Reviewed: Nike Windshield Elite
We review the Nike Windshield Elite as part of our hottest sunglasses of 2020 roundup.
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Nike Windshield Elite Review
Starting at $170, 25g (as measured), Nike.com
You wouldn’t be the first person to be surprised to hear that Nike makes high-end sunglasses for cycling/running. But of course the sportswear giant makes just about everything, so it makes sense. Nike’s new Windshield Elite is a pair of aero and very modern-looking sunglasses that’s a sleeker version of its brother pair, the Windshield. While the regular Windshield costs the same as the Windshield Elite, we liked the missing nosebridge on the Elites that was a little more in line with what other eyewear brands are doing right now. That said, both pairs are not an example of the maximalist trend seen elsewhere in this roundup—so think of the Windshields as a full-coverage minimal alternative if you don’t love the huge, often hot, visor look of everything else.
While these absolutely fall on the lighter side of the roundup—which is no surprise given how small the coverage is—they’re not the lightest of the bunch. For a pair with few onboard features (no adjustable earpieces, for instance), I would have expected these to be closer to 20 grams when weighed. Without splitting hairs on weight, the Windshield does have a few nice features, like a replaceable floating nosepiece we really liked and a removable lens. While the lens is easy to take out and put in, there was no evidence on Nike’s (very difficult to navigate) website that they’re currently offering individual lenses, but maybe later down the road. Fitwise, even though the earpieces aren’t adjustable, they do a good job of expanding to fit larger heads without any hotspots, as the earpiece rubber itself is very light and supple. Unlike their Vaporwing Elite—which we didn’t really like the lenses on—the lenses on the Windshield Elite are crystal clear and distortion free. The only downside to this pair of sunglasses was that the general feel of these Chinese-made frames wasn’t as high quality as some of the other brands in this roundup.
Read the complete roundup of the hottest shades of 2020 here.