New Specs: 100Percent Hypercraft Glasses Review

Like most of us, I’ve ridden in dozens of different glasses styles over the years – and one thing I’ve accepted about my own choice of eyewear is that both fashion and function matter to me.

Click play to see my video review, and see more at the PEZ Youtube channel here.  Or scroll down for the big pics and words.
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So yeah – I get bored of wearing the same frames ride in and ride out.  Just like I switch up my kit almost every ride, I also enjoy a variety of eyewear of different colors, frame shapes and lenses to suite various riding conditions.

I first became aware of 100Percent eyewear 2-3 years ago when Peter Sagan started wearing these new and unusually large (for the time) glasses. Then I saw them up close at his gravel fondo in Truckee CA.  Their expo tent was one of the few that didn’t blow away in a wind squall – probably because it was actually a bigass van.  But I digress.

Sadly I didn’t get a chance to try the then “new” brand of eyewear, but I did learn that the 100% brand itself had actually been started some 25 years ago as a motocross goggle.  As an ex-moto man myself, that gained instant cred for the brand when it comes to eye protection.

I’ve been riding long enough that I was around when Oakley stormed the scene with the Factory Pilots – and pretty much created a category that before then didn’t exist.  I’d spent more than a few years riding mtbs in mud & rain, and just plain suffering through it – and these were days when I used to wear contact lenses – you can imagine the grief I suffered sans decent protection.

So here we are some almost 40 years later, and I’ve barely done a ride since without some sort of specs.  And never being one to lose sight of looking cool and keep things fresh in the fashion department, I was naturally interested when I saw the press release on the new Hypercraft glasses.  100Percent’s publicity agent Diane Thibert was kind enough to send a pair up for this review.

Outta the box, these are a frameless style set of glasses, made up basically of a lens, two arms directly attached to the lens, and a nose piece.  My testers – the Matte Stone Grey came with a HiPER® Coral Lens came with and a clear lens as well.  Replacement lenses are sold separately, but I wish they’d just include three lenses with every frame.

They’re touted as being super light and thanks to the minimalist frame design, mine weighed in at 24 grams.  That’s light, but to be fair, it’s not much lighter than any of the other brands I wear, and to be realistic – I couldn’t tell the difference in weight between any of them either.

The Hypercraft comes in four different frame color / lens combinations –

– Matte Banana with Smoke Lens + Clear Lens Included – $155

They also come with a replacement nose piece, which seems like a good idea, since in my experience, these soft rubber nose grippers tend to deteriorate over time in the sun, heat and sweat.  The nose piece, however, while replaceable, is not adjustable – so I’d suggest a “try before you buy” on these to be sure they fit the shape of your face.

In my case, the lens actually bumped up against my brow, when placed normally on my face.  This was a bit of an issue once I started sweating, as I developed a small patch of sweat-fog between my eyes under certain more humid conditions.  My guess is this could be solved with an adjustable nose piece like I have on some other brands.

The arms are made of a nylon material that’s mixed with some carbon fibre to make it stronger, but are not adjustable.  The shape of these fit my head well and stayed in place and did not interfere with the straps on my POC helmet.

The arms snap into the lens and mine held tight after several lens changes, but I did notice

The lenses were probably my favorite part of the Hypercraft,  my testers were the HiPER® Coral Lens, which actually did enhance my vision on gray days.  They weren’t dark enough for sunny days though, and here’s where I was wishing they came with that third lens as standard issue.

The shape is deep and wide to offer lots of coverage.  There are four small vents cut into the lens to help prevent fogging.  I did notice that at high speed, the lenses did a good job of keeping peripheral air from blowing into my eyes – you know the kind that blows in from the sides on some frames?  I found that even up around 65-70 kph descending one of my local climbs, these did a good job of keeping my eyes tear-free.

Like most high-end eyewear these days, these have been treated to repel water and oils – to a degree.

Here are the specs as shown on the 100percent website:

Overall these are a nice set of glasses – I liked the optics of the Coral Lens (the only one I tested), the fit around my temples was good and they are nice and light.  To make ’em better, I’d like to see three lenses as standard issue, and an adjustable nose piece so they don’t bump up against my brow.

• See more at the 100Percent website

• Buy the 100% Hypercaft on Amazon here.