Review: Walz Philly Technical Cycling Cap
(2019) Philadelphia hockey fans can recall two iconic painted masks in franchise history. Interestingly enough they belong to the beloved goalie Ron Hextall who, for several reasons, has etched his name into the memories of every middle-aged hockey fan in the Philadelphia area. Love him or hate him, he still managed to stoke the flames of inspiration and changed the position of hockey goalie forever. Few can say they have ever changed a game - for better or for worse - upon hanging up the respective equipment.
But back to those masks. On Ron Hextall’s first stint with the Flyers, he donned a curious black-orange-white job that had, among other things, a big orange arrow going from the crown of the mask and terminated just above his eyes. No one has ever answered what the arrow meant or signified. Perhaps it is better that way; let the crowds banter about whether it pointed to his intense game face or foreshadowed his two direct-shot goals. His other mask, the one he wore on his second trip to Philly, was less philosophical but still as symbolic. Along the chin guard of the black mask was the Philly skyline at the time. On each temple, Hextall’s mask adorned the Liberty Bell, the massive steel percussion that resides only a few miles away, ringing away as it did once in its career and producing the famous crack. In its simplicity, the Hextall Liberty Bell mask was one of my favorites, and I thought its design would remain in the past.
Last year, during the 2018 Philly Bike Expo, I walked past Walz Cap’s booth and immediately fell in love with their caps. Among them were the Map Cap Collection, custom caps focusing on famous traits of a specific city. For the Expo Walz smartly brought Philadelphia swag and naturally everyone swooned over it. I made a note to come back for one cap in particular but forgot. The Map Cap Collection feels like an ice hockey goalie mask paint job for cyclists. Being a former hockey goalie, it got my attention.
The Walz Cap Philly Liberty Bell edition features striking constrasting colors of navy, maroon, royal, and white.
The Philly cap has become my favorite cap. It possesses that special detail to finish off a kit. An all-white field, the cap has a broad maroon center band that terminates into a maroon visor. Flip up the visor and it is navy blue and adorned proudly with the word PHILLY. The navy blue borders the royal blue stripe on each side of the maroon band down the middle of the cap. The best part - the part that got me excited - is the rough print Liberty Bell on each side of the cap in navy blue and maroon. It evoked years of watching Ron Hextall play on his second visit with the Flyers.
Walz Caps go beyond technical cycling caps. They feature cotton versions of the technical lids, but they also offer classic wool and Merino wool varieties for that unique appeal of a bygone era. Should microbrewers be reading this, Walz has an entire Microbrew Caps section. No brewery is off limits as evidenced by the fact Walz features a small Hudson valley microbrew pub we have visited on more than one occasion. Talk about targeting your market. Feel free to throw their Walz Bottle Opener into the cart upon ordering for a little extra pizzazz at the next team hosting duties. Feel free to bear the burden of consuming the beverages only from what is featured on the cap lest you risk the heckling.
The cycling cap is such a simple addition to the apparel lineup yet it can change the way a ride goes. It can keep the breeze at bay in the offseason or keep rain out of the eyes. Those are all functionals. The fashion aspect serves a different purpose. If a cap stokes those memories of those concluded hockey days then the least expensive piece of kit became worth its price. Considering the Liberty Bell was stored not far from our offices, the cap has so much going for it. Though the cap is small in stature to the cycling kit, it is fierce in its inspiration. We won’t blame anyone outside of Philly for wanting this cap. It’s that beautiful.
