Roka CP-1X sunglasses

The Roka CP-1X sunglasses are very expensive but very impressive, as high in performance as they are in price.

• Pros: Very little fogging, unobstructed field of vision, good looking
• Cons: Very expensive

The glasses on test use a Glacier Mirror lens, which has the same kind of qualities as Oakley's Prizm – it's designed to remove a lot of blue light, allowing for better clarity. It succeeds in this and the clarity provided is impressive, especially in brighter conditions.

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The lens is replaceable and getting it in and out is relatively simple, although despite the very high cost of the glasses they don't come with any additional lenses. (The glasses are available with other lens options to suit different conditions, though replaceable lenses are not yet available on Roka's UK website.)

The field of vision is also very impressive, particularly so as they are full frame. My go-to glasses are Oakley Racing Jackets, so I'm used to wearing full frames (I was wearing them before G made them cool). I like the Oakleys not just because of the full frames but also because I want the widest field of vision possible, and the CP-1X glasses beat them on this. (The X part of the name refers to their having a deeper lens than the CP-1, 56mm rather than 52mm, providing '8% more total viewing area', according to Roka.)

One of the first things I noticed when I opened the box was that across the glasses there is not a single vent. This is something that is pretty common for half frames, but for full frames it can result in fogging issues. With these, I didn't have a problem at all, even on long, slow climbs on humid days. When I was waiting at traffic lights after a long ride there would be some fogging, but as soon as I set off they cleared almost instantaneously.

In terms of fit, the glasses sit on the head very well thanks to 'Geko' technology used throughout the arms and nosepad. This is essentially a kind of grippy rubber that is hydrophilic, chemical-resistant, and maintains grip through movement in multiple directions.

There is some adjustability in the arms, and the nose buffers are also replaceable and malleable, so you can adjust the glasses to fit you. I found that throughout the testing period, regardless of how sweaty I got or how rough the terrain was, they didn't shift on my head.

Another reason they sit so well is that they are impressively lightweight at only 29g (Roka says 27g), even more so when you consider that these are full frame glasses.

When you compare them to other lightweight glasses, such as the Rudy Project Defender ImpactX or the Scicon Aerotechs, both are 3g heavier. Okay, it's not a huge amount, but it still represents a roughly 10 per cent improvement.

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These are very, very good glasses, but there is a rather huge elephant in the room – the price. They come in at £225, which is pretty steep for a pair of glasses. They're even more expensive than the GP-1X glasses that Mat reviewed, which he thought were expensive at £215. There are others around the same price, though, such as the Poc Do Half Blade sunglasses – with the same rrp – and the Smith Attacks, which are £195, though they do at least come with a second lens. The Scicon Aerotechs mentioned above are £224, and have a photochromic lens that darkens in bright light.

Overall, these are incredibly impressive glasses that offer great clarity and a wide field of view, and they stay in place securely. Roka has clearly taken a lot of time and effort to make the best glasses it possibly can, but all of this testing and material choice comes at a high price and it is one that many will find difficult to justify.

Verdict

An excellent pair of sunglasses that fit very well and offer a great field of vision, but the price is hard to swallow