If you shave your legs....

[firebugbiker]

Thanks for the clarification. I don't plan on wrecking often enough to make shaving worthwhile. Why aren't the arms shaved as well? Every time I have had to deal with road rash I had it on my arms as bad as my legs but, to each their own if it makes you think your a better cyclist then by all means. I just don't think it's for me, I'm not a hairy type person unlike Robin Williams.

 

[mtnrider]

you people (if guys) are odd, comingfrom a mtn biker's piont of view. I don't mean to be rood but the idea kinda gives me the willies!

 

[House]

I'm a bit confused and new to the sport, what does shaving your legs have to do with cycling? What is the reason for a man to shave does it have something to do with speed wind resistance or just the possibility of falling down and getting a bit of road rash?

There is a slight aero benefit, but the main reason are:

A) Crashing- as you slide on the pavement hair catches and is pulled out...along with more skin! It is also easier to clean with no hair

B) Massage- much easier without hair

I use a Mach 3 razor in the shower with just hot water, no creams, gels or lotions and nothing special afterwards.

 

[mitosis]

There is a slight aero benefit, but the main reason are:

A) Crashing- as you slide on the pavement hair catches and is pulled out...along with more skin! It is also easier to clean with no hair

B) Massage- much easier without hair

I use a Mach 3 razor in the shower with just hot water, no creams, gels or lotions and nothing special afterwards.

Find a scientific study that shows significant aerodynamic advantages of shaving legs and it will be the first.

Most people don't like to admit it but shaving legs is mostly done because (in most cases) it looks good and feels good.

The only real reason you have given is it is easier for massage.

Even swimmers, who struggle through a much more viscous liquid than air, find shaving gives almost immeasurable improvements in speed.

The hair causing more serious road rash is questionable, because no one has had the same accident with and without leg hair as a true test.

IMO it makes no difference because having skidded to a halt along smooth and coarse roads at speeds up to 60 km,shaved and unshaved, it seems plenty of skin is removed whether there is hair or not.

 

[House]

Find a scientific study that shows significant aerodynamic advantages of shaving legs and it will be the first.

Most people don't like to admit it but shaving legs is mostly done because (in most cases) it looks good and feels good.

The only real reason you have given is it is easier for massage.

Even swimmers, who struggle through a much more viscous liquid than air, find shaving gives almost immeasurable improvements in speed.

The hair causing more serious road rash is questionable, because no one has had the same accident with and without leg hair as a true test.

So you have never crashed or even fallen down on pavement and noticed how much hair was pulled out? It is quite natural for hair to catch on rough surfaces as you slide. Naturally it will pull out, but as the pulling is not straight out and other skin is being pulled, this causes more skin to come off.

Also check this out, near the middle is a chart listing the different things you can do for aerodynamics and their affects. The fourth one down lists what I have seen a number of times before. Shaving legs adds a slight aero advantage.

http://sheldonbrown.com/rinard/aero/aerodynamics.htm

 

[mitosis]

So you have never crashed or even fallen down on pavement and noticed how much hair was pulled out? It is quite natural for hair to catch on rough surfaces as you slide. Naturally it will pull out, but as the pulling is not straight out and other skin is being pulled, this causes more skin to come off.

Also check this out, near the middle is a chart listing the different things you can do for aerodynamics and their affects. The fourth one down lists what I have seen a number of times before. Shaving legs adds a slight aero advantage.

http://sheldonbrown.com/rinard/aero/aerodynamics.htm

0.6% is not significant. If you look at the other figures it compares with smooth socks and aero cranks I have seen tables like these before that estimate time gains. When you get down to less than 1% there are other uncontrollable variables that make the results questionable.

I'm not saying you shouldn't shave your legs - I do it during serious racing myself, but I don't believe, for one minute that it makes me any faster or saves me from road rash - but it looks and feels good and my wife likes it.

 

[House]

0.6% is not significant. If you look at the other figures it compares with smooth socks and aero cranks I have seen tables like these before that estimate time gains. When you get down to less than 1% there are other uncontrollable variables that make the results questionable.

