A friend of mine introduced me to Goodr sunglasses a few months back and I didn’t think much of it. At first glance, I just cast them aside not expecting much from them, but then I read into them a bit more and then I had a chance to wear them. I also got my friends to try them as well and as it turns out, you really should never judge something without trying it first.
A Little History
The folks at Goodr set out with a goal of creating the perfect pair of running sunglasses. The interviewed a ton of runners to find out what was important and the tried to capture it all. They couldn’t slip, wouldn’t bounce around on your head, would be able to handle sweat, would be polarized, and they had to be inexpensive. What they came up was the Goodr wayfarers. Then they layered on personality in the form of six colors to choose from and catchy names like “Whiskey Shots with Satan”, “Donkey Goggles”, and “Flamingos on a Booze Cruise” to name a few. The brand, their site, their social presence, etc is all about having fun and getting out there and running.
To accomplish their goals they added a special grip coating to the frame to ensure minimal slippage even when your head is soaked. They made the arms a little tighter to eliminate bounce, but it also makes them more accessible to various head sizes. Lastly, they made sure all their glasses were polarized with the highest level of UV protection and were safety glass strong. The best part is they turned out all these features for a retail price of $25!
Here are some close-up shots of the “Iced by Yetis”:
Run Test
Before I ran in these, I just wore them around to get acquainted. From the time I first tried them on I totally dug it, they felt ultralight on my face and clung tightly around my temples. They are wayfarers so peripherally you will get a little daylight coming in, but overall the lens size is good for multiple face types and they are definitely unisex. Out for a run I tried focusing on them as little as possible, I just wanted to do my thing and more than anything wanted to see if they interfered with performance at all. The big negative people try and point out is that these are not “performance” sunglasses, but I think they are literally speaking competitively and even then these things could handle it I think.
Some big callouts I noticed (and didn’t). First off, there is no fogging at all, because of the wayfarer design and adequate airflow the lenses stayed clear throughout. Second, they never bounced around and I would say I have had more bounce from other high end glasses than I did on these. Next, they did a good job of handling sweat on the lenses which I am notorious for. I maybe cleaned them once over the course of a 10+ mile run. Lastly, I had no running performance issues. I think this is primarily due to the grip and to the weight more than anything because this maintains that “barely there” feeling on your face. You almost forget you have them on.
Overall Conclusion
I think everyone is going to have a love/hate with the style of the glasses. Wayfarers traditionally skew one way or the other and I would’t call these a replacement for your Oakley, Rudy Project, Smith, etc, but something simpler. Headed out for a road run thats non-competitive and pretty chill, you throw these on. Are you going to the mountains to knock out some trail miles, then these are perfect. Pretty soon, I bet you will find yourself wearing these for more than just runs and at $25 a pop you can grab a couple different colors. It’s rare when I am so positive about something, but I love what these guys have done and have massive respect for it. It’s like Dollar Shave Club for running glasses, Goodr took what some folks feel is a tough issue and knocked it out of the park with something simple.
Go hit them up on their website and order a pair or two, they are only $25 each and you won’t be disappointed.
UPDATE 9/10: They are currently doing a Kickstarter to launch in 20+ additional colors and updated lenses. Definitely, give it a look!
