There are two types of unsolicited emails I receive through my blog. The first kind is the usual commercial pitch: “We’d love you to promote our product in exchange for a discount code and a pair of free glasses. We just need you to say nice things about them.” I delete those. The second kind is rarer, and when it arrives, it stops me in my tracks. That’s the kind Revoray sent. And that’s where my Revoray Cycling Sunglasses Review started.
Their message was refreshingly direct: they’d been reading VeloFanatics, they liked the honest tone, and they wanted to send me two pairs of their cycling sunglasses with no strings attached. No script, no required star rating, no commercial benefit on my end. Just: “Here are the glasses. Tell your readers what you honestly think.” I appreciated that enormously. It’s exactly how I’d want it done if I were running a brand. So I said yes.
A few weeks later, a package arrived. Inside: the Revoray ARTE (polarized, green lens) and the Revoray LUMO (photochromic, red lens in a matte transparent grey frame). I put them aside until I had a proper test environment lined up. That environment turned out to be a six-day cycling trip in the French Alps, based in Bourg-d’Oisans. This is a small town at the foot of Alpe d’Huez and within easy reach of some of the most iconic cols in the Tour de France.
Alpine descents, six hours in the saddle, early-morning starts, scorching midday sun, and tree-shaded switchbacks where the light flips from bright to dark in seconds. If a pair of cycling sunglasses survives this context and still earns a positive review, it has earned it honestly. Spoiler: both did. Here’s the full story.
Revoray: The Brand Behind the Glasses
Before we get to the lenses and the actual Revoray cycling sunglasses review, let me tell you what I know about Revoray as a company, because I think it matters. They are a direct-to-consumer sports eyewear brand. This means no retail middlemen, no department store markups, no sponsoring a WorldTour team so that the cost gets passed along to you in the price. They sell directly through their own website, ship internationally, and focus the money they save on the supply chain back into product development and optical technology.
Their range covers cycling sunglasses, running glasses, ski goggles, and sport helmets. The cycling range in particular is clearly built around real rider needs. Not aesthetics for a lifestyle shoot, but functional eyewear for people who spend six, eight, ten hours on a bike in varying conditions.
What struck me about Revoray’s philosophy is that they explicitly talk about “stripping away retail markup to bring athletes professional-grade gear.” That’s a bold claim, and one I was sceptical about going in. After testing their glasses in the Alps, I’m less sceptical. The materials, bio-based polyamide TRH frames on the LUMO, Swiss EMS-certified TR90 polymer on the ARTE, are not budget plastics. The coatings are not afterthoughts. For the price point, the quality of engineering is genuinely impressive.
They’re also making moves toward eco-conscious manufacturing, using bio-based and recycled-origin materials in their frames. For an ultra-distance cyclist who spends a lot of time in natural environments, I appreciate that this is something they’re thinking about.
Polarized vs Photochromic: Which Technology Do You Actually Need?
This is a question I get asked a lot, and I covered it in depth in my ultimate cycling sunglasses guide on VeloFanatics. Since both technologies are represented in this review, it’s worth explaining the core difference clearly here.
Polarized Lenses
A polarized lens contains a chemical filter that blocks horizontally polarized light. This is the type of light that creates glare off flat surfaces like wet roads, car bonnets, lakes, and snow. The result is a dramatically clearer, less fatiguing visual experience in bright, static-light conditions. On a sunny day riding on open roads, polarized lenses are exceptional. Glare disappears. Contrast improves. Your eyes stop working overtime.
The limitation is that polarized lenses have a fixed light transmission value. When the sun goes behind a cloud, or you drop into a shaded forest descent, a polarized lens stays dark. You don’t get automatic adjustment. For consistent bright conditions, they’re ideal. For rapidly changing light, which describes most real-world cycling outside of time trials, they have a practical ceiling.
Photochromic Lenses
A photochromic lens contains light-sensitive molecules that react to UV exposure by darkening automatically. In bright sunshine, the lens darkens significantly. In low-light conditions, dawn, dusk, shade, overcast, it lightens automatically. The best modern photochromic lenses transition in seconds, not minutes. The practical result for cyclists is a single pair of glasses that performs competently from a pre-dawn start through a midday alpine stage to a golden-hour descent.
Which One for Cycling?
My honest answer: if you ride mainly in consistent sunshine on open roads — sportives, gran fondos, flat routes — a quality polarized lens is hard to beat for visual clarity and glare reduction. If you ride ultra-distance, alpine terrain, early mornings, or mixed weather, a photochromic lens is the more versatile choice. Ideally, you own one of each. Which, conveniently, is exactly what this review covers.
The Revoray LUMO Photochromic Cycling Sunglasses Review — 150 km and 3,874 m of Climbing
I wore the LUMO on Thursday 6 August: a 149.99 km ride from Bourg-d’Oisans that I titled “Day 1 warming up”, though by any reasonable definition, a day that includes the Col de la Morte, Col de Malissol, Col de Parquetout, Col d’Ornon, and Alpe d’Huez is not a warm-up. It was 3,874 metres of elevation gain, a moving time of 6 hours 28 minutes, 29°C peak temperature, and the kind of light variation that makes a photochromic lens earn its keep.
