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Rival

May23

RIVAL frames – A Zeal Optics Review

Growing up as the daughter of a small business owner, I have a soft spot in my heart for the hometown feel when it comes to where I buy things. Whether it is the hole in the wall breakfast spot beside a chain restaurant, a Home Hardware store instead of a big box building supply centre (ok, shameless plug) or the best eye care/wear provider in Waterloo, I will be there in a heartbeat because it was woven into my fabric as a child.

If you are new to the blog, my father owns a Home Hardware store and I work at the corporate head office. Small business is who we are.

If you are new to the blog, my father owns a Home Hardware store and I work at the corporate head office. Small business is who we are.

Working with Zeal Optics has been a small business lovers dream. They are owned by a smaller company rather than a large corporation and the representative takes time to sit down, ask about my training and travelling and shares the new designs and photo shoots with absolute pride and care. I am so so stuck on Zeal.

Zeal
It’s not just that they are a small head office in Colorado that does all their look books with their staff or that their managers begin emails with “How’s it going?” and really mean it. It’s the unusual and incredible designs that they create and the care they take to make sure it is a perfect fit for you. They also offer the only fully biodegradable eyewear and plant based lens on the market.

elume

I received my second pair of Zeals this spring and I went for the sport performance pair this time. They are designed to look as good at a coffee shop as the side of mountain and I always get compliments when I wear them.

I picked out the Rivals because, as my rep put it, they made me look fast!

rival

A couple of weeks ago, I put them to the test and débuted them at my RunWaterloo race.
run

I enjoyed testing out a different end of the range of Zeals – I love my fashion pair and I was curious to see if they could successfully produce a pair of glasses for athletes to perform in.

They were so light and wrapped around  my face and the blue colour offers the shade of podiums. They are a unique design but they were unobtrusive, light and so subtle that I forgot I was wearing them.

run2

I definitely was sweating hard and they stayed put on my face. They also have a ellume shield with hydrophobic and olephobic coatings for extra protection no matter where I use them. As a trail running, road running, cycling, mountain biking, climbing, swimming adventuress, I am pretty happy to know my sunglasses are working as hard as I am. They are hands down, worth every penny. Support quality and local and look fabulous – it all makes sense.

I also must add that I won the hill climb challenge and podiumed while wearing them. It was totally the frames.

run3

I wear the Rivals in Black frame with Blue Bird Mirror.

What do you look for in your sport sunglasses?

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Related

Filed Under: Favourites, Lifestyle, RacesTagged With: Colorado, Ellume shield, hydrophobic, Jessica Kuepfer, olephobic, Plant Based, Rival, RunWaterloo, sunglasses, Zeal OpticsMay 23, 2014

Comments

  1. Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat says

    May 23, 2014 at 7:32 am

    Haha I spy me slogging up that hill behind you in the last pic! #dyingaslowdeath. You have successfully made me fall head over heels in love with Zeal sunglasses over the past couple of conversations we’ve had. Like you, I’m all for supporting smaller businesses and love their focus on design, technology, and functionality. I’d agree with all the others that have given you compliments – yours are stunning! 🙂

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      May 23, 2014 at 12:01 pm

      So glad you love them as much as I do. It is time to get you into a pair or two!

      Reply
  2. John Kuepfer says

    May 23, 2014 at 10:17 am

    Wow what an amazing promotion of Home Hardware, Wellesley Home Centre, Zeal and your abilities in one swoop.

    Reply
  3. Krysten Siba Bishop (@darwinianfail) says

    May 26, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    So cute!! I love these!! You look like a running rockstar!

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      May 27, 2014 at 2:05 pm

      HA! Thanks lady. You are so sweet. 🙂

      Reply

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MY NEXT RACE:

Seattle Half Marathon | Burlington, ON | November 2018

Hi, I'm Jessica and this is my endurance sport blog where I share my training, races and sports nutrition. New here? Feel free to learn more about me here and if you are looking for a place to start, check out my popular posts.

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