POC Elicit Toric Sunglasses Review

POC is well-established as the premier protection company to keep riders safe on two wheels. Their lineup of cycling-specific sunglasses always features massive coverage and grippy materials to stay put on the most demanding terrain.

POC Elicit Toric Sunglasses Features:

• Lightweight, frameless design
• Bio-Grilamid temples with grippy rubber tips
• Interchangeable lenses
• Includes two nose pieces for individualized fit
• Clarity Toric lenses
• Available in a variety of colors and lens tints
• Weight: 25 grams (actual)
• MSRP: $300 (white, sunny silver cat 3, as tested)

Frameless wonders

When it comes to selecting the proper sunglasses, it’s important to consider where and when you’ll be riding. For early morning rides, a photochromic lens is my primary choice. As the sun rises over the Wasatch Mountains, other lenses become viable options. With the Hydrogen White frames and Clarity Road/Sunny Silver Cat 3 frame/lens combination, I’ve worn these in the morning as a test, but they are better-suited to full-sun rides after 9am into the middle of the day.

To test the versatility of the Elicit Toric Sunglasses, I used these sunnies on road, gravel, mountain biking and trail running. With a lightweight, frameless design, they feel like wearing nothing. On the scale, they do weigh a scant 25 grams, which is only bested by the Julbo Density Sunglasses in my quiver.

Interested in changing the lenses? Well, you might want to watch this video. It’s not as easy as most lens changes and it’s not something you’ll want to do regularly. I’d guess that once you get the hang of it, you could do it much faster. I’ll be honest, I just kept the sunny silver lenses throughout all my testing. I really don’t have much use of a set of clear lenses when I’ve got photochromic options like the Bolle Speedchaser and Smith Bobcat.

Starting with what I like best here… it’s without question the frameless design. Why start there? Well, I hate having frames block any part of my vision. When riding on the road, having 100% uninhibited vision when looking over my shoulder for a passing car or zoning in on a distant pothole that’s coming in fast 40 mph, I don’t want anything blocking that view. For that, the Elicit Toric sunglasses get two thumbs way up. Anywhere I look, I have unblocked views.

To go along with that, POC has partnered with the legendary Carl Zeiss labs to deliver their Clarity Toric lenses. I’ve personally toured Zeiss lens factories and there’s a reason why they are so renowned. But, to be honest, all high-quality polycarbonate lenses offer excellent vision. I’m not talking about gas station lenses, but I’ve been very impressed with all the top lenses these days. The biggest difference between them are the tints and coatings, which can add to the overall experience. That said, the beauty of the Clarity Toric lens is absolute distortion-free vision at all viewing angles.

Toric refers to the rounded convex shape of the lenses. If you look at fighter pilot helmet shields, they are also toric-shaped (and for good reason). For us, running or riding along at slower speeds, we can also benefit from those crystal-clear optics from all viewable angles.

As mentioned, these were used for road, gravel, mountain and trail running. For slower activities, like trail running, I was fine heading out as the sun was coming up behind the Wasatch Mountains. Their awesome clarity and vision allowed me to see nuances in the trail just fine. Still, I would prefer photochromic or lighter lenses for this. For road and gravel, I would only grab these after the sun was a little higher or for mid-day rides. Under those conditions, I was rewarded with crisp vision and clarity at low and high speeds — so long as it didn’t become too dark and shaded.

The superpowers of the Elicit Toric Sunglasses remains the grippy rubber and comfortable fit. I can wear these all day without any discomfort. And, they simply stay put on even the roughest terrain. I swapped the nose piece out for a little wider one so they would sit more centered on my face. The only downside of this is when my nostrils flare on deep breaths, they can tap the inside of the lens. I’ve also worn them with the POC Cytal, Cannondale Dynam and Kask Elemento helmets just fine.

The lightweight temples sit well atop helmet straps and the frames flex out to accommodate various head sizes. They sit well on my face and the rubber temple tips grip my noggin with confidence.

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