and that you'll essentially be riding with a pair of shades even when it's semi-dark? 

I've never tried photochromics and maybe I'm missing a trick, but I rarely find my cycling sunglasses too dim. However, you'll be pleased to hear that you can also have these in a photochromic version for £10 less: https://road.cc/content/review/magicshine-windbreaker-photochromic-sunglasses-300251

Latest Comments