De Soto Helmet Beanie

By Pete Penseyres

Being the brother who seems to be losing the most hair, I got to test this “cool” skull cap.

After a typical long ride in the SoCal sun, my hairline (or lack of hairline) shows the location of all those nice extra-wide air vents in my helmet. I’ve had to explain to non-cyclists about the peculiar red-and-white stripes that adorn my noggin.

I figured the De Soto Helmet Beanie would cure the summer stripe problem but I wasn’t buying that it would keep me cooler than riding with an uncovered skull under my skid lid.

I rode with the Beanie off and on during a ride when the temperature was around 95F (35C). I really couldn’t feel that my head was cooler or warmer. I did find that when I squirted water through the helmet vents to wet the Skin Cooler material, the cooling effect seemed to last longer.

I did the same on/off test on several rides to make sure it wasn’t just the garlic pizza I ate the night before the first experiment. Still no discernable cooling benefit. The only way to know for sure would be to place heat sensors between the head and Beanie.

The Beanie is made of the same UVB-reducing Skin Cooler fabric that Pete has described, and it contains enough spandex that one size to fit all. The cut is such that it can be pulled over the ears if you’d like.