RUDY PROJECT

Rudy Project has created innovative sports eyewear and helmets since 1985. A family-owned business, founded by Rudy Barbazza and led by his sons, Christiano and Simone, the brand promotes sporting excellence through superior technologies, design and materials.

In order to excel at any sport, athletes need clear sight of the world around them, free from distractions or impairments, along with confidence in the safety and comfort of their kit. Rudy Project works closely with athletes to create equipment that will help them to achieve results.

Based in Treviso, Rudy Project makes sports sunglasses, helmets, goggles and optical solutions, all designed and manufactured in Italy, that put athletes in the right headspace to compete. Dedicated to discovering new materials, aerodynamic advances and sustainable practices, the brand’s ultimate aims are to respect the planet and safeguard the health and performance of its customers.

KEY PRODUCTS

EYEWEAR

Rudy Project’s sunglasses use advanced lenses to maximise athletes’ visual clarity, minimise glare and protect their eyes, while ergonomic shaping ensures their comfort. A variety of solutions, lens types and sport-specific styles ensure that every customer can find the ideal model to match their needs and interests, whether they’re after protection from UV rays on tarmac, rapid adaptation to changing light or improved contrast and depth perception for riding off road. 

Helmets

Aerodynamics, safety and comfort are all important in a Rudy Project helmet, since cyclists can only perform at their best when they ride with confidence. Developed using Rotational Impact Testing, their helmets exceed CE and CPSC safety standards, offering maximum protection with a light weight, and are designed with close attention to ergonomics, ventilation, pressure points and fit. 

Opticians

With its prescription sports eyewear, Rudy Project ensures you will never need to choose between perfect vision and comfort while engaging in your favourite discipline. Stylish and protective, its impact resistant solutions offer everything from high vision correction to interchangeable sun protection, prescription lenses and bifocals that will let you read your bike computer without losing focus on the terrain around you. Tailormade eyewear for every rider. 

About Rudy Project

Rudy Project’s sunglasses, helmets and optical solutions are the choice of world class athletes and teams around the globe. The reason for this success is the brand’s commitment to developing new materials and innovations to help sportspeople reach their full potential.

Years ago, Rudy Project was the first company to create an aero helmet, the Sweeto, and it has remained a leader in cycling aerodynamic engineering. Since then, the brand’s helmets have been refined in the wind tunnel and primed for performance through technologies such as the AirFrame Band, which optimises your helmet's ventilation, and the Divider Pro Side Buckles, which ensure it will stay put during your ride, as well as rigorous safety testing.

Rudy Project has developed many eyewear innovations too, beginning with the Air System to keep sunglasses from fogging up during exercise, without impairing vision. More recent inventions have included the light, durable ImpactX® 2 lenses, with their photochromatic technology that can adapt to any light, offering exceptional visual clarity, and the ImpactRX advanced digital surface ophthalmic lenses that eliminate visual distortion and lateral aberrations, allowing you to concentrate fully on your sport.

A commitment to sustainability

Rudy Project’s mission to support sporting excellence extends to fighting climate change to preserve the outdoor spaces where it is practiced. The brand’s #RideToZero philosophy is its pledge to actively promote health and wellbeing, reduce its environmental impact and achieve the Agenda 2030 goals.

By adopting eco-friendly materials and processes, choosing its business partners accordingly and promoting education and access to sport, the Rudy Project actively reduces its environmental footprint. In particular, it has adopted the three principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle when it comes to research, responsible business evolution and product disposal.

It puts its principles into practice by using RILSAN®, a renewable resource made from castor oil, as the foundation of its frames, planting 100 trees for every event it participates in and supporting community initiatives. The latter include “Road to Equality”, which breaks down barriers in sport, and “Plastic Free Ride”, which cuts down on single-use plastics in cycling. Rudy Project also supports the Italian Red Cross in partnership with Sonny Colbrelli.

Rudy Project and Saddleback 

In common with many of Saddleback’s brands, Rudy Project is regularly represented at WorldTour level. Currently, it is a technical partner of Team Bahrain Victorious, with its helmets and eyewear being worn by Matej Mohorič, Santiago Buitrago and Wout Poels.

Rudy Project and Saddleback have been partners since August 2024 and share a commitment to developing market leading products and launching innovations within the cycling sphere.