Frame and Fit
The LUMO arrives in a matte transparent grey frame with the photochromic red lens. It is a combination that looks genuinely elegant in person. The bio-based polyamide TRH frame is noticeably light, and the air-cushion nose pads make contact on your face feel almost like nothing. I have a wide nose bridge and I’ve lost count of the cycling sunglasses that have left pressure marks after two hours. The LUMO wasn’t one of them. Over 6.5 hours, I had zero discomfort at the contact points.
The wraparound design gives excellent coverage. This is important to me because at altitude the insects on certain climbs are relentless. On a fast descent of Alpe d’Huez at 65 km/h, you do not want a gap between the frame and your face. The LUMO sealed cleanly without pressing.
Helmet compatibility was excellent. I ride with a Specialized Evade helmet, and slotting the LUMO arms into the vent slots was effortless. A small thing that matters enormously when you’re at the top of a climb and want to rest the glasses in the helmet while you peel off a layer.
Lens Performance — The Photochromic Verdict
This is where the LUMO genuinely surprised me. I’ve tested photochromic lenses that took 30–45 seconds to meaningfully darken, and those hesitation moments on a bright-to-dark transition can leave you momentarily blinded. The LUMO’s lens adjusted almost instantaneously or close enough that I couldn’t detect a lag. Riding from an exposed cliff road into a shaded forest section, the transition happened within what felt like two or three seconds. That is genuinely impressive.
The red tint of the photochromic lens also enhances contrast in a way I didn’t expect. Road surface details: the edge of tarmac, surface changes, gravel patches, were clearer than with a neutral grey tint. This matters on alpine descents where a misread surface at 75 km/h can ruin your day.
Over 6.5 hours on a day like that, my eyes felt fresher at the end than they typically do. That’s the test I care about most. Cycling sunglasses should reduce fatigue, not just reduce glare. The LUMO passed.
The Revoray ARTE Polarized Cycling Sunglasses Review — 214 km and 6,018 m of Climbing
The ARTE came out two days later, on Saturday 8 August: 214.40 km, 6,018 metres of elevation gain, a moving time of 10 hours 7 minutes. The route took in the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Glandon, Col du Télégraphe, two ascents of the Col du Galibier, Col de Sarenne, and Alpe d’Huez as the finale. Ten hours in the saddle from early morning darkness to cloudy afternoon. For a polarized lens, this was a significant ask.
Design and Build Quality
The ARTE immediately stands out on looks. If the LUMO is understated elegance, the ARTE is more overtly stylish. The green lens with its metallic shimmer has a presence that draws comments. It’s the pair I wore off the bike too, at the café stops and at dinner, and nobody would have guessed they were sport sunglasses. That crossover between performance eyewear and genuine style is harder to achieve than it sounds, and Revoray have got it right.
The Swiss EMS-certified TR90 frame at just 33.4 grams genuinely disappears on your face. The hydrophilic rubber nose pads have three adjustable positions, which meant I could dial in the fit precisely. After a very sweaty 90 minutes climbing to the Galibier at altitude, the nose pads actually gripped better. Hydrophilic rubber is designed to perform when wet. This is smart materials thinking.
The snap-in quick-swap lens system also includes a clear lens in the box. Useful for pre-dawn starts or riding into tunnels (of which the Galibier route has a memorable one). Swapping lenses takes about 10 seconds.
Optical Performance at Altitude
On the exposed high-altitude sections; the Croix de Fer, the long ridge approach to the Galibier, the Col du Glandon in the midday sun, the ARTE’s polarized HD lens with XPatina-Tech Ultra-HD bionic coating eliminated glare from the tarmac surface completely. Depth perception on hairpin bends at altitude was noticeably sharper. UV400 protection with 100% UVA/UVB blocking gave me peace of mind at 2,600 metres elevation, where UV radiation is significantly more intense than at sea level.
Ten hours. Not a single headache. No eye strain. Comfortable contact points throughout. For an ultra-distance rider, those are the numbers that matter.
Revoray vs 100% S2: A Frank Comparison
I want to be honest about this comparison because I think it illustrates something important about value in cycling equipment. I recently bought two pairs of 100% S2 sunglasses. If you’re not familiar with the brand, 100% is a well-established sports eyewear brand with strong marketing presence, race team sponsorships, and a devoted following. The S2 looks absolutely stunning. The aesthetics are genuinely first-class. And then I started using them.
The lens-swapping mechanism on the 100% S2 is a recurring frustration. Especially with cold hands at altitude. More annoyingly: the rubber nose pad on my 100% S2 keeps detaching. It works itself loose over time and I’ve found it in my jersey pocket mid-ride more than once, wondering where it went. It’s a fundamental design flaw on glasses that cost significantly more than either Revoray model.
