COLORS: Gold/red mirror, black/pink clear, black/silver clear, black/silver platinum mirror, navy/white clear, navy/white blue mirror, white/silver platinum mirror, white/silver clear, black/red clear, black/red red mirror, green/white platinum mirror, green/white clear, black/orange red mirror, black/orange clear, black/yellow clear, black/yellow red mirror, navy/sky blue clear, chocolate/tan clear

PRICE: $72.00

MOTOCROSS.COM RATING:8

CONTACT: www.smithoptics.com

            As one of the leaders in the goggle business, Smith is always trying to stay one step ahead of their competition by consistently producing goggles that offer something different. And for 2008, they’re at it again.

            Based off of their traditional Fuel frame, the Intake Sweat-X goggle offers something extra in the form of a new air intake system for on-demand airflow. The system is designed to push air into the goggle to help fight off fogging and keep you cool. The Intake Sweat-X also has triple layered foam for maximum sweat absorption and comfort. Moving on to the frame, like we said it’s based off of the company’s popular Fuel goggle and features an articulating Outrigger Positioning System, which helps to keep the goggle pulled down evenly on your face, thereby offering an exceptional seal to keep dirt and dust out. And because the frame is based off the Fuel goggle, the replacement lens comes from that same goggle. Finally, like most goggles, the strap has an extra wide silicone strip, however, unlike others, the Intake Sweat-X goggle features an exclusive Stay-Put rubber portion on the back of the strap to keep it exactly where you want. Other notable features include integrated tear off posts that can also be converted to accept roll offs, a mirror lens, and a custom chrome-fade painted frame.

            When we first slipped the goggle on, we noticed that the comfort level was right up there with other goggles. The triple layer foam and large eye portal no doubt aid in this, giving an unobstructed view of what’s in front of you. But while the large portal is good, it can also make the goggle difficult to fit into some helmets that have a slightly smaller eye portal. As for the rubber Stay-Put portion on the strap, when combined with the silicone on the rest of the strap, it stayed in place better than any goggle on the market. Moving on to the vent on the top of the goggles, it does do its job of venting, and we could actually notice it, but the vent opens up a scoop where dirt and dust might be led down to the foam much easier. We haven’t experienced dirt getting into the goggles, but would caution that on a dusty track you might want to ride with the vents in the downward or closed position. Finally, as for the fogging of the goggle, we’ve only been riding in warm weather, but haven’t had problems with the lens fogging up—even when stopped for a prolonged period of time.

RATING

            We came away pretty happy with the new Smith Intake Sweat-X goggle, but when considering that the added features really aren’t necessities, and the price tag is slightly high for a goggle, we just couldn’t justify not docking a few points off in the rating. If you’re series about racing, though, and want to spend a little extra dough on something that offers a little more than the competition, these goggles are the perfect choice. In our humble opinion, the Smith Intake Sweat-X goggle is probably one of the coolest looking on the market.