Leg shaving

I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics, the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know if any of these reasons are right.
Does anyone know the definitive answer.

>I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
>competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists
>shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics,
>the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and
>that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know if
>any of these reasons are right. Does anyone know the
>definitive answer.

'Nowt to do with aerodynamics nor massage oil. Lots to do
with road rash - if you come off, road rash is a lot easier
to clean and heal with shaved legs. Oh, and nicely muscled
legs look **soooooo* much nicer when smooth and tanned :-)

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel
is switched off--

Skunk wrote:

> I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
> competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists
> shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics,
> the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and
> that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know
> if any of these reasons are right. Does anyone know the
> definitive answer.
>
>
>
> --
>
>

Oily massage isn't all that comfortable if you're fairly
hairy, that is true. But I think it might be more to do with
if you fall off and end up with a graze (some more severe
than others) then it's really quite painful if it's hairy to
boot, cos it all gunges up together ickily?

I'm not a hairy bloke though. Or a bloke. So I wouldn't know
from personal experience ;-)

--

Velvet

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:

> Lots to do with road rash - if you come off, road rash is
> a lot easier to clean and heal with shaved legs.

Following that logic; do racers also shave their arms? As
these can also get cuts and grazes.

In article <w09qc.2560$4r6.26246195@news-
text.cableinet.net>, velvet@not.a.valid.domain says...
> I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
> competition cyclist
> > so I just don't know why some cyclists shave their legs.
> > I have heard stories about aerodynamics, the massage oil
> > people uses rips hairs from the legs and that's a lot
> > more painful than shaving, but I don't know if any of
> > these reasons are right. Does anyone know the definitive
> > answer.
>

I do mine because it looks good.

"Takes cover" :-)

--
Mark (MSA) This post is packaged by intellectual weight, not
volume. Some settling of contents may have occurred during
transmission

Skunk wrote:
> I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
> competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists
> shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics,
> the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and
> that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know
> if any of these reasons are right. Does anyone know the
> definitive answer.

I seem to remember seeing a table figures for the
differences in aerodynamic drag from different things, leg
shaving, tight vs flappy jersey, hat / bald head vs hair,
beard vs clean shaven. All these things do make a slight
difference. Not that I'd shave my legs, and if I ever had
to, I'd write "shaven under duress" all over my legs in
marker pen...

Velvet wrote:

> I'm not a hairy bloke though. Or a bloke. So I wouldn't
> know from personal experience ;-)

When I was cycle touring in New Zealand, I burned my leg,
three days later at the most excellent A&E in Wanganui the
staff nurse, whilst peeling off dead skin and general gunge
that had formed on my 3x2 inch wound said I should have
shaved my legs like a real cyclist, would have made her job
much easier.

Simonb wrote:
> dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>
>> Lots to do with road rash - if you come off, road rash is
>> a lot easier to clean and heal with shaved legs.
>
> Following that logic; do racers also shave their arms? As
> these can also get cuts and grazes.

Chris Boardman shaved his for the hour record attempt for
aerodymanic reasons. I met an Australian Audaxer in the
Pyrnenees who had shaved his arms so that application of
sunblock was easier.

"Skunk" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in message
news:zV8qc.794$Ke5.503@fe23.usenetserver.com...
> I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
> competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists
> shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics,
> the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and
> that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know
> if any of these reasons are right. Does anyone know the
> definitive answer.
>

I was always told it was because it made it much less
painful when the plaster cast came off.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

Skunk wrote:
>
> I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
> competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists
> shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics,
> the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and
> that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know
> if any of these reasons are right. Does anyone know the
> definitive answer.

Some think its all to do with road rash but they are wusses.
If you can't take a bit of elastoplast pulling out the hairs
you shouldn't call yourself a cyclist ;-) Sissies say
because it looks pretty. others do it because the
embrocation was easier to massage in and and easier to wash
off. When I raced (if you could call it that) I did it
because everyone else did.

There is no single answer.

John B

Doki wrote:
> I seem to remember seeing a table figures for the
> differences in aerodynamic drag from different things, leg
> shaving, tight vs flappy jersey, hat / bald head vs hair,
> beard vs clean shaven.

I'd be interested to see this. I was told at university that
golf balls had dimples and tennis balls had hair precisely
so that they would go faster. (It's to do with lowering the
speed at which the flow of air around the ball becomes
turbulent.) I don't see why this shouldn't also apply to
hairy legs, although perhaps the legs would have to be
travelling at super-human speeds for the hair to become
advantageous.

Bob

wafflycathcs@aol.comcomcom (dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) writes:

> 'Nowt to do with aerodynamics nor massage oil. Lots to do
> with road rash - if you come off, road rash is a lot
> easier to clean and heal with shaved legs.

butbutbut ... surely a Helmet would have protected
against that?

-dan

--
"please make sure that the person is your friend before
you confirm"

It was the first piece of advice i was given when i started riding with my new club at the start of this season.

I have never had a serious crash on a road bike and the chances are that i will have a big crash at some time in the future, i am only 20 so many years to come.

Having a leg massage with hair makes no difference in my opinion at all. The only reason to do with massages is that it makes the masseurs job easier.

I have been told that road rash does indeed hurt when it comes to peeling bits of skin and plasters off. Also there is less chance of infection with no hair, and the legs clean up quicker.

I agree it is not the best look to have when you are walking around the uni campus in shorts with no hair on your legs!!

Skunk wrote:
> I'm not a cycle sports spectator nor anything like a
> competition cyclist so I just don't know why some cyclists
> shave their legs. I have heard stories about aerodynamics,
> the massage oil people uses rips hairs from the legs and
> that's a lot more painful than shaving, but I don't know
> if any of these reasons are right. Does anyone know the
> definitive answer.

Yes, it's because leg hairs get caught in the bottle cage
and front mech. Well, that seems no more silly than the road
rash theory to me. Wouldn't the hair be ripped off along
with the skin? Or if the graze wasn't bad enough to do that
then would there be a problem anyway?

~PB

MielBob:
> I'd be interested to see this. I was told at university
> that golf balls
had dimples and tennis balls had hair precisely so that they
would go faster. (It's to do with lowering the speed at
which the flow of air around the ball becomes turbulent.)

I read something recently (was it here?) about swimmers
shaving off all body hair up to and including their eyebrows
for aerodynamic* advantage only for some scientist to
discover that eyebrow hairs actually help to *reduce* drag
in the water - a bit like an otter's fur.

d.(*no, I don't mean aerodynamic do I - whatever the water
equivalent is)