Fox Racing Friday | Focus on Goggles

Fox Racing Friday | Focus on Goggles 

Presented by Fox Racing

Fox Racing is best known for its popular motocross apparel, but it has more recently been a player in the goggle arena, with a very impressive surge in technology and products in recent months. Over a decade ago, the brand partnered with Oakley to produce its first motocross goggle, but after a couple of years in the game, the brand decided to take on 100% of its eyewear development and production. The Main and Airspace goggles were well received and have become staples in Fox’s protective offerings, but it wasn’t until the Fox Vue Goggle was introduced in late 2017 that the brand entered the premium goggle category.

“With Ken Roczen on board, we set out to develop a truly high-end goggle and his fingerprints are all over the Vue Goggle’s design,” said Global Category Director Mark Finley. “We learned so much from Ken. We thought we knew what we needed to do with goggles but Ken really brought us to another level. We decided to shoot for the stars and give Ken everything that he needed. There were tons of rapid prototypes, and we went through countless iterations. For him, it was all about a wide field of vision, and we already knew that we wanted to do an injection-molded polycarbonate lens to be optically correct with great roost coverage and a quick-change lens system. That’s when we really tackled goggles at a premium level.”

The Fox Vue.

Indeed, the Fox Vue Goggle features a very wide range of peripheral vision, and its optically correct injection-molded lens offers clear vision with zero distortion. The frame fits snugly against the rider’s face thanks to an outrigger mounted strap that pulls the frame towards the face rather than across it. Triple-layered face foam protects against getting sweat on the inside of the lens, and the 45mm wide strap stays put on the helmet. 

Perhaps the most unique feature of the Fox Vue goggle is its quick-change lens and frame design. The outriggers rotate upward and snap off the frame, which allows the lens to be lifted away from the frame for cleaning or replacement. Putting the goggle back together requires only seconds, and the job is easy to complete without getting fingerprints on the lens. 

We’ve raced and ridden in the Vue plenty since we first got our hands on them in early ’18, and they fit great, seal very well against a wide variety fo face shapes and sizes, as well as inside all helmet brands. The way the goggle disassembles into three pieces is ingenious and makes between-moto cleanings a cinch. The Vue goggle starts at $119.95 per pair and ranges to $129.95 with a reflective Spark lens.

The Fox Airspace II Goggle.

For 2020, Fox turned its attention to the two original goggles in its lineup, the original Airspace and Main goggles, giving them both a technological overhaul. Thus, are born the Airspace II and Main II goggles. The main differences between the two goggles? The Airspace II features an outrigger-mounted strap, while the Main II has a frame-mounted strap. Both frames utilize the same tapered frame design which allows for an extra-wide field of peripheral vision.

The Main II goggle has the same frame as the Airspace II, but its strap it mounted directly to the sides of the frame. Note how the sides of the frame taper in to provide a wider range of peripheral vision.

Both the Airspace II and Main II goggles feature triple-layer face foam to absorb sweat, a silicone-beaded strap, and are equipped in their standard versions with a stamped Lexan lens. The most exciting new technology in the Airspace II and Main II goggles is the Variable Lens System, which is an exclusive shape to the lens channel inside the goggle frame itself. Though both goggles come outfitted with stamped Lexan lenses, the VLS channel will accept an optional injection-molded polycarbonate lens, just like the one the premium Vue goggle comes equipped with, for $44.95. What this does, if offer consumers the optical clarity and impact protection of the premium Vue goggle, by installing the accessory lens that fits into the same frame channels.

The Airspace II and Main II goggles share the same lens shape, and thanks to the Variable Lens System, they can also be fitted with an accessory lens that is injection molded for optical clarity and superior impact protection.

These days, a 450cc four-stroke motocross bike pumps out nearly 60 horsepower and is capable of spraying far more violent roost at your face out on the track. We’ve actually had our lenses dislodged from the goggle frames in the past, and are firm believers in the modern injection-molded lens technology that has evolved in recent years. Giving consumers the opportunity to upgrade to a superior level of protection with an entry- and mid-level goggle is awesome. Equipped with standard Lexan lenses, the Airspace II starts at $54.95, while the main is as inexpensive as $24.95. Both can be upgraded with the $44.95 injection-molded lens.

Protecting your eyes from flying dirt, rocks, and roost is second in importance only to protecting your brain with a high-quality helmet, and thanks to the new VLS technology, doing so can come for as little as $69.90 by pairing a standard Main II goggle with the accessory lens. Kudos to Fox Racing for offering three choices when it comes to preserving your vision.

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