Gore Bike Wear Equipe Gore-Tex cap

The Equipe cap from Gore Bike Wear is made from the same excellent Gore-Tex Active material used in their jackets and, in this cap, provides a completely waterproof and windproof shelter for your head. For anyone intent in not letting the rain stop play, this is a very good investment.

The cap fits very nicely and because the fabric is very thin it goes under a helmet easily. It's elasticated around the back to ensure the one size fits all can cater for a variety of head sizes. It's a much better fit than the similar Showers Pass waterproof cap with no bagginess.

It looks much like a normal cycling cap really, and ticks the style box if you ride without a helmet. It doesn't even look out of place in the mid-ride cafe stop either. The front logo is reflective providing a boost of front visibility when riding at night.

The main appeal of this cycling cap is the waterproof factor of course. And quite simply, it's brilliant in the rain. Even during the heaviest downpours, the Gore-Tex Active material refused to let the water dampen my hair. The peak provides the same useful protection that a normal cotton cycling cap does but performs better for longer in prolonged showers. A cotton cycling cap becomes saturated very quickly, the difference wearing this Gore-Tex cap was quite staggering.

It's impressively breathable too, but it's definitely toastier the higher up the mercury is, compared to a traditional cotton cap. Though it did occasionally feel warmer, it never bordered on overheating, and on colder rides in the rain the fact it retains heat well was very welcome. For daily commuting the cap is just wonderful and infinitely useful.

I recently tested the Showers Pass eVent cap, which uses a three-layer eVent fabric. It's a fiver cheaper but the fit isn't anything like as good as the Gore Bike Wear Equipe cap, and in terms of waterproofness and breathability, there really is very little in it. The better fit and comfort of the Gore cap would persuade me to part with the extra five pounds. But really they're both very good caps, and way better than wearing a cotton cycling cap, or nothing at all, in the rain.

Verdict

Fully waterproof cap with excellent fit and decent breathability