Scott USA Prospect Sand/Dust Light Sensitive Goggle

Released a few years back, the Prospect goggle from Scott is their premier, top-of-the-range goggle. When it was launched, the main changes to the goggle was that it had a much wider field of view and had a four-pen lens locking system that kept the lens in the frame of the goggle no matter how hard it was hit.

Now we are looking at the LS (light sensitive) Prospect with a photochromic lens that changes tint with how much UV light hits it, just like Transition lens eyeglasses. 

Scott Prospect LS Goggle Features (from Scott)

• Massive field of vision. 
• Lens lock system.
• Articulated outriggers.
• No Sweat 3-layer molded face foam.
• Light sensitive lens.

On the track

I’ve worn the standard Scott Prospects in the past and while the three-layer foam is very soft and seals great, the out-riggers hold the goggle nice and tight to your face, and the field of vision is on par with any other wide-vision goggle on the market, I’ve had some issues with the goggle sitting low on my nose making it harder to breathe. Since these are exactly the same, just with a different lens, I have the same issue. But I know that comes down to face size and shape since most of our other testers have no nose-pinching issues and can comfortably wear the Prospects and breathe normally. 

On to the lens which is what makes these different. At first I was thinking sure, photochromic lenses are cool but when exactly would I wear them? Well, I found the perfect application. Perris Raceway here in SoCal has night practice throughout the week and in the winter time, it is dark the whole time. Clear goggles are the way to go with the track lit up by lights. 

But in the summertime, it’s a different story. You show up with the sun a couple hours from going down and for riders like me that like super dark tinted goggles to protect our sensitive little peepers, a dark tinted goggle is what I want. But as the sun goes down and you get into the sunset/twilight zone, at some point you need to make the call on when to switch to clear, that is if you even remembered to bring clear goggles. 

Inter the LS Prospect. On paper, this should be the one goggle for the whole afternoon of full sun, low-light, to night time riding. So, how does it do? Actually pretty good, with some compromises. Like I mentioned, I like a super dark tint most of the time and in full sunlight the LS lens got moderately tinted. Definitely not black-out dark like Oakley’s Dark Smoke (probably my favorite) but enough of a tint that, during a normal day at the track, I wasn’t squinting nor did I have eye-fatigue at the end of the day, which happens with clear or light tinted goggles. 

Back to Perris, as the sun dropped lower towards the horizon, I could tell that the goggles were getting lighter. This is the real beauty of the photochromic lenses. With a gradual change of light they adjust automatically. Not only is this good for when you are riding from day to night, but also early in the morning with low light or if the day is going to go from super cloudy to nice and sunny. Once the sun was down, these transitioned to full clear just like any other clear lens. 

The two cons to the LS lens is that they don’t get as dark as heavily tinted or mirrored goggles, like I mentioned before. They get to the medium/moderately tinted zone. Second is that they don’t transition super quick. It takes 30-60 seconds to get fully dark or fully clear. If you were thinking these would swap from clear to tint rapid-fire on a trail ride going in and out of tree cover, they just don’t switch that fast. They would still lighten eventually if you were in the shade long enough and since they don’t get too dark, I would say these would still be better than fully-tinted goggles for mixed-sun conditions. 

Last word

While the prospect frame is a little big for my face, the functionality of the LS lens is really freakin’ convenient. I make sure I have these in my riding bag at all times. Sometimes there is that last minute decision to go riding in the afternoon that has me on the bike as the sun is going down and these are a no brainer.