The Revoray ARTE’s hydrophilic nose pads? Stayed in place for 10 hours, including sweat-soaked climbs. The LUMO’s air-cushion pads? Equally reliable. When I compare the build reliability, the component that actually keeps the glasses on your face, the Revoray outperforms the 100% at a fraction of the price. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. But that’s what my honest experience tells me.
On optics, the 100% S2 has excellent lens quality. I won’t pretend otherwise. But the Revoray ARTE with the XPatina-Tech Ultra-HD coating is comfortably in the same conversation. The visual performance gap between them is far smaller than the price gap suggests. I really wanted to add this comparison in my Revoray cycling sunglasses review because it literally caught my eye after recently buying the 100% sunglasses.
The Small Details That Matter After 10 Hours in the Saddle
Ultra-distance riders are obsessed with details, and rightly so. Over 300, 400, 600 kilometres, the small things compound. Here’s what I noticed about both Revoray models over extended use:
- Weight: The ARTE at 33.4 g genuinely disappears on your face. The LUMO is similarly light. After six-plus hours I forgot I was wearing them.
- Bug and wind protection: The wraparound coverage on both models is complete. Not once during any of the Alpine rides did a bug, dust particle, or significant wind gust reach my eyes.
- Sweat management: The ARTE’s hydrophilic nose pads actively grip better when wet. The LUMO’s air-cushion pads maintained their position throughout. Neither model slipped.
- Helmet placement: Both models park easily in the vents of my Kask helmet at café stops. The arms are narrow enough to slot in comfortably without catching.
- Visual fatigue: Across the six days of Alps riding, using both models alternately, my eyes felt noticeably less tired at the end of each day than on comparable days wearing other glasses.
Value for Money — Let’s Talk Price in my Revoray cycling sunglasses review
Np Revoray cycling sunglasses review without a chapter about the price. The ARTE is priced at approximately $80 USD (around €73–75). The LUMO sits at $86–105 USD (around €80–95). In the context of performance cycling sunglasses, these prices are remarkable.
Compare: Oakley Jawbreaker starts around €200. 100% Speedcraft sits around €180–200. Rudy Project Cutline runs €150+. All legitimate brands with genuine quality. I’m not dismissing them. But the price gap between those brands and Revoray is not explained by an equivalent quality gap. It’s explained by retail distribution, brand marketing, and team sponsorships.
Revoray cuts those costs out and gives you an ultra-HD polarized frame with Swiss-certified polymer construction for €75. For an amateur cyclist, even a very committed one, that is extraordinary value.
Where to buy the Revoray Sunglasses and promo coupon code
The Revoray Cycling sunglasses I have tested can be bought via the below links. Upon my neutral review requested by Revoray itself, they did provide me with an interesting 40% reduction code. Once again, I have no commercial agreements with Revoray but I don’t want to deny you the 40% coupon code of course 🙂 Feel free to use it!
The Revoray promo and reduction code : R-WIMSTYLEMAN
Here you can find the Revoray Lumo
Here you can find the Revoray Arte
My Final Verdict – Revoray Cycling Sunglasses Review
I went into this Revoray cycling sunglasses review genuinely neutral, not sceptical, not predisposed to like them, just open. I tested both models seriously, in serious conditions, over more than 360 km of Alpine riding with over 10,000 metres of combined elevation. Here’s where I landed.
The Revoray LUMO is the best photochromic cycling sunglass I’ve used at any price. The transition speed is genuinely impressive, the comfort is exceptional across a full day in the saddle, and the contrast enhancement of the red photochromic tint gives you a visual sharpness on road surfaces that I wasn’t expecting. If I’m riding ultra-distance, alpine terrain, early mornings, or mixed weather, the LUMO is going on my face, no debate.
The Revoray ARTE is the more stylish of the two, and for consistent bright conditions it delivers polarized optical clarity that competes with glasses costing two to three times more. The included clear lens extends its versatility. The hydrophilic nose pads outperform expensive alternatives. At $80, it’s a borderline absurd value proposition.
Both models met every criterion I’d set out: stylish design, genuine comfort over long distances, excellent eye protection, wind and bug coverage, light weight, performance that reduces fatigue, helmet compatibility, and honest value for money. The ARTE wins on aesthetics. The LUMO wins on functional versatility. Between the two of them, you have a complete solution for every condition you’ll encounter on a bike. I can’t give them anything else than a 5 star rating because they just met all my expectations.
I’d like to thank Revoray for the straightforward, no-strings approach to this test. It’s how product reviews should work, and it’s why I said yes. If the glasses had been mediocre, you’d be reading a politely honest piece about a promising brand that still has work to do. Instead, you’re reading this, which tells you everything you need to know.
Have you tried Revoray’s cycling sunglasses? Or do you have questions about choosing between polarized and photochromic for your type of riding? Drop a comment below. I’d love to hear your experience.
