Swimming has one of the cheapest gear requirements out there. If there’s one necessity any beginner triathlete can’t do without in the pool it’s a good, reliable set of goggles.
If you are just getting starting in this addictive (and sometimes expensive) sport of triathlon, you’ll quickly realize the need for all sorts of gear. Fortunately, swimming has one of the cheapest gear requirements out there. If there’s one necessity any beginner triathlete can’t do without in the pool it’s a good, reliable set of goggles. Tyr (pronounced “tier”) is a recognized brand name in the goggle, swimwear and swim accessory market.
I was pleased to hang up my set of Socket Rockets to try out a pair of Tyr’s Aqua Shift™ Rockets for a couple of long sets in the pool. For this review, I evaluated a pair of Tyr’s smoke colored, uni-body construction Aqua Shift™ Rockets. These goggles were worn many times during swim workouts over the course of four weeks. Each workout lasted for an average of one hour.
Construction When I hear the word unibody, I normally think of cars. Well, the folks at Tyr designed a unibody goggle whose frame, lenses, and nosepiece are all one continuous part. What’s the advantage you may wonder??? Leak prevention!!! There’s no chance for a leak to occur between the lenses and the gasket if it’s all one piece. Imagine optical grade polycarbonate lenses with a skin of Thermo Plastic Rubber forming the seal around the edges of the lenses. It’s a good design too. You can barely tell where the lens stops and the rubber begins. Aqua Shifts™ have dual headstrap posts. Instead of the headstrap coming off the goggles at one focal point, it comes off at two. This allows the headstraps to distribute pressure more evenly around the lenses, adding to its good leak-prevention performance. I expect these goggles to stand up to the rigors that triathletes will put them through due to Tyr’s choice of materials and unibody construction.
Streamlined and fast, these racing goggles are comfortable and resist leaks well.
Fit and Comfort These goggles fit around the eye using a solid rubbery gasket (as opposed to a foam or neoprene type). This means that there’s a solid piece of rubber that forms the seal against your skin and around your eye sockets. When the goggles were fit correctly, I had extremely good performance from these goggles from a standpoint of no leakage. They performed very nicely during push-offs from the wall, flip turns, drills, kick sets, and all the different swim strokes. The only time I was able to make these goggles leak was by distorting my face enough to create a small gap in the seal. This however, is not typical use of the goggles – unless you make faces while you swim.
Gasket seal type goggles tend to fit right in your eye socket. It is very important that the goggle straps are adjusted correctly to obtain the correct fit around the eye socket. I experimented with too loose and too tight adjustments in my evaluation. Too loose does result in leakage – especially during wall push offs. When the adjustment is too tight, you get no leakage at all, but after thirty to forty minutes into a swim set, I started to feel that they were digging into my face. Tyr’s Aqua Shift™ goggles have a double headstrap. By correctly adjusting the location and tension of the headstrap, I was able to get an even fit that felt comfortable after a long set. If a very soft feel is critical to you, then try out goggles with a foam seal as opposed to the rubber gasket.
Adjustability The headstraps on the Aqua Shift™ goggles adjust by way of a slotted clip attached to one of the two headstraps. I adjusted my goggles by snaking the headstrap through the clip and then “locking” them into place when the fit was just right. The clip design worked well for me. It maintained the fit without any slippage, even when stretched repeatedly. One inherent weakness of the unibody construction is that you give up any adjustability in the nosepiece of the goggle. Tyr’s answer to this was to use a material that was so flexible that there was no issue with nosepiece adjustment. The nosepiece will auto-size itself to the position that the eyepieces are placed – no adjustment necessary!
Optics / Field of Vision I experienced a very clear image while swimming. The smoke colored tint was comfortable – neither too dark nor too light. Aqua Shift™ goggles are billed as “anti-fog”. They lived up to this – no anti fog drops necessary. As your swim sets get longer this summer and you start venturing outside, you’ll appreciate the UV protection these goggles have built into the lenses to protect your eyes. The field of vision is unobstructed on the sides, giving a full 180 degree field of view while in the water.
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See Clearly Now with Tyr - Aqua Shift Rockets
Swimming has one of the cheapest gear requirements out there. If there’s one necessity any beginner triathlete can’t do without in the pool it’s a good, reliable set of goggles.
