Rudy Project Ketyum and Maskeryna
By Jon Sharp

Rudy Project has a slogan: Technically Cool Eyewear. You may ask, are these sunglasses cool only in a technical sense? "Adjustable Alpacca ear pieces are cool, technically speaking, of course." Or, perhaps, it is just cool that they use technology in their eyewear. Maybe, there is an actual chart of coolness, so that, if placed on the chart, Rudy Project "technically" comes out cool, even though you might not agree. In my opinion, however, they are both really technical, and really cool—the one being independent of the other. To prove my point, I have here reviewed the Ketyum and the Maskeryna. These two glasses are very technical and very cool—though each excels at one more than the other.

Ketyum:
For the most part, I don't like wearing sunglasses for long periods of time. I find them irritating and uncomfortable. Right away, I want to make it clear that I have never worn any eyewear (prescription glasses or otherwise) that are as comfortable as the Rudy Project Ketyum. It is common, while wearing them, for me to forget that I have them on.

The Ketyums are very high-performance, technical sunglasses. They have an open lens design for optimal peripheral clarity. They come with two sets of interchangeable lenses, but there are 11 lenses to choose from. The pair we reviewed came with Laser Bronze and Laser Clear Deg lenses. The Laser Bronze lens was a brown lens good for mid-to-bright conditions. About the only time I couldn't wear them was in the low-light of dawn or dusk. The Laser Clear Deg lenses are perfectly clear at the bottom with a gradual fade to a very light grey at the top. These were great as protection in very low light conditions. I especially liked them for morning rides when I would start out in near-twilight, but end up in the bright morning sun. The grey at the top of the lens was just enough to take the edge off the early light of the day. Even so, I would rather have had yellow or orange lenses—available as an option or standard with other frame colors.

The nose piece on the Ketyum is grippy and very adjustable. It is possible to fine-tune these glasses to fit your face perfectly. The temples have internal sprung hinges. Combined with the light-weight of the frames, the spring hinges helped the Ketyum to feel custom to everyone who put them on. Like I said, they fit perfectly. The temples also have nice rubber tips, and are adjustable. The Ketyum is very light at only 30 grams—though not as light as the Maskeryna. Changing the lenses was easy, but we eventually found some flaking around the area where the lenses fit in the frame. After contacting Rudy Project, they assured us that this was extremely rare—they hadn't seen an occurrence in over 5 years—and covered, "of course," under the warranty.

Maskeryna:
The Ketyum may be light, but the Maskeryna is very light. These are frameless sunglasses with the temples and nose-piece being built right into the large single lens. As you might have supposed, a design like this means no interchangeable lenses, so make sure you pick the right color up front. But all this adds up to a scant 15 grams. 15 grams, I tell you!

The temples on the Maskeryna do not have spring hinges, though the Grilamid material is strong and quite flexible—which makes for a nice fit. The nose-piece is fully adjustable with anallergic silicon pads. They are very light (Have I mentioned that before?) and hardly noticeable while on your face.

When you pick the lens color of the Maskeryna, you're picking the frame color as well. These glasses are sleek and look really cool. I mean, if you ever doubted the "cool" part of their marketing campaign, these are it. The pair I received was the Cristall color. This is basically the same color as the Laser Clear Deg lenses of the Ketyum. All my non-biking friends immediately questioned what they could be used for, but at the same time were impressed with how they looked. As it turns out, I love wearing them in low-light conditions. As with the Ketyum, when I wear them I really forget they are on my face. Because they don't have a frame and are so, dare I say it again, light-weight, they feel like an extension of my own body.

Summary:
There you have it, the highly technical Ketyum and the very cool Maskeryna. Of course, the Ketyum is quite cool also, while the Maskeryna has a very technical side. Both sunglasses have flawless optics and are quite comfortable. Even though the Maskeryna is lighter, I found the Ketyum to be a better choice as a truly technical piece of eyewear. I never had any problems with either pair of glasses slipping while bombing down a rocky trail—they consistently stayed put. There is a downside to the Ketyum—a 260USD price tag. That is a hefty price to pay for sunglasses—even high-tech ones. These might be the most comfortable, but a slight loss in comfort can lead to a huge savings in your wallet. The Maskeryna, on the other hand, comes in a much more reasonable (for high-end sunglasses) 120USD. Probably the best value of these glasses is the Replacement Lens Guarantee (RLG). The RLG gives you the option to replace scratched lenses for a mere 14.95USD. That's a cheap way to make your more expensive sunglasses last. A word of warning: If you can't afford the Ketyums, please don't try them on. They are so comfortable, you might find yourself trying to explain to your enraged spouse why they are worth that much money. Of course, if this warning comes too late or falls on deaf ears, feel free to print out this article for your defense. (It is best not to rely on your memory in sticky situations like that.)

Jon Sharp is "technically" a contributing editor for GearReview.com who tries—honest, he does—to be cool.

For more information, contact:
Rudy Project
info@rudyprojectusa.com