If you’ve got a little face and you’re looking for some top drawer shades then we highly recommend a look at the Speedcraft XS.
Pros
- Near unrivalled visibility
- Great contrast from HiPER lenses
- Great for smaller faces
Cons
- Smudge magnet
- Hope you’ve been saving the pennies
About the Manufacturer
100% have always been about mucking around on two wheels, but when the brand started in San Diego in the 1980s it was the American motorcross that was the focus. Growing from the moto “how much effort do you give”, 100% sponsored multiple major teams during the 80s and 90s and became synonmous with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Starting with accessories and merchandise for MX, the brand branched into BMX and then into MTB and road cycling. With the sale and relaunch of the brand in 2012, the brand began to focus on performance eyewear and now produce performance and recreational eyewear across many disciplines.
100% are known for strong designs and colours and in the pro peloton you’ll find their glasses on the likes of Sagan and van der Poel.
Review
Oakley may have started the trend for cyclist wearing the BIGGEST LENSES, but now that fight for biggest (or brashest depending on your personal kink) seems to be a tug of war between 100% and Smith. While the Speedcraft is now a slightly older model for 100%, it’s not exactly a shrinking violet, with a giant lens and shouty colours. So why are we reviewing an old pair of glasses? Well because this is the XS version – the Crankboutique team are blessed with shapely but dainty heads and generally the big glasses either come straight off or make us look like a rejected minion. The XS version of the Speedcraft are marketed for ladies and junior riders, but we’ll say that initial impressions out of the box are they are also pretty good for chaps with narrower faces too.
In terms of the glasses themselves, they are an exact scaled down version of the standard Speedcraft – so a big scratch resistant and dirt treated lens, with a more snug fitting rubber textured nose bridge and pads on the arms for comfort and grip. While the XS comes in some more muted colours, this is a pair of 100% glasses so we opted for the HiPer Red version with the big orange red lens with a slightly less shouty black frame.
On the road those massive lenses come into their own with amazing visibility in about any direction and being fairly unique in that upwards visibility is also unobstructed. We’ve reviewed the HiPER lenses previously but they’re really get at enhancing contrast – the price also get you a semi smoked lens for overcast days. Given the cranky weather we’ve been having recently we really wish that 100% would make a photochromic version though.
In terms of fit these suited us perfectly. Make no mistake, they’re still massive glasses – but the nose bridge and temple fit was snug and we had no issues with the glasses moving about our face.
There’s only two real gripes with these glasses . Firstly while they’re supposed to be smudge and dirt resistant, the Speedcraft’s lenses are the biggest fingerprint magnet this side of an iPhone. Secondly there’s the price – make no mistake these are pricey, but they’re competitive when it comes to something very similar like Oakley’s Jawbreakers.
If you’ve got a little face and you’re looking for some top drawer shades then we highly recommend a look at the Speedcraft XS.
Key Specifications
- Frame: Polycarbonate
- Lenses: HiPER treated
Retailers
- Bikeinn (Intl)
- Sigma Sports (Intl)
