Headwear

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.

The 'Union Jack' cycle cap is a new LMNH design, with the Union Flag on the sides and 'London' on the peak it's a cycle specific way to show where your allegiances might lie this Summer.

You could do worse than wear it when Bradley pulls on yellow in Paris* and continue to wear it on Box Hill to cheer our boys as they romp up the pimple of a climb in the big ring and then jubilantly throw it in the air when Cav streaks home to cruise to victory on The Mall**.

The good old-fashioned cycling cap has seen a bit of a comeback over recent years, becoming the trendy headwear of choice for those choosing to eschew helmets, looking for something to wear under their helmet, or just for hanging about in off the bike. A little way of saying 'I'm a cyclist, you know' in everyday life.

Judging by the quality of the Rothera Cycling Houndsooth winter cycling cap, it is clear Philadelphia based Gary Rothera knows his way round a sewing machine.

The Ride Aquazero Skull Cap is different from most in that it has a water-repellent band around the forehead to provide extra protection from the elements. That band is also wind-resistant.

The rest of the skull cap – the red stuff – is a Super Roubaix fabric so it provides loads of warmth. The black fabric is AcquaZero (there's a 'c' in there, although Ride don't use it), a material that used to be exclusive to Santini but no longer is.

Northwave's Balaclava is just the ticket for sub zero winter riding, fits unobtrusively beneath helmets and seems menacing enough to temper the aggression of oncoming 4x4s. However, the allure of looking like a cross between a Marvel comics' superhero and a gallows executioner can wane on social outings and, for heaven's sake, remove it before nipping into the bank.

You know the old saying, 'cover your head, 40% of heat of lost through it' and while that may be a bit of a myth there's no denying that a layer under your helmet can really increase your cold weather comfort on the bike. Craft's Zero Extreme WS (Wind Stopper) Skull Hat is one option for doing just that.

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.