Do you use one? Are they useful?

Has it all become slightly tarnished by Rapha and their black and white pictures of emaciated bearded men staring off into the distance?

I wear one under the helmet at night. A Rapha in fact. I do have a beard, but am certainly not emaciated.

I wear one to keep the chill off me baldy bonce when it’s a bit cooler, and to soak up sweat when it’s a bit warmer. On road or MTB – tearing up the rule book as I go 🙂

bought a load of the cheap ones from Planet X, no rapha

I have some stubble, and occassionaly it tips over into bearddom but I am not emaciated. And I’m not in black & white.

Yes, under the helmet when it’s a bit chilly out. No beard but am a little emaciated.

I have one. I won it from here in a competition. Tis a BMC cap and is still in my desk draw.

I am both bearded and possibly emaciated (69kg),

I can’t afford Rapha though.

Like arm and knee warmers, what I initially dismissed as a roadie affectation has proved annoyingly useful.

Keep low sun or rain out your eyes, keeps your head warm on cool rides, absorb sweat on hot rides. I have cheap Planet X ones which are fine, my Rapha one is, sad to say, nicer. But I did get it cheap off eBay.

I have this Oakley/Rapha one. It came with a pair of Oakleys. I wouldn’t be seen dead wearing it or any other roadie cap

Only ever underneath a helmet. Usually when it’s raining. I thought about wearing one without a helmet, but looked in the mirror and decided I looked like an idiot.

I have and wear a couple (only one Rapha, no beard). Great for keeping the sun/rain out of your eyes, keeping head warm when it’s a little chilly and keeping sweat out when its warm. Win win.

I have two, a normal one and a winter one. The winter one is a wool type material with ear flaps and the summer one is cotton. As others have said, good for keeping the head warm and sun/rain out of eyes. I’d never wear one off the bike though but I will wear one if riding around town without a helmet if only to absorb sweat.

essential piece of kit for a roadie.

Keeps your head warm when it’s cold.
Keeps rain out of your eyes whens it’s raining.
Keeps sun out of your eyes when it’s sunny.
Keeps sweat out of your eyes when it’s hot.

I wear one to keep the chill off me baldy bonce when it’s a bit cooler, and to soak up sweat when it’s a bit warmer. On road or MTB – tearing up the rule book as I go

This 🙂

Have ordered a DeMarchi one.

If I look like a douche I’m blaming you lot 😆

warton – Member

essential piece of kit for a roadie.

Keeps your head warm when it’s cold.
Keeps rain out of your eyes whens it’s raining.
Keeps sun out of your eyes when it’s sunny.
Keeps sweat out of your eyes when it’s hot.

Sums it up nicely. I also wear mine on the MTB as although the bike might have changed the job of the cap hasn’t. For those who scoff but wear a Buff for the same job, don’t be too quick to judge on looks…

nickc – Member
Do you use one? Are they useful?

Has it all become slightly tarnished by Rapha and their black and white pictures of emaciated bearded men staring off into the distance?

Yes.
Yes very, s’pecially in early Spring/Late Autumn under a lid or in Summer without a Lid.
No, I have many by Rapha and I love them, I have a couple in black too (and many other colourways) and am almost emaciated and have grown out stubble neatly trimmed, and often ride off into the distance.

HTH. 😉

I’ve got a few old trade caps that I wear under my (road) helmet when it’s raining. Keeps rain out of my eyes and my bald head warm, whilst giving the ‘grizzled old pro’ look.

I’ve also got a genuine yellow Campagnolo cap from the 1991 Tour de France that I had to fight an old French lady for. Far too valuable to ever wear.

If you do wear one, try to look like this :

Not this :

Whilst riding a roady bike, on it’s own = fine
Whilst riding a roady bike, under a lid = fine
Any other time = you look like a dick

Should’ve seen the amount at the world cup in Fort William at the weekend then after Shimano were giving hundreds of them out free, and nobody was wearing it under a helmet 😆

Have a club one and one I got free at the TdF Cavalcade thing. I like em, cooler than a buff (temp) and the wee peak comes in handy sometimes. Don’t wear it unless on bike. Despite the fact that I look awesome in everything.
Wear what you like and just ride your bike.

EDIT – I doo agree with Rusty though 😉

I have a few, (even one by Rapha), and will normally always wear one whilst on the road bike, yes I’m emaciated, (8.3% at last count), no beard though.

