I received this castelli cap this afternoon. Some people don't fancy cycling cap but I really like it a lot.
I don't know about the history, but can guess some of the design rationale.
1. A hat is good cause it keeps your hair out of your eyes and helps absorb sweat to stop it getting in your eyes. Not having these things in your eyes is a good thing.Thin material is good when you're riding hard to stop you overheating, hence the thin cotton of team hats.
2. A peak is good for keeping the sun or the rain out of your eyes. A small peak that flexes a bit makes the hat less likely to blow off when you're hitting terminal velocity and a peak that flips up stays out of your vision when you're contorted into the drops like a tree root on acid.
3. The elastic keeps that bad boy sitting tight when the wind is whipping around your ears. There are no ear flaps cos you'd look ridiculous.
I don't think they're in fashion anymore (if that's what you're asking). Races has a lot to do with it, like the TdF. The last TdF I saw riders wearing them was at TdF 2002
At this moment I have 2 cotton hats. The other one is a
pinarello prince cotton hat which I bought together with a jersey/bib/glove a year ago.
With the introduction of compulsory cycle helmets for massed-start racing, casquettes (french word for hat) have become less common, but most professional race outfits still have them produced in team colours for wearing on the winner's podium, for wearing under a helmet in heavy rain or for sale to the tifosi.
The casquette shields the head from strong sun and the peak can also make riding in the rain more comfortable, since drops do not fall directly into the eyes.
They are sometimes worn with the peak backwards, not for reasons of fashion but because the peak then protects the neck from sunburn.A traditional way to keep the head cool when cycling in hot conditions was to put a cabbage leaf under the casquette.
The last picture was not related to cycling hat, just to show some cool bike. A friend of mine send me this picture earlier this month. This is
freakin awesome....
