les chapeaux
I'm developing a bit of a cycling hat fetish. Much like my bikes, I don't need more than 2 or 3 but would love to have an entire collection of all the cool cycling hats to wear. Here are ones I do wear regularly:
Rivendell orange one and green one. The orange is the beat-up, sweaty one. The kelly green one is the "nice" one that will be the sweaty one when the orange one shrinks too much from sweat.
Embrocation, which has a more traditional cycling cut. Mine is also quite sweaty and starting to shrink. I think I might have a relatively large head, made smaller by my large body, but perhaps made larger again by my less small body. This one seems to fit better under helmets than the RBW.
Walz wool, which is this exact orange one (although that's not me). I'm trying to come to terms with liking the color orange, although it's the color of the dream UK enemy. I think it's the Eddy Merckx Molteni vibe. I tend to wear this one in non-cycling situations, for some reason.
The Walz wool I do wear is the ear-flap one, which is now shrinking due to sweat. I like this one a lot.
I just bought a Walz cotton with an orange stripe with a RiverCityCylingSociety embroidery on the side. Walz fascinates me because their cuts are so different. The L/XL of the new cap is quite different from L/XL cuts of other Walz caps. Confusing. I've worn this one once or twice, but I don't mind the largeness b/c it'll shrink.
I have another Walz wool, in this case an EcoVelo one. The good wife says she likes this one. I agree, it's a nice color combo to be worn out and about. I lost it for a bit but found it, unfortunately with a small moth hole in the top. I wear it anyway.
I have a black wool ear-flap beanie I think from Ibex, but it's not on their site. I like this one. It's thicker and works well under a helmet. It seems to be out of stock everywhere, for obvious reasons.
I think that's all. Nope. Just remember that I have this one somewhere in this house, but I have no clue where, so maybe it doesn't count. I have an "original", which is to say I procured it in the early '80s. I don't think it fit that well, but it would be fun to find it. Team of Hinault, Lemond and Fignon, all in the same Tour. Not bad.
Following are a couple hats that have caught my interest over time, including this morning:
I found this one this morning, from VeloCult out of San Diego. I love this hat and may have to buy one later in winter, after the holidays. Such a striking desing.
LithoDale beat me to it, but every collection needs a classic black world championship cap.
Another that I covet, eventually, is a cost-prohibitive Rapha cap. This stuff is so amazingly overpriced, but drool-worthy none-the-less. Which one, though? It's the same basic thing for $40 that you can get from Walz or Pace for $12.
In the mode of Rapha, Vanilla Bicycles has an awfully nice cap, however twee it may be. Now that I've looked at the Rapha and Vanilla offerings, I've changed my mind. I don't like them as much, although impressively, the Vanilla is only $15.
In line with Rapha and Sascha is Ira, in this case Ira Ryan. His bikes are beautiful and his hat(s) is better than Vanilla, albeit at his Rapha brethren price ($42). I sure do like the one on the left. I think ol' LithoDale might have that one too. Did he really pay $42 for a cotton hat? On 2nd thought, I bet that's a black and white Rogue hat, not a $42 Iran special.
I'd definitely like a Team Fatty cap, whether in pink or in orange (orange again. Think Merckx!) These seem to be randomly available. I think I will get one the next time they are. I like the panache, they're $20 cheaper than the Rapha and they're for a good cause.
This retro 7-11 cap sure would be fun for us old timers.
Well, it's 6.25 a.m. on Turkey Day and I'm out of caps. It seems like there were a few more on the tip of my cycle cap tongue, but I can't think of them and don't need to. I give a shout out to our minimalist brothers and sisters. All this consumption has got me tired. Time for a walk, even though it's blowing at 30mph outside.
Rivendell orange one and green one. The orange is the beat-up, sweaty one. The kelly green one is the "nice" one that will be the sweaty one when the orange one shrinks too much from sweat.
Embrocation, which has a more traditional cycling cut. Mine is also quite sweaty and starting to shrink. I think I might have a relatively large head, made smaller by my large body, but perhaps made larger again by my less small body. This one seems to fit better under helmets than the RBW.
