First Look: All New Spy Foundation Goggle

The philosophy of “bigger is better” has taken hold in the MX goggle game. Maximizing peripheral and vertical vision is definitely a good thing for racers, but as goggles get bigger, fit and ventilation become an issue. There is a balancing act of goggle size-to-helmet-fit that all goggle manufacturers have to figure out. And, according to SPY, its new Foundation and Foundation+ Goggles do just that.

Triple face foam and a deep set frame lets the Foundation goggle be large, but still seal to your face.

The whole point of the Foundation Goggle is to offer the widest field of view of any goggle, while fitting in the most helmets possible, and still being functional, i.e. ventilated. Spy explained that the subtle contours and ridges on the top leading edge of the frame are there to direct air hitting the front of the goggle up and over the top of the goggle faster than it spill down under the goggle. This is, again according to Spy, how the venturi effect helps vent the goggle. The faster moving air on the top of the goggle sucks in air from the bottom. With smaller goggles, this isn’t as much as an issue because there is more space all the way around the goggle in the eyeport of the helmet. But, to offer a massive field of vision, the Foundation has to be pretty massive and takes up most, if not all, of the eyeport.

The two diagonal ridges direct air from the front of the google to the top and over the leading top edge of the frame.

We grabbed The King himself, Jeremy “Showtime” McGrath, to get some info on his involvement with the project.

“I got involved with the testing once they had the goggle roughed out. Honestly, throughout the process they did a great job. What was funny was, the first time I wore them, I hadn’t worn any goggles that were really big ever. I know Oakley and some of the other brands have some bigger goggles but I hadn’t tried any of those. So when I rode with it for the first time I was like, wow, it doesn’t feel like you have goggles on, especially with a clear lens. You are like, ‘Whoa, this is crazy,’ you know?

“We didn’t have any problems with it from the beginning, it just took me some time to get used to it. Basically, yeah, just get used to seeing more. [The design] was up to me, you know. So I was going for like ‘classy’ and ‘classic.’ Now that I’m older I’ve been thinking about that. I either like to have my stuff super bright and crazy or style-y and classic and that’s what you get with the black and gold.”

Quick Ride

SPY had us meet at MC’s ranch to actually ride with the new Foundation goggle. We had the Fly F2 Carbon helmet, which has a pretty average eyeport size. The google fit the helmet, but did take up nearly all of the eyeport. But, the frame depth and contour still creates a really great seal and fit on your face. And the massive field of view is noticeable right away. Like Jeremy said, you can’t see nearly any of the goggle, except for the tear-off posts and the little MC logo in the top-center. The outriggers do a great job of letting the frame of the goggle deep into the eyeport to make good contact with your face. We’ll be riding with these more over the next month and will have a few review soon.

Check out the SPY Foundation Goggles in our Product Guide and see if there are any other googles you might want to scope on.

Spy Foundation/Foundation+ Goggles: $110/$95