Cycling cap

The Prendas Ciclismo Belgian-style Winter Hat is exactly what it says: a Belgian-style hat made in Italy designed to protect your head from the elements with a soft and insulating fabric.

Drawing on the rich vein of Belgian cycling heritage and made in Italy, the hat is constructed from seven panels of a stretchy polyester fabric, with a soft mesh lining. A ribbed knitted flap extends from the sides and drops around the back, providing full coverage for the ears and back of head.

The Giro Classic Cotton Cap is exactly what it says it is.

A simple cotton cycling cap, made in the three panel way, providing shade from the sun, protection from wind and rain, an absorber of sweat and a style statement for some.

The cotton cap is thin enough to be worn under a bike helmet and with Giro giving you five different patterns to choose from it shouldn't be too hard to find one that matches your top/socks/bike/bar-tape, and it's smart enough to rakishly wear just on its own round the hipster streets.

Rothera are based in Philadelphia in that U.S.A and they make nothing but cycling caps. Your standard three panel cap, all-weather caps and Winter caps with lots of designs to chose from. Lots of designs. Each cap is hand made and all of the materials, from fabrics to brims, thread, and sewing machines are bought locally and from other small businesses. Local to Philly that is.

The Hincapie Equipe Cap is a lightweight nylon version of the classic cotton cycling casquette and it also differs from the norm in that instead of being sewn together in the more common three-panel construction the Equipe Cycling Cap is made from four panels that are darted and gathered centrally at the crown.

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.

The PBP Seamless Cap is part of Velobici's PBP collection. It's a skull-tight beanie made from a Merino-mix material: 42% Merino, 51% polyester Thermo-cool, 4% Nylon and 3% elastane. PBP refers to the Paris-Brest-Paris, of course, and the collection comprises "essential items for the long distance traveller, marrying durability with comfort, practicality and European chic." Though a PBP reference may be over-egging the pudding, there's no doubting that this is a very useful little hat.

Castelli's Risvolto Winter Cap provides enough warmth for most winter conditions and comes with a stowable flap to cover your ears and the back of your head.

You can just about wear it under a helmet but you're making life hard for yourself there because it's not especially low profile. No, this is a hat that's aimed at those who ride without a lid.

This woollen 4 panel cycle cap from Octoput has ear flaps and peak is made entirely from recycled fabrics. Hand made in Columbus Ohio where they probably have the flaps permanently down, when ordering your cap you can choose the colour of every panel sewn into constructing this hat.

It is freezing out there, anything poking out is likely to get frost bite and fall off. Fact. Luckily for me I've been testing this fifocycle Pegasus cycling hat.

Usually in really cold weather my ears get particularly cold when I'm riding and glow bright red when I get back indoors and into the warm then they feel itchy and like they don't belong to me. I haven't hat that problem this time because the Pegasus has flaps (or possibly wings), like an old fashion 'Biggles' hat, that will cover over your lug holes and keep the nasty nip from attacking your noggin.