Cap

Giro's SPF 30 Ultralight Cap is an extremely lightweight cap that keeps your head drier than without and also provides sun protection, especially handy if you're follically challenged.

GripGrab's Windster Cap is a good option for winter riding. Keeping your head and ears warm can be a challenge when cycling at this time of year and the Windster has a windproof front panel with good insulation around the head that should give you a head start (sorry) when it comes to staying warm.

Giro's Ambient Skull Cap is a thin thermal fleece lined cap to keep your head and ears warm.

Sewn together from four panels of water resistant DWR treated material the front panel offers further protection from the winter by being made from Windstopper fabric, to stop the wind giving you an ice-cream headache. The inside of each panel is fleece-lined for warmth and there's an extra strip of fabric along the inside seam of the brim for sweat absorption.

The Castelli Viva Women's Cap looks a lot like most other cycling caps, in that it's made from cotton and sports the same sort of peak, shaped crown and elasticated section at the back, allowing it to qualify for its 'one size fits all' status.

We asked Castelli what makes this a ladies' cap, and they came back with this: "The Viva Cotton Cap is a Unisex option, sizing is the same as men's hats with a lot more elastic movement on the rear."

The Giro Peloton cap is a light polyester cap that performs well in warm weather, but it comes at a price.

I quite like the idea of wearing a cap under my helmet. It looks pro, for a start, and it's pretty handy for keeping the sun and rain out of your eyes. I've struggled with cotton ones - I find them too bulky, and they soak with sweat or rain pretty easily too.

Cervo Rosso are from Switzerland and they make a whole wardrobe of both cycling performance wear and urban clothing. Their Retro Cotton cap could probably flit quite gaily between the two.

The Retro Cotton Cap is your basic standard issue cycle cap, 100% cotton, elasticated rear, peak, a design that may or may not tickle your aesthetic peccadilloes.

The Prendas Ciclismo Cotton Cap does everything you'd like your cycling cap to do. After a tough tour of duty; rain, sun, sweat, more rain, mud, wind and rain it's still the first one off the hook, peeking into Favourite Cap territory.

Am I alone in feeling my large Rapha caps look like they have shrunk in the wash?
All their shirts etc run from S or XS to XL, why not caps?
Is there a demand for XL caps from Rapha or do I have the worlds largest bonce?

This cap is made of a wool mix tweed but there is more to it than just that. The fabric isn't that stuff you see country folk camoflaged in. This tweed has been removed from the fields and urbanised to make it something special. It uses Lumatwill, a woven fabric created by photographer Guy Hills and top fashion weaver Kirsty McDougal, the people behind Dashing Tweeds.

Dashing Tweeds reflective cap - side