Giro couldn't have asked for a better debut into the sunglasses market. When the 2007 Tour de France kicked off, they had a few sponsored riders showing their Havik frames in the peloton. None were high profile riders until Alberto Contador showed his climbing chops during the finale of stage 8 on the climb to Tignes. The young rider finished 8th, eventually picked up the white jersey and took yellow by default, becoming the first rider since Jan Ullrich to win both the overall and best young rider competition.

At first, we didn't know what to make of the Giro Havik. Initially, we thought the style a bit derivative, but a longer inspection allowed us to conclude that the style is unique to Giro. The differences might seem small at first, but they make huge differences in the end.

The frame is designed to fit a human head that is wearing a helmet. This means that the temples hit neither the straps nor the secondary retention system. That there is no binding means the glasses are easier to get on, get off, and have them stay in place. With rubber temple tips and nosepiece, these glasses will stay put. And with their Wind Tunnel Technology vents, you won't have a need to remove them, even on the muggiest of climbs. The lens also curves a good bit more than the regular single-lens set of glasses. Giro calls it True Sight, which is just a trademarked way of saying that the range of clear, accurate, non-distorted vision is a total of 60 degrees, 30 each from center, which is much more than the average sport sunglass can say for itself.

The Giro sunglasses, especially the Haviks, have Zeiss Certified lenses. Carl Zeiss Vision specializes in distortion-free lenses. Giro hammered out an exclusive arrangement Zeiss and the lenses are not only designed but manufactured to the highest standards. Every Giro Lens comes with a number after the shade. This is the Visible Light Transmission (VLT) index. The lower the number, the darker the lens. Giro lenses range from 82 for clear to 12 for their polarized lens.

While each frame comes with a specific lens, the lenses are interchangeable. The available extra lenses are: Clear (82), Grey (20z), Rose Silver (23z) Brown Bronze (26z), and Brown (16z) tints. The "z" after the number means they're Zeiss Certified.

All Giro sunglasses come with a Dura Clean coating. This is a two-component coat on top of the lens which helps repel water, oil, and fingerprints on one level, and helps prevent lens scratching on another.

The Giro Havik is a single-lens sunglass. The frame is made of Rilsan, a durable nylon. The lens is 7-Base Zeiss Certified True Sight polycarbonate. Frame/Lens Color Combinations available are: Gloss Black/Grey (20z), Gloss White/Brown Bronze (26z), and Matte Black/Rose Silver (23z). The glasses ship in a box that contains a soft cloth carrying case that is also ideal for lens cleaning.