Scott Prospect goggles – Ultra Cool protection for your eyes
Scott Prospect goggles - Ultra Cool protection for your eyes
- Julian
- June 11, 2019
- 8:37 am
- No Comments
If you come from a dirt bike riding background, then the chances are that you still ride with goggles. Adventure helmets might have changed the goalposts with integral tinted lenses and wide clear visors and they perform very well on the trail, but you really can’t beat the protection and feel of a good set of off-road goggles. And they don’t come much better than the Scott Prospect goggles.
EYES WIDE OPEN
OK so if you are going to use goggles for trail or adventure riding, you are going to want as wide a field of view as possible. The Scott Prospect has the largest field of view on the market, both in terms of peripheral vision but also top to bottom.
Scott have achieved this through three design elements. Firstly the lens height has been maximised by lowering the nose design and extending the sides. The result is a massive open field of view.
Secondly, the thickness of the goggles from front to back has been reduced to keep the lens close to your eyes to avoid the tunnel effect that is evident on very deep goggles. This also reduces the possibility of internal reflection which can be distracting – the Scott Prospect goggle has no such issues!
The third element of the design that contributes to the Scott Prospect goggle’s great performance, is the curvature of the lens that arc round the front of you face and goes well beyond your eyes to maximise peripheral vision.
FOAM HOME
So if the clarity of vision is the first priority with goggles, then comfort needs to come pretty soon after. The Scott Prospect goggle has a deep three layer construction for optimum comfort and performance, with two thick layers overlaid by a thinner ‘No Sweat’ layer than keeps your eyes free of sweat when out on the trails. This layer therefore helps to avoid any possibility of fogging on the inner lens surface.
LENS LOCK
Lens fitting on off-road goggles can be fiddly and time consuming, but the Scott Prospect goggles get around this with a four-pin system that holds the lens securely in place even if you sustain a big impact to the front surface – a real possibility when out on the trails.
This system also makes the lens incredibly easy to change even with gloves – you simply flip the four tabs, two on either side top and bottom, and the lens comes out in a jiffy. The goggles we have come with the cool blue mirrored lens and a spare clear one for those overcast days.
If you are a racer’ there’s also a roll-off system available that clicks effortlessly onto the side pins on the lens without needing fiddly tools. It’s a full 50mm wide and comes with a transparent mud flap, or if the conditions are really wet, there’s a grid that ensures the roll-off film does not stick to the lens. If you’ve had the problem, then you know just how annoying that can be!
STRAP ON
So the final elements to talk about of the strap and attachment system on the Scott Prospect goggle. There’s a super wide 50mm strap with two lines of silicone beading to stop it slipping once in place on your crash helmet.
The strap attaches with a pair of pivotting outriggers that mean the goggles work for a wide range of off-road and adventure helmets, keeping them in place and maintaining the correct pressure to keep out the dust,
BACK STORY
So just in case you’re thinking that Scott are a relative newcomer to the industry, we thought we’d just remind you the calibre of riders that have used their products in the past, The Yamaha advert below shows motocross legend Bob Hannah back in 1979 when the brand dominated the championships thanks to Hannah and his team mates Broc Glover and Rick Burgett. In this image, Hannah is also wearing the iconic Scott plastic motocross boots – now that’s proper old-school cool. The boots made a brief comeback around 2008 but they were truly awful – we know as we had a pair and sent them back
Following the lead of top riders from the US and GP circuit, countless club riders bought into the Scott brand to emulate their heroes. And among them here’s our guy Julian sporting the infamous ‘Budgie Mask’ on his Suzuki RM100C back in 1980 with Severn Valley Schoolboy Scramble Club’.
Good times and the kit is still cool as …
TRAIL TIME
So with all these cool features and illustrious back story, how are the Scott Prospect goggles out on the trails? Well pretty damn peachy to be fair – the fit is excellent, slotting into the aperture of our LS2 Pioneer helmet and sitting comfortable on the face.
Vision is great from the wide lens, and the soft foam does indeed keep out even the finest of dust. There’s an optional noseguard in the centre of the goggles and if left in place also keeps out those stray stones that are inextricably drawn to the only bit of flesh left uncovered with normal goggles.
The mirror tint takes down the intensity of the sun in areas that actually see the sun – not a danger in the UK at present, but certainly useful in Catalonia where we rode for two days with the Scott Prospect goggles.
APPEARANCE
DURABILITY
The Scott Prospect goggles continue a tradition of super-cool looking off-road eye protection for which Scott have always been known. With 11 different colour options, there’ll be one to suit every taste and look stunning in photos.
The goggles are well made and faultlessly designed and should last for years. The lens change system avoids bending the frame around when you are swapping, and the strap is wide and suitably chunky.
COMFORT
VALUE
The triple layered foam on the Scott Prospect goggles makes them incredibly comfortable to wear all day long and on multi day trips. The dust is kept out and when it gets hot the ‘No Sweat’ tech works well.
The Scott Prospect goggles cost £80 which is pretty much in the middle for quality off road goggles. You can pay a lot less and you can pay a lot more, but quality always comes at a premium price and these are quality
RIDE EXPEDTIONS RATING - SCOTT PROSPECT GOGGLE
There is really little to fault with the Scott Prospect goggles. From the design to the manufacture, they are a very high quality product that will protect your eyes and look stylish at the same time. Whether you are a trail rider, adventure rider or weekend racer they will be a great addition to your gear bag.
We got ours through MotoKing in the UK, but the Scott website will tell you where your local dealer is.