Italian eyewear makers KOO have recently gotten onto our radar. Their collection of premium performance all-weather sunglasses and snow goggles feature Zeiss® lenses, with a trademark “Z” laser-engraved onto the lens.
KOO aims to fuse technical excellence, superior materials and iconic design into every one of their products and we recently received a couple of lifestyle and cycling glasses to test-drive: the California and the Open.
Their glasses come filter rated (2 equals a medium level of sun glare reduction and good UV protection; 3 means a high level of sun glare reduction and good UV protection).
KOO California
The KOO California has an all-purpose design with an understated look that makes them both timeless and fashionable. The quality materials and design features allow you to wear the California in any outdoors activity to protect your eyes from glare and the sun’s UV rays.
The Zeiss lenses really enhance the sharpness and comfort of your vision — your eyes will thank you for wearing these. KOO uses lightweight polycarbonate frame materials and the California’s one-size-fits-all wears very comfortably on my face.
The air gap in the left lens is an interesting feature that makes it stand out from other glasses I have seen around. This aids with airflow to prevent them from fogging up on sweaty, uphill bike rides on hot summer days.
The California comes in a protective, custom-designed black pouch (with a black cleaning cloth). Overall, these glasses are durable, well designed and are a great value, meaning you should be able to enjoy them for many years to come.
[California Deep Green]
[California Tortoise Blue with polarized lenses]
Key Features
Polycarbonate frame
Zeiss® lenses
100% UV protection
The KOO California is sold in 14 colour frame and eight lens variations, in one size. CAD $194/USD $139
KOO Open
This was KOO’s first release, containing a full-frame format, Zeiss®-certified interchangeable lenses and an innovative vertical folding pivot. With KOO’s Active Airflow System, all three lens positions serve to fine-tune the amount of air that’s allowed to pass over the lens.
You can flip up two small tabs on either side of the frame to unlock the edges of the lenses in order to swap them out with others. The adjustable nosepiece can also be clicked into two different positions for height adjustment (glasses ship with different size nosepieces to adjust to your face).
A really nice feature of the KOO Open is that it comes out of the box with your selected lens and a standard additional see-through lens that can be used in bad weather to both enhance your clarity of vision and protect your eyes from rain and dirt on the road while cycling.
KOO Open glasses come in a custom-designed, fully zippered white box with a white cloth pouch. You can store the glasses, lenses and nosepiece materials all in one safe place, to keep them safe, protected and ready to go when you need them.
This is my first time wearing glasses with both a fully-integrated sport design and full frame-format lens. It makes a lot of sense: the lens covers your full vision range and protects your eyes better than with standard glasses. It’s also super easy to swap out one lens for another on this model.
The swivel arms’ folding pivot that takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, is very practical, as it allows you to fold these up to a compact size.
The micrometrical arms adjustment is another nice feature, however in reality I did not find this feature of much use in terms of fit. The exchangeable nosepieces did allow me to customize the setup of these lightweight glasses so that they’re comfortable to wear without having them touch my cheeks all the time.
Key Features
– Adjustable folding nose piece
– Micrometrical Arms Adjustment
– Full frame lens format
The Open comes in 12 different colours, in sizes small and medium. CAD $299/USD $214
In British Columbia, find KOO eyewear at Speed Theory, Cycle Logic and Enroute CC, and in Ontario, at La Bicicletta and The 11inC. Visit KOO online for global retailers.
