Author Topic: Looking for a recommendation for a light cycling cap (Rapha used fit until...)  (Read 3731 times)

alcyst

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Looking for a recommendation.

I bought a couple of the Rapha cycling caps, size large. Shocking price, but they did fit. Rapha subsequently went one-size-fits-all, except when it doesn't. I don't have a remarkable head, at least not on the outside, but the Rapha cap did fit nicely. Many of the alternatives have a too-large brim, or go too far down the back of the head, or get too snug on a long ride. A hat does limit perspiration on a warm day, and the brim is like holding your hand above your eyes where it relaxes the eyes.

I haven't had any luck with any of the one-size-fits-all cycling team caps. Amongst the ones that offer multiple sizes Assos are a bit snug, elevenvelo have a big brim and an odd fit.

Anybody got any recommendations?

Danneaux

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Question noted and looking, Alcyst, so it didn't just drop into a well.

A good cycling cap is great for all the reasons you've mentioned. Unfortunately, I wear a helmet, so have gone a different route, weaing a Buff ( http://www.buffusa.com/sports/collections/original-buff-reg/styles ) in a number of different configuration beneath the helmet. For a visored cap, I take an Outdoor Research one with a detachable neck shade for warm weather use. I end up wearing the cap pretty constantly year-round, however. It is size-adjustable via a velcro strap at the back.

Nowhere near what you're looking for, but perhaps better than nothing if nothing else comes to light. See:
http://www.rei.com/product/721671/outdoor-research-sun-runner-cap I have a narrow, small noggin, so often have to buy outdoor hats intended for women and youths if I'm to get a fit. Fortunately, these also come in Medium, Large, and Extra Large.

Best of luck in your search. Hopefully, someone will come along with a good solution and personal endorsement for you soon. Though I have not tried them myself, this brand comes with a money-back guarantee and claims to be "the best you will ever wear": http://www.walzcaps.com/ ...and include stylish and traditional designs made of wool as well as cotton and "athletic materials".

Dan.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 09:48:44 pm by Danneaux »

Andre Jute

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I don't know anything about made-for-cycling caps, and certainly not at Rapha prices. Except for an Altura Night Vision Jacket I have nothing currently in use that is specifically made for cycling, because I find cyling gear to be particularly badly fitted and overpriced too.

However. I wear a helmet, and I have found, by trial and error:
1. I have a lycra sports running cap that is exceedingly useful. This has no brim and is like a beanie, deep enough to cover the ears. I wear it in the summer under the helmet to keep the sweat out of my eyes, and in the spring and autumn simply to keep my head warm. Close fitting, but not warm enough for the coldest weather. Black, with a non-denominational graphic in pale gray, no maker's name. Bought from Lidl; I'll buy several more if they bring it back. Probably also in sports shops under one brand or another. Love it and wear it more often than anything except my cycling jacket and my fave leather gloves.
2. My helmet has a visor that stays on year-round, but in high summer a bigger bill is often an advantage riding the ridges of the hills that define the valleys of my hilly environment. Then I wear a baseball cap under my helmet. The baseball cap, cotton, is cooler than the lycra item above, but it is rarely warm enough here for that to be a compelling reason to switch to the cotton cap. It has an open back with an adjustment strap; that doesn't bother me, but it would do more to keep the sun off the back of your head if it were closed and had elastic sewn in for self-adjustment. Also bought from Lidl.
3. For the worst cold of the winter, I have several Thinsulate beanies which I wear under my helmet. The one on my head right now (not taken off after taking the first cycle of a rather cold spring day) claims to weigh only 40gr. These beanies range from expensive sports items to cheap supermarket jobs; I see no quality difference except that one of the expensive sports department ones had an unraveling seam from new. The reason I have several is that when it is really cold and windy I cycle in a padded leather jacket, and my rides are exactly long enough to ensure that I don't start perspiring until 200 meters from home, which just happens to be at the top of a steep hill. The beanies need washing more often than anything else I put on my head, so I need more of them.

BTW, my head is the only place I wear lycra; you lose between a twelfth and an eighth of your body heat through your head, and in coolish climes that extra heat retained can double your comfortable ride; I'm not claiming this is scientific, but my experience is that if I forget the hat a shorter loop is advisable but if I'm wearing the hat, the longer loop is possible before I start wondering about frostbitten ears and my energy-level bottoming out. The lycra does well in regulating the temperature on my head in all except extreme cold. Also, as supporting evidence, often winter rides can be relatively longer simply because I (and my pedal pals) are willing to regulate our speed to our respiration rate, and we're thus warm but not uncomfortably so, and therefore the length of the ride is regulated by interest rather than comfort.

