Skull caps serve one purpose: keep your head warm without creating a sauna under your helmet. The Transfer Lite Skull Cap from Pearl Izumi nails this balance by using their Transfer fabric—a lightweight polyester knit that wicks moisture away from your scalp while providing just enough insulation for cool-weather rides. It's the kind of piece that lives in your jersey pocket from October through April, ready for those mornings when the temperature sits in that awkward zone where bare head feels too cold but a heavy cap means sweat pooling at your temples by mile ten.

The Transfer fabric earns its name through genuine moisture management rather than marketing speak. The knit structure pulls sweat away from skin contact and spreads it across the outer surface where evaporation can actually happen. This matters more than you might expect—a wet skull cap under a helmet becomes a heat sink that chills your head on descents, which is exactly what you're trying to avoid by wearing one in the first place. The lightweight construction also means the cap adds virtually no bulk under your helmet, so you won't need to adjust retention systems or deal with pressure points from fabric bunching.

Fit follows the standard skull cap template: stretchy enough to pull on easily, snug enough to stay put when you're tucked and drilling it into a headwind. The coverage extends over your ears without the bulk of a dedicated ear warmer, which handles that thirty-to-fifty-degree window where full ear coverage feels excessive but exposed ears sting on faster descents. Pearl Izumi cuts the rear low enough to tuck under helmet straps without creating gaps at the back of your neck.... Read More