Product Review/call for swag- Rapha Cap

I mentioned my "sweet prize" in the last post about the Freddy/Jason/Predator Race that happened last week. Now your going to hear all about it. As the first cycling product if bought/obtained in 2009 it will also be my first product review on this blog.

First off I should say that I think of myself as a craftsman. Ive worked for Parlee (as a framebuilder) and for Seven (as a painter and finisher). Ive also built rowing shells, Kayaks and spars that in their realm are quite high end. In my current job I deal with a lot of rowing equipment that is handmade and a lot that is "manufactured", and have a good eye for thoughtful design and quality construction. I dont mind paying for quality, things like Oakley glasses and Iphones are expensive because they work better, and im fine with that.

Second, since this hat was a prize I cant say for certain that it is first quality. It is entirely possible that this is a second or a reject, and given my opinion of it i hope this is the case.

So I really wanted to like this hat. I really want Rapha clothing, which is about as high end as you can get, to be worth it. I am still looking for a pair of boots that will last me forever and hold out some hope that there is cycling apparel that will as well. After wearing it for a week and looking it over a bit in good light. I have to say i feel let down.

The design is great and the materials certainly feel high-end, but the construction just doesn't seem to be up where it ought to be if this hat is sold for $40 US.

Cycling hats are a pretty simple design and there is not many places you can make a mistake. The most obvious one on this hat though is pretty obvious. The brim isnt centered on the hat. When your only major design element is a black stripe on a white hat, you pretty much have to get this right or things look a little "off". Mine is not right, its not off by much, but its of by enought that I notice it and that means its wrong.

Inside the hat there are some stiches that are loose, loose enough that the top thread pulls through and stands out. I am guessing that with time i will start seeing the stripe lifting where the thread is loose.

I should say that functionally it is a great hat, it sits on my head and I enjoy wearing a little bit of fancy when i go for an evening ride. It has also stayed remarkably clean for a white hat that my hands have touched while i am at work.

If it saves my life or catches fire, there will be an update. As it stands I feel a little bit let down, like i just figured out Santa wasnt real. If Rapha cant make a fancy hat that impresses, who can? And if Rapha misses on hats, how nice are the $750 tweed softshells really? They take pretty pictures of some really impressive rides, and they know design. But at the end of the day, the stuff also has to work as a hat. If in fact this hat was donated as a prize because it was a second, Ill retract my sadness, and happily review any first quality product Rapha wants to send me.


Loose stiches inside the hat.
Classy branding, just enough to know who made it.
A view askew of the slanty brim.

Alleycat report. Finished in the money!

Ive already detailed the many unfair-itudes I tried to put it place to help me dominate.

Once the race got going it was the usual chaos. Checkpoint workers were late, and we got sent on a return trip to the shop from the first checkpoint after we got manifests. Of course that guy wasnt around either. I used my smarts to get in and out of that mess pretty quick, and im convinced that was the key move of the race for me.

Matt A. also on the CB team and Matt Bud, of embrocation got back to the return about the same time as I did, and we grouped up like a bunch of pack filler on a breakaway. I knew how to get to 1.5 of the checkpoints and Matt A was pretty solid on the other 1.5 so we got to haulin. Like any proper sandbagger I did a minimum of work at the front. Of the 3 of us, Matt Bud was the only one with Gears, so he did the lions share of the work. Matt A was fixed and lost something whenever we hit anykind of elevation. I was pretty pleased with all my brakes and coasting, especially on the long run down Washington in brookline and market street into the watertown stop.

At the last checkpoint I did the hail marry of bike racing, Once I knew where i was going and that I wasnt screwing the Matt's too bad on directions. I did my best to take off, figuring I didnt have much of a shot in a sprint, a long solo run back into central sq seemed my only shot at winning my breakaway. I was pretty sure we were close to the front of the race, if not the leaders. Well, Matt Bud caught me at the Cambridge line. When I could I tried a couple more times to get clear of him. But if bike racing is an armsrace, Matt won with a pretty nice roadbike (self built! check out his stuff here). Each time i went out he caught and came around. I almost nipped him when he dropped a ulock a couple blocks from the shop, but like a pro, he kept his eye on the prize and left it.

When we hit the shop Bud had a good gap, but I was right behind. I gather that we were a few minutes behind the winners, but 3rd for Matt and 4th for me was good enough to put me in the money (or in this case the Rapha swag)!

I won this! The finest cycling hat with a slanty brim money can buy!


Proof that even when you dont win Sandbagging pays off!