Tifosi

Tifosi optics, an American company, prides itself in making top quality eyewear at a non-brand-name price. The Altar is another addition to their wide range, coming with 3 lenses, a hard and soft case for just £49.99.

For a tight-fisted time triallist, there are two good things about these Tifosi Vogel glasses. Thing one is the price, which - unlike the fashion-led brands in the eyewear industry - is entirely sensible for a piece of polycarbonate whose job is to keep wind, dust and insects out of your eyes.

Thing two is the frame: there isn't one as such, just a nosepiece and the folding arms. That means you haven't got a black bar in the top of your vision when you're on the tri bars, like the vertical hold is going inside your oxygen starved brain.

These Pave specs from US eyewear giant Tifosi come with a Night Light Fototec lense that will take you from daylight through to midnight in just a few seconds.

Photochromatic lenses have been around for ages and cycling specific versions are getting more affordable. The Paves aren't as cheap as the Endura Marlins that we tested a while back but they are high quality and feel pretty sturdy.

Tifosi is a US brand producing an incredibly wide range of sports eyewear, and these Slip glasses share many features other Tifosi glasses previously tested on road.cc - but they also differ in a couple of important ways too.

First, the lenses. These are made from polycarbonate, a plastic designed to flex slightly, which is 'decentered' (meaning vision is not distorted). This seems to work. I've done a few miles in these glasses in varying conditions, and the view has always been 100% clear.

From a female point of view, cycling specific sunglasses are often about as attractive as those modelled by Dame Edna Everage, but without the bling. It would appear to be hard to get real on the bike functionality with genuine style. Not so with these rather fetching Dea specs from Tifosi though.

Tifosi is a very popular brand in the USA, with a massive range of eyewear for running, cycling, tennis, golf, fishing and more, but it's a relatively new name here in the UK. We've been testing a pair of Logic cycling specs, and going by the quality and price we think Tifosi may become much better-known in future.

At first glance there’s nothing particularly remarkable about Tifosi’s carbon post. In keeping with most in this price bracket, it’s actually a carbon and glass fibre composite with a bonded alloy head but frankly, build quality and attention to detail are considerably better than I’ve come to expect and a bargain so long as your bike’s seat tube diameter measures either 27.2 or 31.6mm.