and all of the rest of the family see color

a while back i was surfing around the rapha website and caught a glimpse of their prologue caps. it looked pretty grand, what with the hip all over print mixed with the classic stylings of a cycling cap. a good mixture i thought. compaired to the rest of their products this one seemed to be the most attainable to my budget. i ordered one, and according to their website it would be here in time for the prologue of this years tour. perfect. true to rapha's word it showed up the day before the prologue. i opened up the packaging and was imediately impressed. the cap looked just like it did in the pictures on their site. excellent.

fast forward twenty-one days. this cap is crap. it started out good but quickly dissolved into cotton diarrhea on my head. all of the elasticity in the back of the cap that is used to make it fit on your head is now gone, and the bill sounds like a wet diaper when you touch it. i have had various cycling caps that go down the tubes relatively quickly, so i am ok with the cap not lasting very long. the thing i don't understand is that rapha is supposed to be a high end, good quality company. was it because i ordered one of their "cheaper" products?plus the hat, including shipping, was something like thirty bucks. for that much dough i could have ordered a third shaun deller hat and been much more satisfied.

and this brings me to my next issue: shaun deller cycling caps. i own two. a three panel cotton and an eight panel wool. and aside from their various stains and odors these hats fit like the day i pulled them from my mail box, only better. i was first a little sketched out by ordering something from some random guy accross the country by first sending my check and then hoping he sends me a cap. but the turn around was quick and i got my cap in what seemed to be record time. i was elated to say the least! this was well over a year ago and this first cycling cap is still going strong and is quite comfortable.

anyway, the only reason i started this post was because yesterday morning when i was getting ready for my ride i pulled out my new rapha cap and put it on my head and it was aweful, so i found my trusty deller head topper and was stoked. who knew a cap could do its job so well? it almost makes me want to order another one right now. but it'll have to wait since i just ordered some nitto bullhorns and i already have two of his caps anyway.