If you are just getting starting in this addictive (and sometimes expensive) sport of triathlon, you’ll quickly realize the need for all sorts of gear. Fortunately, swimming has one of the cheapest gear requirements out there. If there’s one necessity any beginner triathlete can’t do without in the pool it’s a good, reliable set of goggles. Tyr (pronounced “tier”) is a recognized brand name in the goggle, swimwear and swim accessory market.
I was pleased to hang up my set of Socket Rockets to try out a pair of Tyr’s Aqua Shift™ Rockets for a couple of long sets in the pool. For this review, I evaluated a pair of Tyr’s smoke colored, uni-body construction Aqua Shift™ Rockets. These goggles were worn many times during swim workouts over the course of four weeks. Each workout lasted for an average of one hour.
Construction
When I hear the word unibody, I normally think of cars. Well, the folks at Tyr designed a unibody goggle whose frame, lenses, and nosepiece are all one continuous part. What’s the advantage you may wonder??? Leak prevention!!! There’s no chance for a leak to occur between the lenses and the gasket if it’s all one piece. Imagine optical grade polycarbonate lenses with a skin of Thermo Plastic Rubber forming the seal around the edges of the lenses. It’s a good design too. You can barely tell where the lens stops and the rubber begins. Aqua Shifts™ have dual headstrap posts. Instead of the headstrap coming off the goggles at one focal point, it comes off at two. This allows the headstraps to distribute pressure more evenly around the lenses, adding to its good leak-prevention performance. I expect these goggles to stand up to the rigors that triathletes will put them through due to Tyr’s choice of materials and unibody construction.
The Product
Aqua Shift™ Rockets
The Maker
TYR (www.tyr.com)
The Price
$15.00
The Rating
The Skinny
Streamlined and fast, these racing goggles are comfortable and resist leaks well.
Fit and Comfort
The headstraps on the Aqua Shift™ goggles adjust by way of a slotted clip attached to one of the two headstraps. I adjusted my goggles by snaking the headstrap through the clip and then “locking” them into place when the fit was just right. The clip design worked well for me. It maintained the fit without any slippage, even when stretched repeatedly. One inherent weakness of the unibody construction is that you give up any adjustability in the nosepiece of the goggle. Tyr’s answer to this was to use a material that was so flexible that there was no issue with nosepiece adjustment. The nosepiece will auto-size itself to the position that the eyepieces are placed – no adjustment necessary!
These goggles fit around the eye using a solid rubbery gasket (as opposed to a foam or neoprene type). This means that there’s a solid piece of rubber that forms the seal against your skin and around your eye sockets. When the goggles were fit correctly, I had extremely good performance from these goggles from a standpoint of no leakage. They performed very nicely during push-offs from the wall, flip turns, drills, kick sets, and all the different swim strokes. The only time I was able to make these goggles leak was by distorting my face enough to create a small gap in the seal. This however, is not typical use of the goggles – unless you make faces while you swim.
Gasket seal type goggles tend to fit right in your eye socket. It is very important that the goggle straps are adjusted correctly to obtain the correct fit around the eye socket. I experimented with too loose and too tight adjustments in my evaluation. Too loose does result in leakage – especially during wall push offs. When the adjustment is too tight, you get no leakage at all, but after thirty to forty minutes into a swim set, I started to feel that they were digging into my face. Tyr’s Aqua Shift™ goggles have a double headstrap. By correctly adjusting the location and tension of the headstrap, I was able to get an even fit that felt comfortable after a long set. If a very soft feel is critical to you, then try out goggles with a foam seal as opposed to the rubber gasket.
Adjustability
Optics / Field of Vision
I experienced a very clear image while swimming. The smoke colored tint was comfortable – neither too dark nor too light. Aqua Shift™ goggles are billed as “anti-fog”. They lived up to this – no anti fog drops necessary. As your swim sets get longer this summer and you start venturing outside, you’ll appreciate the UV protection these goggles have built into the lenses to protect your eyes. The field of vision is unobstructed on the sides, giving a full 180 degree field of view while in the water.
Category
Score
Notes
Fit
TPR gasket provides a nice comfortable fit.
Adjustability
Dual headstraps are easily adjustable and nosepiece is extremely flexible.
Construction
Unibody construction leads to superior leak proof goggle. Nearly seamless flow from the rubber to the lenses.
Optics
Clear field of vision, 180-degree peripheral imaging lets you check out how far behind the competition is. Practically zero distortion.
Cosmo Factor
Sleek and streamlined, with 3 colors to pick from. Would love to see a metallized version in the future.
Overall
Click on star to vote