too old to die young

Daniël asked me if I wanted to write a review of the hood (or race cap), which I use on my Quest. Well, because I think it’s a good idea and Wim Schermer consistently writes his blog only in Dutch, here it comes;

I bought the hood that is sold by velomobielonderdelen.nl and I decided to choose for the “tour“- model which is divisible in two parts. With this model you can stow away the hood inside the back of a Quest and ride convertible !

I have used the hood on my commutes all winter. In freezing cold, misty, rainy and stormy weather. And I don’t regret I buying it. It gave me a lot of comfort during my commute. Overall, I am very positive about the use of this hood.

It didn’t keep me dry though, because I came out sweating like a reindeer ! But always nice warm sweat, like in a sauna  You look like a real sportsman when you climb out of your Quest (advantage) !  But when the wind outside the Quest starts evaporating your sweat, you feel like Amundsen on Antarctica (drawback). 

Another thing you have to realize is that you’re putting your head in a sound box when the hood is on the Quest. So I can turn the volume on my radio down from 10 to 4 (advantage) and I had to find ways to reduce the rattles en shakes of the chain (drawback).

When it’s cold and foggy the screen gets steamed up. A deflector keeps the inside clean and clear, but when the fog forms little drops on the outside of the screen, the only way to keep sight on the road is to open the screen.  Just a minor inconvenience which happens only a few days a year .

There’s just enough space around my head to look right or left, to scratch my head, to drink out of a bidon or just to smoke my cigarette .  I use an astray inside the cockpit, because the hood prevents getting it outside the Quest (the ash will come right back into your face and hair). I realize that I may be the only smoking velomobilist

There’s also a hood made by Sinner; known as Da Hood .  But this model is not divisible and I never tried it on my Quest.

Overall, I think it was a good investment because it made my Quest more comfortable than it already was ….