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Dirt riders using visors are sometimes misunderstood by road riders.
In the dirt, many or most use long visors to deflect the muddy roost coming off the back knobby tire of the bike in front of them. It's a vision thing, but not to block the sun.
In the dirt, if you get high on the bike and put your head down, you can deflect the dirt roost and see forward OK. That's my experience.
 
i have on my mtb helmet, they were the cool thing back in the mid 90's. I actually don't really like them that much. My current Giro Xen is movable so it handy to move don a bit on steep climbs into the sun and helps defecting branches and stuff...otherwise I could do without it, but pushed up it's not noticable. My previous Bell Sweep used to restrict vision badly.

Road bike helmet, no
 
Most road cyclists don't use a visor, because it tends to interfere with forward vision when you have your head down. but your preference may vary. If you ride mostly in a more upright body posture, it's not such a big deal.

When I ride in the rain, I wear a billed cap under my helmet, to keep the rain off my glasses. If there's any chance you'll ride in the rain, I think it might be worth $5 extra to have that option.
This. ++

Cycling caps are great. The bills are long enough to keep the sun out of the eyes when looking down the road. That wimpy visor above wouldn't do that very well. And when rider doesn't need it, just flip it up. They're also cheap enough to have a few, like socks. They're not bad as alternatives to sweat bands if rider's not sweating bullets.
 
First, not all visors are created equal. Some block more vision when in the drops than others. My old one was barely noticeable to me, my new one is much more noticeable.

I wear a visor on the trail. It helps me mainly in two ways there. Lots of movement between sun and shade, low sun angles, I like a bit more shade for my eyes in a consistent way. It is marginally easier to see INTO shade from sun. Second, it adds a bit of face protection from dangling vegetation when I have to duck through stuff hanging over the trail. Which I do, given I ride some things that are rarely ridden by others.

I'll wear on on the road but NOT when 1) I am riding in a group, or 2) on a very windy day when I will be not just in the drops, but low in the drops keeping my head down as much as possible. It's not so much I wear it on the road, I just don't bother to take it off unless I think it would cause issues.

I see no reason not to get one, and try it. Worse case, you take the visor off and never use it again.

Or try a cycling cap if you prefer, since you can pop the brim up and down. But that's going to make things a bit warmer for you. More on the trail when speeds are slower, less so on the road at higher speeds.
 
Dirt riders using visors are sometimes misunderstood by road riders.
In the dirt, many or most use long visors to deflect the muddy roost coming off the back knobby tire of the bike in front of them. It's a vision thing, but not to block the sun.
In the dirt, if you get high on the bike and put your head down, you can deflect the dirt roost and see forward OK. That's my experience.
How does a visor stop something that is coming from underneath?

I mean, I've done lots of rides and races in the rain, both road and cyclocross. A visor wouldn't do **** to stop water or mud coming off a wheel.
 
What he said. The fashion police will crucify you.
I guess mountain bikers wear them, tho. They don't mind looking dorky.
Not a fashion thing - it's a function thing. Light varies a lot in the woods - filtered, shade, bright, etc. Being able to shade the eyes without dark glasses is helpful. We're more upright on the MTB too, so the visor isn't in the way.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Thanks for everyone's input. I just ordered the Giro Trinity with no visor. After reading your thoughts I tested out a pair of sunglasses I had been wearing for tennis and they seemed to work perfectly when riding my bike yesterday...so I decided to go the no visor but wear glasses route for now.

Again, I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond!

TripleB
 
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