Andre Jute

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PS I also have a snood, what Dan calls a "buff" (trade name?). Mine is of IBM's Thinsulate material and after trying it on my head, I wear it only around my neck, and only when it is atrociously cold. The one I have is too badly cut (or perhaps the whole concept is cockeyed) to be the promised multifunctional device: when used otherwise than to keep your throat warm to shout at motorists, it is always slipping over your eyes or back under the helmet, or freezing the crown of your head under the pullcord. Maybe in thin lycra it would work better; as it is the one I have is near-useless.

Danneaux

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Andre,

A real and genuine Buff (both a trademarked product and a now-generic description, like Kleenex for facial tissues) does not have a drawstring. It is a seamless tube of cloth, typically CoolMax, usually snipped from a long tubular roll reeled from a drum.

A real Buff will easily make into a number of different configurations and stay securely in place. My favorite is the double beanie when evenings are cool, and during a sunny day, I like the single layer beanie to protect me from sunburning through my helmet vents; it ends in a generous tail covering my neck (place flat on top of head, hand inside the front. Use other hand to draw the upper edge back over the lower and...done). I often draw it down over my ears as well. Configured as a facemask, it has done wonders to protect my lungs during heavy duststorms and alkali sandstorms. During changing climactic conditions, I store it low on my neck.

All the best,

Dan. (...who wishes he could recommend a great cycling cap to Alcyst)

alcyst

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Question noted and looking, Alcyst, so it didn't just drop into a well.

A good cycling cap is great for all the reasons you've mentioned. Unfortunately, I wear a helmet, so have gone a different route, weaing a Buff ( http://www.buffusa.com/sports/collections/original-buff-reg/styles ) in a number of different configuration beneath the helmet. For a visored cap, I take an Outdoor Research one with a detachable neck shade for warm weather use. I end up wearing the cap pretty constantly year-round, however. It is size-adjustable via a velcro strap at the back.

Nowhere near what you're looking for, but perhaps better than nothing if nothing else comes to light. See:
http://www.rei.com/product/721671/outdoor-research-sun-runner-cap I have a narrow, small noggin, so often have to buy outdoor hats intended for women and youths if I'm to get a fit. Fortunately, these also come in Medium, Large, and Extra Large.

... this brand comes with a money-back guarantee and claims to be "the best you will ever wear": http://www.walzcaps.com/ ...and include stylish and traditional designs made of wool as well as cotton and "athletic materials".

Dan.

I do wear a helmet, the cap acts as a visor and perspiration catcher. And like you, now that I have gotten used to one I tend to wear something all year.
I tried a Walz cap and found the brim big and the cap extended way back over my head. I'll have a look for the others, those REI shops are great to browse. Thanks

alcyst

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A cap recommendation may never get the religious fervour that the "recommend a pump", "recommend a rack", "what is the best glove", "what is a good pair of winter socks", but it deserves a place in the temple of obsession.

Andre Jute

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A cap recommendation may never get the religious fervour that the "recommend a pump", "recommend a rack", "what is the best glove", "what is a good pair of winter socks", but it deserves a place in the temple of obsession.

Especially true for those of us going light on top.

Thanks, Dan, for the terminology and definition.

Slammin Sammy

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I, like my Dad before me, am "folliclely challenged", so I always wear a layer between head and helmet, both for insulation and to prevent the dreaded tiger stripes.

In the cooler months, and until recently year-round, I have been wearing an Icebreaker merino wool beanie, which is wonderfully comfortable fine wool, warm in winter, cool in summer.

Lately in warmer weather, I have taken to wearing a Walz beanie with back flap (I forget what Walz calls it). It's lighter than the Icebreaker, synthetic (Lycra?) and importantly keeps the sum off my neck. It is yellow in colour and remarkably matches the Nomad Mk2 Tonka Toy hue!

I wear a Specialized MTB helmet with peak (visor), but for extended trips in hot weather, I have bought a Da Brim Classic, which is a much more generous brim that fits OVER the helmet (I have to remove the helmet visor for best fit.) my wife says it "looks ridiculous" but I don't care because I don't think so, and it allows me to cycle on days when you can literally fry an egg on the top tube!  ;)