The Women's Vanquisher is the only goggle I can wear without leaking. I tend to purchase about 4 pair at a time when they are on sale, so I may have had them for awhile before I wear them.
Here's the problem: For the third time in the last year or so, the coating has bubbled up on the first wearing, making them unusable. The first time it happened, I was at Nationals where a Speedo rep switched them out as flawed. It's not so convenient when you don't have a Speedo rep nearby.
Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how have you handled it?
Love the goggles, but hate throwing them away after one wearing!
The one thing that bugs me about Vanquishers, and perhaps I'd have the same problem with any silicone strapped goggles, is the straps tend to slide around a lot. The strap won't stay in place when I dive if the goggles are over my cap (I always wear them under the cap for races). I also have problems with half the strap coming off on IM transitions during practice. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm sure I could solve it by tightening the strap, but I'd rather not make them too tight.
Speedo speed sockets are the best I have tried. I've never had them leak. In practice they have been extremely loose and from a dive with a cap the strap has slid down to the neck but the goggles stayed on the eyes perfectly. For anyone looking for a new style if you can go to a swim shop with around 50 different goggles with demo units just try them all until you find one that fits you well.
Over the weekend I got horrible sick with a sinus infection that's spread to my eyes - don't worry, it's being treated, so you will all be spared this hell. So, I decided it was in my best interest to dump my goggles. Over the past year I've raced in Vanquishers & TYR Velocity recently and had the Women's Vanquishers in the past. My eyes are set slightly close together, so I tend to do better with smaller models. I really like the Vanquishers but I found they don't quite form the proper seal in the inside corner of the eyes for me, so they can be prone to leak there. The TYR Velocity fit my eyes really, really well but they have more of a tendency for strap slippage than the Vanquishers...for me, this means they are more prone to get knocked around a touch on the dive and let water slip in. I've found I can double up caps to eliminate this problem (cap, goggles, cap). If I do just goggles then cap, I find I have so much hair it makes the goggles slide under the cap. This works fine for 200's and under but anything over a 200 I get too hot racing in two caps. Heck, I'll only wear latex for the 1000 because silicone is too hot for me in that.
Anyways, I almost ordered the women's Vanquishers since I recall loving those but I decided to order a pair of TYR Velocity and a pair of TYR Blackhawk. They're supposed to come in today so I'll be testing them out today and tomorrow to decide which I'll use this weekend. I'm kinda hoping the Blackhawks are perfect because they look super cool. I love racing in shiny, dark, metallic goggles.
The one thing that bugs me about Vanquishers, and perhaps I'd have the same problem with any silicone strapped goggles, is the straps tend to slide around a lot. The strap won't stay in place when I dive if the goggles are over my cap (I always wear them under the cap for races). I also have problems with half the strap coming off on IM transitions during practice. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm sure I could solve it by tightening the strap, but I'd rather not make them too tight.
I have to make the goggles really tight on the Vanquishers for them to not come off on the dive. But when I do, it works.
In my experience, the Speedo Vanquisher goggles are the second most comfortable ones out there. However, the anti-fog treatment doesn't last long in Arizona (outdoor) conditions and the insides tend to get blurry after a few months. I have had good luck with the AquaSphere anti-fog solution and always keep two bottles on-hand (one in swim bag and one at home). Will try the baby shampoo bath though, sounds like a good long-term solution.
My $0.02 worth...
I have experienced the gasket slipping off during training on old pairs as Allen mentioned, but so far I've prevented this from happening at races, by a quick inspection and socket seal prior to my heat. Been using these about 3 years now without a single malfunction on race day. Sometimes I remove the seal to clean whatever crud can find its way in and make it leak.
Are you speaking of sealing the gasket to the goggles, or the goggles to your eyes?
I have an old pair of TYR goggles, not sure what model, and getting a good seal with them is not easy.
Doug, I used the baby shampoo every day on my Vanquishers and it works great. It keeps the fog at bay for an entire workout, even the long ones. NOt sure how it works, but it does.
Are you speaking of sealing the gasket to the goggles, or the goggles to your eyes?
I have an old pair of TYR goggles, not sure what model, and getting a good seal with them is not easy.
(Re: TYR Stealths) Gasket to lens seal is what I was speaking of. The gasket to skin seal on the other hand is spot-on perfect for me and rarely leaks.
The gasket itself seems to only have adhesive sealant along a couple of cm's around the bottom of the lens and can actually come off around the corners and top. You gave me an idea, I might apply some clear RTV on an old pair and see how it works
I've worn Vanquishers on and off for the past 5 years. They are comfortable and I've never had leakage or had them fall off. My only beef with them is that the peripheral vision is limited compared to swedes, which is what I traditionally wear. But, I can't seem to keep swedes on my head when I'm wearing a cap...they always come down on my face in the dive regardless of how tight they are set. At this point, I prefer to have a short haircut and wear the swedes with no cap.
I'm trying out the expensive Fastskin goggles next.
