Smith Riptide Sunglasses Review: The Quiver Killer for MTB, Surf, Ski and Everyday Adventure

If they were a surfboard, they’d be the Hypto Crypto. Mountain bike? They’d be the trail bike…maybe even a down-country. Skis? They’d be the all-mountains. By doing it all with ease, no matter the conditions or the use case, Smith’s Riptide sunglasses are your one-choice quiver killer, no matter where or why you’ve strapped them to your face.

Kicking around Smith’s sunglasses lineup for most of this decade, the Riptide is a stylish, square-ish style of eyewear that really is never out of place. It’s equally at home on a gnarly line of ‘pucker-up’ singletrack as it is at the burrito hut post-ride, or even your cousin-in-law’s sun-drenched wedding at the bougie country club in town.

This means — and don’t tell my wife this — you could easily own just this pair of glasses for all your outdoor pursuits, no matter how much adrenaline was involved.

ChromaPop Glass Lenses Deliver Exceptional Clarity

The best part is the Riptide’s lenses. I have to admit, I’m a bit of an optics snob when it comes to my sunnies. To date, I’ve burned through models from Roka, Oakley, Dragon, and 100%, and until now, kept landing back with POC.

After testing two different POC versions for these very pages (the Devour and the Define), I was so impressed by their Carl Zeiss lens clarity that I spent my own coin on the POC Aspire, which I’ve probably used for 10,000 miles of happy riding here in Southern California in the past few years.

These Smith Riptides easily match POC’s Zeiss lenses in terms of purity of vision – no surprise given Smith’s been a leader in eyewear forever now – and even celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.

The Riptides I tested had the ChromaPop Glass lenses…the higher-end, all-glass option of the two lens types available. They’re more expensive, but definitely worth it. There was zero distortion in the lens wherever you were looking through them, and your field of vision had a confidence-inspiring richness to it.

Mountain Bike Performance Without the “Cyclist” Look

Initially, I was skeptical that the Riptide’s rectangular frame would cut off my field of vision up top while riding my bike, as other glasses in its casual-oriented cohort can do. Fortunately, these frames have just enough expanse to them that they gave full coverage with a mountain bike helmet strapped up top.      

Other features were also well-appreciated.

The non-slip pads on the bridge and the arms of the glasses did their job admirably, even on the sweatiest days bouncing down the ruttiest trails. I’ve got a medium-large head and face and these fit — and more importantly looked like they fit — perfectly. And the springs on the hinges have a little outward give to them, so they won’t snap when your excessively self-reliant four-year-old insists on putting them on your face by herself.

Stylish Enough for Everyday Wear

But the Riptide’s true ace in the hole was that you don’t look like a spandex-happy goober when you’re off the bike and still looking to keep the sun out of your eyes. As much as I love my POC Aspires, the same can’t be said for them. These Smiths look good anywhere and everywhere.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Exceptional ChromaPop Glass lens clarity
• Comfortable fit for medium-large faces
• Great helmet compatibility for mountain biking
• Stylish enough for everyday wear
• Excellent grip and stability during sweaty activities

Cons

• Glass lenses are slightly heavier than polycarbonate
• Casual styling may not offer enough coverage for hardcore racing applications

Are the Smith Riptides Worth the Price?

Some of the best that money can buy — my testers retail for $277 — The Smith Riptide Sunglasses features, high-end build quality, and the immense clarity of their lenses all make the premium price tag seem spot on. Best of all for this value you’re actually getting three (or more) glasses for the price of one.

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