I'm not saying you shouldn't shave your legs - I do it during serious racing myself, but I don't believe, for one minute that it makes me any faster or saves me from road rash - but it looks and feels good and my wife likes it.

The last statement is 100% true, my wife loves it! I never said it was a big advantage, just slight, 5 seconds over 40k could mean nothing or it could mean a TT win. The main reason i started doing it was about commitment. I realised how stupid I would feel if i was fat and shaved my legs!

 

[Shredpirate]

I use nair for men when I want to remove my leg hair. Afterward I apply some lotion.

 

[Eddy_B]

I use nair for men when I want to remove my leg hair. Afterward I apply some lotion.

"feel faster" w/ shaved legs,having moved up a catagory,i was one of the few that didnt.someone i respect said youll be sorry if you crash with them hairy legs! that was all i need to hear.i use a rotory shaver works fine never got skilled enough use a regular shaver like a mach3. i keep thinking blood in the shower or something,afterwards i use clinique mens face scrub.

 

[shming123]

does that NAIR really work? I used something like it once, and afterwards the hair was still there but it felt like I had rubbed sandpaper all over my legs...it was painful, like it burned the skin.

 

[rockmuncher]

I just use Dettol handwash (green or blue) for shaving and as an after shave antibacterial. They claim it has moisturiser in it. I've never had a problem with itching, stinging, bumps, etc.

 

[azdroptop]

What do you put on them after you shave? Warming cream, lotion, or leave them alone? How do you avoid the goose bump look, or razor rash? Just curious?

Don't shave as often and use a Sharp razor!

 

[davebee]

just out of interest, how far up your legs do you shave??

Although I am an mtber, I generally ride in spandex shorts and find that the shorts can pull on hairs which is quite uncomfortable.

 

[azdroptop]

just out of interest, how far up your legs do you shave??

Although I am an mtber, I generally ride in spandex shorts and find that the shorts can pull on hairs which is quite uncomfortable.

I'm an ex bodybuilder so I shave the whole thing. Arms and chest too. Old habbits are hard to break.

 

[mitosis]

So you have never crashed or even fallen down on pavement and noticed how much hair was pulled out? It is quite natural for hair to catch on rough surfaces as you slide. Naturally it will pull out, but as the pulling is not straight out and other skin is being pulled, this causes more skin to come off.

Also check this out, near the middle is a chart listing the different things you can do for aerodynamics and their affects. The fourth one down lists what I have seen a number of times before. Shaving legs adds a slight aero advantage.

http://sheldonbrown.com/rinard/aero/aerodynamics.htm

Read post 47.

 

[triguy98]

does that NAIR really work? I used something like it once, and afterwards the hair was still there but it felt like I had rubbed sandpaper all over my legs...it was painful, like it burned the skin.

Nair works... sometimes... really only works on my legs, not my arms. And ya gotta becareful about the time, over 10 minutes and you WILL get a chem burn. And it doesnt smell as bad as it used to, they have several different varieties now that arent too bad smell wise.

I get another day of not having to shave out of it, and i dont get ingrown hairs or razor burn. Good stuff.

 

[Derek W]

No one has mentioned this in the several threads I have read...

Riding in the rain is a sob with leg hair...all the grime and crud that get swept up onto your shins is a lot easier removed without leg hair...also some may feel shaving is sign of dedication to their sport...I do it for several reasons...one being it feels so much better..

 

[chrome frame]

When I was younger I raced for many years at least twice a week during the season. Part of racing is crashing, regardless of your skills, someone else will sooner or later take you down (unless time trialing). Before I started shaving I would have terrible road rash, ugly, deep, pourous wounds. So, I thought I would try shaving. After shaving the rash from similar crashed was SO much better! Actually, I never had terrible road rash again. Believe what you want, but the people that don't believe that shaving helps road rash probably have never shaved and haven't been a competitive racer for many years. Now, I don't shave, I still ride but I am not racing.

 

[Jene]

oooooh, jus to drag this topic back up... with one word


epilation..
are any of the men stupid enough to do it? lol
tis still better than shaving tho..