Smith’s Pivlock Arena range of cycling sunglasses are designed to make changing lenses a simple task without adding bulk to the design. The Arena has a medium sized lens shape that should suit a wide profile of face shapes.

Technology

Smith uses its own lens technology to create curved lenses with excellent clarity. All lenses are covered with a hydrophobic coating to inhibit moisture. The lightweight arms are made of a flexible TR90 plastic, they also come fitted with replaceable temple grippers. Each nosepiece is adjustable to accommodate nose shapes or to adjust how close the lens fits to the face.

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Fit

Slip the Arena on and instantly the lack of weight makes them disappear on your face. The arms grip securely without being too tight across the temples and refuse to slip even when caked in sweat. Even the nose piece (which can be notoriously uncomfortable) did its job without fuss.

Flexible and grippy arms make the Pivlock Arena comfortable to wear

Performance

The Pivlock Arena comes with three lenses in its large hard case; a platinum mirrored lens for bright conditions, rose for enhancing vision in low light and a clear lens. Replacing lenses is as simple as angling the arm up and lifting it off the lens.

For trail use I tended to opt for the rose lens for most light conditions. It’s a versatile lens and doesn’t make your eyes work too hard when dipping in and out of trees and sunlight. The optics are spot on (as you would expect from a £100+ pair of sunnies) and none of the parts obscured vision. Just like most glasses you need to be a little bit delicate with cleaning, as the lenses scratch fairly easily in wet, gritty conditions.

Angle the arm upwards to remove the lens

The Arena lens sits in quite a high position on the face and favours a slightly head down position. If you like riding fast it works really well. In mild and wet conditions the lens can suffer from rapid steaming. This is compounded by the glasses interaction with differing helmets. As the lens sits quite high into the forehead, larger enduro helmets can foul the lens and cause the Arena to become uncomfortable to wear. As with any sunglass/helmet combo, it’s always best to check compatibility.

The Arena lens gives great coverage