Six Six One has been around since 1999, but they waited until 2020 to produce their first MTB eyewear – The Radia goggle. The Radia follows their usual recipe of offering good quality protective gear for fair prices, and these goggles cover the basic points well; they’re comfortable, well ventilated, and I think they’re pretty good looking too.
Six Six One Radia Goggle construction:
The Radia goggles come stock with injection-molded Smoke Mirror lenses, which have both anti-fog and anti-scratch treatments. If tints aren’t your thing, clear lenses are available from Six Six One (as are Smoke Mirror replacements). You’ve probably also noticed the Radia’s tear-off pegs and a mount on the strap for a roll-off system: Both will be available as accessories, but the Roll-Off systems aren’t ready quite yet.
The Radias were designed around a lightweight chassis, with generous cut-outs above and below the lens to ensure good ventilation. For comfort and security, Six Six One added dual-density foam padding and a 40mm wide strap with a full-length silicone gripper.
The Radia goggle comes in Small and Large sizes. I have the size Large, which fit my face well. I don’t have a particularly big head so I suspect most adults would opt for size Large and younger riders would fit into the Small size. At first I thought the Larges seemed a bit small for the biggest available option, but the Radias turned out to fit similarly yet provide a wider field of view than two other pairs of goggles I have at home.
The Radia goggles were designed to fit into Six Six One’s Reset helmets perfectly, but they fit into my Bell Super DH full face and POC Tectal Race SPIN open face helmets quite well too. As this picture shows, the Radia colorways match Six Six One’s other gear so if you’re into that sorta thing you can color-match your whole protective kit.
Ride Impressions:
The first thing I noticed after riding with the Radia goggles was their generous field-of-view. It’s not like you can’t see the frames if you look for them, but the Radia’s do offer more width and height than some of the other goggles I have kicking around. The little tabs above and below each eye are the only thing even slightly obstructing the Radia’s big lenses, and they are not at all noticeable while riding. I also found the frames fit my face well and were perfectly comfortable to wear.
The Radia’s stock Smoke Mirror lenses offer good clarity, and on a sunny day the lens tint isn’t too dark for riding in thick forests. In brighter areas they were great, but even in the darkest pockets the lens tint was never too dark. In dimmer conditions a clear lens is always best, and thankfully you can buy them for the Radia goggles.
After several lengthy descents in pretty warm weather (and one very sweaty photo shoot) I have had no fogging or condensation whatsoever inside the goggles. I also haven’t done any damage to the lenses yet, but I’ve only had the goggles for a few weeks… hopefully the anti-scratch coating stands the test of time.
Even versus sunglasses, goggles feel very protective on your face and I definitely understand why enduro racers wear them. The Radia kept 100% of all wind and dirt out of my eyes, plus they can fend off a tree branch without getting knocked out of position or off your head. If you want to minimize the chance of anything ruining your race run, goggles are the way to go.
The Radia goggles offer everything you’d need, and for a pretty reasonable $39.99. Color/graphic options are Dazzle Red, Dazzle Yellow, Script Blue and Script Black. They come with a soft goggle bag and are covered by a one year warranty against manufacturing defects.
