Along with a big move of the company to Portland, Oregon from their long established roots in Sun Valley, Idaho, Smith continues to build up their mountain bike product line. New helmets, new glasses, and now new mountain bike specific goggles indicate the company’s dedication the sport. Thanks largely in part to the rise of Enduro racing and increased use of goggles with half shell helmets, mountain bike goggles seem to be making a resurgence.
However, many mountain bike goggles still share a large amount of DNA from their motocross siblings. With the new Squad goggle, Smith is providing a fresh look into the construction of a mountain bike specific goggle…
Compared to the Fuel V2 on the right, the new Squad (left) looks substantially different especially when viewed from the top or bottom. By using a latticed frame around the perimeter of the goggle in place of vent foam, the Squad is able to offer incredible ventilation through the vent holes on the lens which is important for preventing fogging. The lattice also makes the frame of the goggle quite flexible for a comfortable fit. Calling it a medium fit, we found the Squad to fit quite well in all of the helmets we tried. The frame itself is also lower on the bottom for increased viewing area and uses a wider nose bridge for less pinching.
At the contact points for the face, the goggle uses hypoallergenic Sweat-X F.A.T. 3 layer foam that Smith states is 50% more absorbent than standard foams. As for the optics, the Squad runs a single Carbonic-X cylindrical lens treated with flow coating anti-fog on the inside and a hard coated treatment on the outside to protect against scratches and damage. Each goggle ships with a multilayer premium mirrored lens as well as a clear tinted, anti-fog coated bonus lens, both of which use preinstalled tear off posts.
In addition to the 12 standard colors, Smith will also offer goggles in the Inspired Design Collection like Brandon Semenuk’s signature goggle above. The ID collection allows Smith’s athletes to work directly with their design team to create a product that is truly unique to each rider.
Meant to integrate perfectly with the Smith Forefront Mountain bike helmet, each of the 12 colors has its own corresponding lid for perfect matching. Or you can get crazy and mix-and-match. Selling for $60 which includes the additional lens, the Squad will be in stores this October. Smith will also continue to offer the Fuel V1 and V2 goggles.
