Scott built its business off the back of goggle sales, and the Factor MTB goggles are a decent option for gravity riding.
Scott Factor MTB goggles review
If you’re looking for a good pair of budget goggles that outperform their price, the Scott Factor goggle is a really good choice. In fact, Scott’s Factor goggle is by far the brand’s cheapest product in this category. £40 won’t get you much elsewhere either, although I do know Brand X sells an MTB-specific goggle through Chain Reaction and Wiggle for £25.
Scott’s budget version has a orange chrome lens for brighter conditions and also includes the most useful lens for UK riding conditions: clear, giving full light transmission in murky woods and on dingy days.
The main Factor frame is bendy to conform to face shape and vented to work with MTB helmets by channelling cooling and demisting air over the lens (which is also treated with an anti-fog coating to stop it steaming up). There’s also a microfibre bag included which is useful for storage, hanging off the bars on climbs and cleaning the lens (use the inside to prevent scratching) before dropping into a descent.
This is a decent goggle for this cash – the lens is clear and contrast-y, it doesn’t jiggle about thanks to a broad strap (with silicone gripper strips on the inside) and it sits nice and close to the face, so you don’t get that ‘viewing window’ effect that most expensive goggles serve up.
This happens when thicker and fancier layers of pads are added; the further the goggle gets away from the face and the more the frame eats into peripheral vision – fine for high-speed motocross, where you’re only ever looking far ahead, not so fine for slower, technical MTB trails where you’re constantly switching focus from directly in front of the front tyre to further ahead for best vision and control.
The flip side to this is the cheap foam used lacks any extra layer on the skin side to protect it and looked pretty tatty and pitted after a week of alpine gravity riding. The very flexible frame also saw the lens pop out slightly at the top, and it could do with an extra tab to better marry the lens and frame across the brow.
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Verdict
These do steam up a fraction more than my favourite Smith Squad goggles when it’s really chucking it down, but if you want to improve ventilation to those levels, you can always remove the thin layer of foam over the plastic frame (at the expense of potentially letting in dirt and loam). Overall though, this is as much goggle as you need for serious mountain biking at a realistic price.
Details
Weight:150g
Colours:Black/White w/ Orange lens
Contact:scott-sports.com