At Interbike, Smith showed us the new Wildcat, a monstrous pair of retro-design sunglasses to go with their new aero road bike helmets. Hiding the next shelf down were two more new shades, the Reverb and Ruckus, which are almost as big but follow the Arena’s design aesthetic more closely. Also new are the Squad XL goggles, which should give your eyes plenty of field of vision and breathing room.
The Ruckus (right) is the larger of the two and uses a raised brow frame and center lens section to increase field of view and block more wind. The top bar serves to vent air over the lens to prevent fogging, an effort bolstered by two-position nose pieces. Adjust the nose pads into the farther position and the lenses will sit a bit further away from your face to reduce the likelihood of fogging up on slow climbs. Then push them back in when it’s time to cruise or descend. Or just ride faster…
The Reverb gets a slightly shorter lens with no brow bar to come in as Smith’s lightest cycling performance sunglasses yet. Claimed weight is just 27g.
Both come with a new PivLock arm attachment mechanism to speed up lens changes, and both will have an assortment of ChromaPop, Photochromic, clear and other lens colors to choose from. Temples are thinner than before to help them fit into more helmets, particularly Smith’s own road and mountain bike helmets with integrated sunglasses holster channels. Retail on both models is $189 and include two ChromaPop lenses and a hard case. Both should be available now.
If you’re a fan of the retro look but the Wildcats are just too big, the new Trackstand (left) is a vintage-inspired design that gets all their latest lens tech. The frame leaves a vent open at the top, and you can choose from five different interchangeable ChromaPop lenses, each with a hydroleophobic coating to repel dirt, dust, water and grease. It, too, gets the position adjustable nosepiece and thinner temples. Retail is $169 with two ChromaPop lenses and a case. Available now.
If you wanna get totally new age, on the right is the Flywheel. It, too, is an oversized lens, but uses a bridge across the inside of the lens at the brow (as opposed to the non-bridged design of the Attack and Attack Max, the latter having a very similar lens shape). These run $139 with a single, non-swappable lens and are available now.
Big is in, and the Smith Squad XL takes it bigger. It’s their largest google in the mountain bike collection and offers the widest field of view. The frame keeps their latticed construction to keep it flexible for a better fit…and very breathable. Inside is an anti-fog coating, and outside is a hard coating to repel crud and sweat. It has a 3-layer hypoallergenic foam that’s highly absorbent, too. Choose from six frame colors, including a Graham Agassiz signature model, and they’re compatible with Smith’s Lens Mud Kit with roll-offs. Retail is $85 and includes two lenses when it drops in February 2019.
Just for fun, here’s a pic of the Wildcat next to the standard Squad goggles. Check those and the new aero road helmets out in this post.
