Imagine riding in a tight pack, shoulder to shoulder with the rider next to you. \u00a0The group rides under the 1K to go banner at high speed, nervously shuffling as the finish line beckons. \u00a0You take a split second to look down at your power meter display to set yourself up for the sprint. \u00a0In that moment, the rider in front of you taps his brakes and you hit his rear wheel, crashing hard.<\/p>\n

Next, imagine flying down a sinewy descent, carving sweeping turns with aplomb. \u00a0You glance down at your computer to get a speed check and miss the small pothole in the road in front of you. \u00a0Your front wheel hits the square edge and flats the tire, you lose control and crash.<\/p>\n

The Solos Smart glasses aim to make those two scenarios a thing of the past. \u00a0By creating a pair of cycling glasses with an integrated heads-up display, Solos has put your most critical information right in front of your eyes. \u00a0You never have to look away from the road to check your power or speed. \u00a0Keeping your eyes on the road keeps you safer.<\/p>\n

Do these $500 cycling glasses stack up to their price tag? \u00a0Click through the jump and I'll go in depth on the newly released Solos Cycling glasses.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Specs<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Unboxing<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0App and Pairing<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Good, Bad and Ugly<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Final Review<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/h2>\n

<\/a>Solos Smart Cycling Glasses Specs<\/h2>\n

The Solos Smart cycling glasses<\/a> are an amalgamation of engineering and technology.\u00a0 Solos starts with a low-density thermoplastic-polyamide nylon frame and builds on a series of technological bits.\u00a0 The lenses are Trivex Polymer for impact resistance and durability.\u00a0 After adding all the gizmos (a Vista pupil display and dual digital speakers\/microphones) and the lenses, my pair of Solos Smart glasses weighed in at 66 grams.\u00a0 Claimed weight is 65 grams, so this is well within an acceptable margin of error.<\/p>\n

A trio of push button switches on the right side of the frames control on\/off and scrolling functions. \u00a0There's a small LED in front of the buttons that indicates charging status and if the glasses are powered on.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Solos has released an app to accompany their glasses and assist with pairing and programming.\u00a0 The apps are available on iOS and Android on their respective app stores.\u00a0 My testing was done with the iOS app, which I'll review a bit below.<\/p>\n

Sensor compatibility<\/h3>\n

The Solos Smart glasses are claimed to be compatible with ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart sensors of all kinds.\u00a0 In practice, I had no trouble at all in pairing my Bluetooth Stages or my Wahoo Tickr.\u00a0 I had tons<\/em><\/strong> of issues with pairing ANT sensors though. \u00a0I'll talk more about those issues later.<\/p>\n

In terms of battery life, Solos claims their smart glasses have a battery life of 6 hours under typical conditions.\u00a0 During testing, I got around 6 hours and 15 minutes out of a charge, but I don't know if this is going to remain the case going forward in the future.\u00a0 The 6-hour battery life is generally enough for most riders, but those on longer rides (centuries, 100-mile fondos and ultra-endurance rides) may find it to be too limited.\u00a0 Charging is accomplished by a mini-USB and takes around 2 hours to fully charge.<\/p>\n

How the Solos Smart display works<\/h3>\n

Solos describes their heads up display on their website<\/a>.\u00a0 They say:<\/p>\n

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Vista\u2122, the world\u2019s smallest optical module for Mobile Augmented Reality smart glasses, offers a high-resolution display for clear and readable performance in variant lighting conditions. \u00a0The performance information is streamed on the sharp display, which blends seamlessly with the cyclist\u2019s field of view. The fully adjustable 5 inch virtual screen enables an optimal display position to accommodate each unique rider.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

So basically, there's an arm that sits in front of the lens and projects an image onto the lens.\u00a0 The arm has a small transparent plastic bit called the “pupil display” which sits in front of your eye.\u00a0 In theory, this arm and the transparent piece should<\/em> block your view.\u00a0 Your brain is smarter than that, however.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Because humans have binocular vision, each eye takes in a huge field of information.\u00a0 There's also a huge overlap in those fields of vision.\u00a0 Check out the graphic to the right.\u00a0 There's tons of overlap between your eyes (to cover the blind spot caused by your retina.)\u00a0 Because there's so much overlap, we have a high degree of depth perception.\u00a0 We also have the ability for our brain to “fill in” what's in one eye's blind spot.<\/p>\n

In this case, the transparent arm creates a small blind spot in your right field of vision.\u00a0 Your brain takes the information from your left eye and fills in the missing information.\u00a0 That's how you can look through the arm and have very little loss of vision around it.<\/p>\n

On the lens, the display is a small, semi-transparent colored square.\u00a0 As you look down the road, it basically fades from view.\u00a0 Focus in on a target around 3 to 6 feet in front of you and suddenly it becomes clear and readable.\u00a0 This makes it perfect for riding in a field where you're focusing on the riders in front of you.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Unboxing the Solos Smart Glasses<\/h2>\n

If you want to see what comes in the box, check out my unboxing video for the Solos Smart Glasses up on my Youtube account<\/a>.<\/p>\n