Julbo - Montebianco 2 Polarizing S2-4 (VLT 20-5%) - Glacier glasses tested

I have been wearing the Montebianco 2.0 for a month now on several hikes and in day-to-day scenarios. One of the hikes required improvised "climbing" on rocks and vertical wooden stairs.

For the optics I can only give compliments - great sun protection with unnoticeable photochromic transitions. I wanted darker sunglasses and these 2-4 lenses deliver in a big way. The lens darken uniformly with only one occasion where one of the lenses darkened with a dark spot and I had to turn my head towards the Sun to even the darkening out.

The design and the construction of the frame, however, are nothing short of a disaster with the major drawbacks not being related to my face shape:

- temple tips pull hair when putting glasses on - there are rubber inserts in the temples but these inserts have an edge towards the temple tips which catch hair like crazy

- useless nose tips - the padding/rubber that is supposed to keep the glasses on your nose can barely hold them under normal use but when some sweating occurs the Montebiancos keep on constantly slipping down the nose

- frame design commands low-sitting glasses that hit my cheekbones with space between the top of the rims and my eyebrows. This leads to the top rim being in my eyesight and leakage of sunshine between my face and the rim top

The last point needs some explanation. By having the top rim sitting lower, for the Montebianco to properly protect my eyes I need to push them snug to my face. This brings the top rim close enough to my eyebrows and high enough on my nose, so that no Sun shines through and said top rim is not in my eyesight. However when placed snugly to my face, the bottom rim hits my cheekbones so badly that any jaw movement (talking, laughing, eating) pushes back at the eyeglasses. This push-back, combined with the useless nose rubber tip, causes the glasses to immediately slip down my nose, letting sunshine in from the top and causing the top rim to block my upper eyesight.

As a conclusion: be sure to try these on before buying. If need be, check same model with other lenses and then order online. But first try them on to see if they fit and if they stay put.