I purchased my Ground Effect Baked Beanie beanie/skull cap/hat directly from Ground Effect in June 2008 for $20.71 landed as with my weight loss and riding Froggie, my Look 555 I found I was feeling the cold more. Four degree Celsius starts probably didn’t help!

The Baked Beanie is described by Ground Effect thus

Made from micro-Fleece 100, the Baked Beanie occupies minimal room under your helmet while its Microfibre lining saves your ears from biting winds.

Initial Impressions | Field Experience

Initial Impressions

The Baked Beanie comes in three colours and I went for the “burnt orange” which is more orange than suggested in the photo.  The Beanie only comes in one size, which seems stupid to me as people’s head are not one size.  Anyway, I found the fit okay, probably a bit on the tight size, but that shouldn’t be an issue.  For comparison purposes, my helmet is a Bell Sweep R size medium (55 – 59 cm). With a little pulling I can get the Beanie to cover about 90% of my ears.  Will this be enough? Riding will tell.

When I put my helmet on, I do find that I need to lengthen the chin straps so there is a bit of bulk in the beanie which should be taken into consideration.

Field Experience

September 1, 2008: I have now had two months of using the Ground Effect Bake Beanie and in summary I am pretty happy with it. Basically it works, it stays in position okay once it is pulled down over my ears, it is effective in keeping my ears warm in the mornings here in Perth, Western Australia and it is wearing well.

My only niggles are that it really sets up a wind noise factor. I find it much noiser when wearing the Bake Beanie than not and it is a touch on the thick size. Under my roadie helmet my preference is for the thiner but just as effective Endura FS260-Pro skull cap.

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I purchased my Ground Effect Chipolatas gloves directly from Ground Effect in June 2008 as with my weight loss and riding Froggie, my Look 555 I found I was feeling the cold in my hands more. Four degree Celsius starts probably didn’t help!

The Chipolatas are described by Ground Effect

Anti-freeze for your digits on those nasty cold morning jaunts to work, or while out night riding your favourite singletrack. Reinforced palms provide extra protection for your mitts and ensure positive contact with your bike. Get ‘em while they’re hot.

Initial Impressions | Field Experience

Initial Impressions

These gloves are a full fingered glove, with reinforced palms.  The do not contain any gel or other support. They are made out of or contain a material called Windfoil which is a fleece which is claimed to be 100% wind proof. Usage will confirm this or otherwise.

Based on the sizing information provided by Ground Effect I ordered a size medium. Interesting I have found one glove fits better than the other and that they are bit on the tight size. Maybe I should have gone up a size. Not 100% sure but something to keep in mind if one is borderline on their sizing.

Based on my initial try ones, I do find them a bit on the bulky side, but riding will determine if this is an issue or not.

I also see myself using these as bushwalking gloves as well if they are as warm as they appear to be.

Field Experience

I have now had two months of wearing my Ground Effect Chipolatas and in summary I am pretty happy with them. Basically they work quite well as winter (read warm) gloves. In fact I find them a bit too effective for the mild Perth winters, particular if I ride with them in the cold mornings but return mid-afternoon.  On the mid-afternoon rides I tend to get quite sweaty hands.  I would say based on my experience they need colder conditions to work effectively.  Other than this issue they are effective winter gloves and show no signs of significant wear after two months of pretty much daily use.

The above notwithstanding, it should be kept in mind these gloves are winter warm gloves and are not waterproof nor water-resistant.  They easily absorb water, so get wet quickly in the rain.

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Tags: Ground Effect
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