(Have a signed Cav OPQS one, but that sits at home and doesn’t get used.) #capsnothats

Addn:

Blokes wearing them off the bike in “casual” clothes look like dicks.
Wiminz wearing them off the bike in “nything/nothing” look sexy.

HTH

I use one under my helmet on sunny days to avoid getting burnt

Rusty, well quite… 😆

I have one. I won it from here in a competition.

This. Caps should only be won, never bought. Gifted and worn with irony works too.

One of mine has a reflective stripe down it, making it useful in helmet “discussions”.

Caps should only be won, never bought

or earned…

(3300m of climbing, most of it 20% gradient cobbles).

Perfect match for the arm warmers they did as the freebie last year.

I wear one in winter to keep my head warm, rain out my eyes and they’re brilliant for stopping the glare from car headlights in the dark. Slight dip of the head and the car lights are obscured by the peak. Got a few but my favorite is a gore windstopper one.

I’d never wear one when its hot though.

Use one on the turbo to keep the sweat out of my eyes. Didn’t like it under my helmet. Found it made me hotter. You can get them dirt cheap if you just want to try them out. Try planet X or ebay.

Got a Molteni cap (without the rainbow stripes), which I wear under the helmet when its cold or raining. Wearing said cap does not contravene Rule #5 or Rule #9.

Furthermore, I will also point out that I am about as far from being anything like the cyclist who made the brand famous in cycling, the Prophet himself. As a Zebra Finch.

Use one on the turbo to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

Just do a Beckham.

Extra points if you use the turbo, hands free.

Rule 22, surely.

Have a club one for club kit and a Friends of Hearn Hill Velodrome for outdoor track. Emaciated, stubble to beard and life is black and white. Rapha-free (except for possession of their adverts in Rouleur)

As above, I have a couple (no Rapha sadly) that get worn underneath a helmet when it’s cool, occasionally I wear one in the summer instead of a helmet. Never off a bike though, I’d look like a right plonker.

caps are cool – I have a load.
only wear them on the bike though – mainly in the rain.
quality and longevity vary a lot. some shrink, some fade, some don’t.
I need some more.

Rule 22, surely.

RULE 22:

Cycling caps can be worn under helmets, but never when not riding, no matter how hip you think you look. This will render one a douche, and should result in public berating or beating. The only time it is acceptable to wear a cycling cap is while directly engaged in cycling activities and while clad in cycling kit. This includes activities taking place prior to and immediately after the ride such as machine tuning and tire pumping. Also included are cafe appearances for pre-ride espressi and post-ride pub appearances for body-refueling ales (provided said pub has sunny, outdoor patio – do not stray inside a pub wearing kit or risk being ceremoniously beaten by leather-clad biker chicks). Under these conditions, having your cap skull-side tipped jauntily at a rakish angle is, one might say, de rigueur. All good things must be taken in measure, however, and as such it is critical that we let sanity and good taste prevail: as long as the first sip of the relevant caffeine or hop-based beverage is taken whilst beads of sweat, snow, or rain are still evident on one’s brow then it is legitimate for the cap to be worn. However, once all that remains in the cranial furrows is salt, it is then time to shower, throw on some suitable après-ride attire (a woollen Molteni Arcore training top circa ’73 comes to mind) and return to the bar, folded copy of pastel-coloured news publication in hand, ready for formal fluid replacement. It is also helpful if you are a Giant of the Road, as demonstrated here, rather than a giant douchebag.

Ah, of course.

Essential kit for a rainy ride.

Much prefer a buff for sweat absorbing qualities though, and combine the 2 for really cold outings!

Only ever underneath a helmet. Usually when it’s raining.

This ^^

essential piece of kit for a roadie.

Keeps your head warm when it’s cold.
Keeps rain out of your eyes whens it’s raining.
Keeps sun out of your eyes when it’s sunny.
Keeps sweat out of your eyes when it’s hot.

+1

But it comes off when the helmet does, and I don’t turn up to bike shows wearing one.

On cooler mornings usually, under helmet only.

Sometimes slip one on when I’m smoking a fat cigar.

I’m growing tired of people quoting ‘the rules’

there any amusing ones to purchase? which say something like I’m funny under the cap or something along those lines…