Walz wool, which is this exact orange one (although that's not me). I'm trying to come to terms with liking the color orange, although it's the color of the dream UK enemy. I think it's the Eddy Merckx Molteni vibe. I tend to wear this one in non-cycling situations, for some reason.
The Walz wool I do wear is the ear-flap one, which is now shrinking due to sweat. I like this one a lot.
I have another Walz wool, in this case an EcoVelo one. The good wife says she likes this one. I agree, it's a nice color combo to be worn out and about. I lost it for a bit but found it, unfortunately with a small moth hole in the top. I wear it anyway.
The Swobo 6-panel wool beanie certainly achieved a variety of hits on google, but interestingly isn't on their site at the moment. Never fear, I think this hat sucks rocks under a helmet. It's sort of nicely fashiony, but it slides down on the eyes on a ride. Bleh! I can't respect an unwearable helmet too much.
I have a black wool ear-flap beanie I think from Ibex, but it's not on their site. I like this one. It's thicker and works well under a helmet. It seems to be out of stock everywhere, for obvious reasons.
I think that's all. Nope. Just remember that I have this one somewhere in this house, but I have no clue where, so maybe it doesn't count. I have an "original", which is to say I procured it in the early '80s. I don't think it fit that well, but it would be fun to find it. Team of Hinault, Lemond and Fignon, all in the same Tour. Not bad.
Following are a couple hats that have caught my interest over time, including this morning:
I found this one this morning, from VeloCult out of San Diego. I love this hat and may have to buy one later in winter, after the holidays. Such a striking desing.
LithoDale beat me to it, but every collection needs a classic black world championship cap.
Another that I covet, eventually, is a cost-prohibitive Rapha cap. This stuff is so amazingly overpriced, but drool-worthy none-the-less. Which one, though? It's the same basic thing for $40 that you can get from Walz or Pace for $12.
In the mode of Rapha, Vanilla Bicycles has an awfully nice cap, however twee it may be. Now that I've looked at the Rapha and Vanilla offerings, I've changed my mind. I don't like them as much, although impressively, the Vanilla is only $15.
In line with Rapha and Sascha is Ira, in this case Ira Ryan. His bikes are beautiful and his hat(s) is better than Vanilla, albeit at his Rapha brethren price ($42). I sure do like the one on the left. I think ol' LithoDale might have that one too. Did he really pay $42 for a cotton hat? On 2nd thought, I bet that's a black and white Rogue hat, not a $42 Iran special.
I'd definitely like a Team Fatty cap, whether in pink or in orange (orange again. Think Merckx!) These seem to be randomly available. I think I will get one the next time they are. I like the panache, they're $20 cheaper than the Rapha and they're for a good cause.
This retro 7-11 cap sure would be fun for us old timers.
Well, it's 6.25 a.m. on Turkey Day and I'm out of caps. It seems like there were a few more on the tip of my cycle cap tongue, but I can't think of them and don't need to. I give a shout out to our minimalist brothers and sisters. All this consumption has got me tired. Time for a walk, even though it's blowing at 30mph outside.
Comments
I do have the Campy WC in black, 2 Rogue Racing caps, the above mentioned 7-11 classic, a Team Z! classic, a custom wool Walz cap with my name on it, and my favorite - a Twin Six wool number also made by Walz. The Walz sizing system of offering only a "S/M" & "L/XL" does frustrate me but I fixed it with a hot dryer session. Also, I wish they would put a stiffener in the bill...I am plagued with ehh...a floppy bill.
Just yesterday I order a new addition to the collection - The Metal Tech Cap also from T6...sensing a trend here? Somebody is moderately obsessed...
DIsclaimer. I am Little Package. I make caps for Ira Ryan, and have made them for Vanilla and Rapha as well. Ira buys caps locally and marks them up at the same margin Vanilla marks up their caps made in Taiwan and Rapha does their caps made in Asia and Italy. What I am getting at is this: cap sellers aren't randomly assigning price points. There are also value assignments.
You do get what you pay for. Take a close look at one of my caps and you'll have a hard time disagreeing.