The idea of designing special biker's glasses came to me after I had myself been completely fed up with bad sunglasses riding my motorbike. I was sick of dust in my eyes, terrified from too dark lenses and bad side view, tortured by headaches caused by thick frames pinching under the helmet, and plagued by chronic running eyes. A biker since 1977, I had tried every model sold—from really expensive High Street optician models down to cheep stuff you might find at a petrol station. None of these glasses cured the wretched terrors of discomfort and bad visibility. Many of them didn't even look good..
 

Speaking with the Chinese

I certainly didn't want to wear goggles all the time.
I wanted glasses that offered comfort and safety, and I wanted to look smart.
So, in 1988 I finally decided to do something about the situation. I lived in Taiwan at the time. Taiwan is one of the busiest centres of the world's sunglass production. I took the opportunity to sit down with the manager of one of the best companies in Taipei and discuss my problem (in Chinese of course, as I was fluent in those days). The result is the Velodrom line of Biker Shades. All frames are made of nylon. This makes them very durable.
These are no sissy decorations to be worn on the beach only. And if a customer should succeed in trashing them, he can console himself with the fact that they are reasonably priced (imagine if he'd sat on his Ray-Bans!!).

 

No pain, but a lot of gain

The lenses of all Velodrom sunglasses are dark enough to shield off the strongest sun, but still light enough to give acceptable visibility in tunnels or dark avenues, in bad weather conditions or at dusk. All lenses offer 100 % UV-protection, of course. The arms of all glasses are thin and flexible. This means that they fit nicely under a helmet without pinching and causing headache or pain on the temples.

There are no metal nose pieces or other sharp objects that could be dangerous. I have taken into consideration the fact that the glasses are an important part of the personal protection equipment.


 
No frills, just what bikers need


Velodrom possibly doesn't lead the way through new frontiers as far as fashion design is concerned. I want all the models to be modern classics in their own right. Every new model that is taken into the collection is developed and examined very thoroughly in tests and evaluations. These are no-frills products that every one can afford to buy (and lose).

Mr.Velodrom
shades manager