Road Cycling - Why Shave?

Ok, what is the point. Why shave? There is no way that those little hairs have save that much drag, and for the falling issue. Well if you have a crash and get road rash hair no hair is not going to make a diff.

The hair will make a difference if you crash and try to clean the wound with hair all over it! I know from personal experience, it sucks if you have hair!!!

Not again.

leg shaving for cycling has nothing to do with aerodynamics. first as pletcgm said it has do with crashing. no hair results in less severe road rash type injuries, makes them easier to treat, allows them to heal faster, and there will be less complications.
second it allows for an easier better/massage, not really something average people may get very often but racers do.
so if you never crash or get massages, no need to shave. :)

Ok, what is the point. Why shave? There is no way that those little hairs have save that much drag, and for the falling issue. Well if you have a crash and get road rash hair no hair is not going to make a diff.
Sorry but you're wrong. I had an accident six weeks ago. The cleanup by the paramedics was almost painless because there was no hair to get caught or pull. It healed faster than past road rash when I didn't shave.
Massage is much better too. When I first started riding (with hairy legs) and got a massage I thought it was great. Now massages are much better and my massage therapist says she prefers clients with shaved legs.

As shaharidan said if you don't crash or get massages then don't shave. But then you must remember that looks count too in the decision to shave. If you've got great looking legs why not show them off? Or are you ashamed of all your hard work?

The main reasons I kept doing it was because there are few things grosser than hairy, sweaty legs poking out of a pair of skin tight shorts.

Also, it feels so much better to ride with shaved legs that you'll never go back.

Also, it feels so much better to ride with shaved legs that you'll never go back.

That is the main reason for me.
Haven't (yet) experienced the crash test.

when you are sliding across the pavement, even if you hit and think you didnt slide, you still sliding a little, and all those hairs will grab a bit and rip the wound more than if it wasn't. It is also easier to clean, and heals faster.

In reagard to Laggards comment about hairy sweaty legs sticking out of lycra shorts, no doubt. Imagine if someone like Betinni, or Peter Van Petegem (hairiest arms in the peloton) didn't shave, that would be funny as *****.

One more note: I shave my arms too...any skin that is exposed!

Here's a test for you. Take a couple of 6" strips of medical bandages, apply them to your hairy legs, wait about 10 minutes then rip them off.

Hurts like hell doesn't it.

Andrew

Well, my wife likes 'em shaved. Since I started shaving the legs I've gotten some nice compliments on how they look. Too bad my riding ability isn't as good as my legs look!

The road rash argument depends on the severity of the rash. I have a large road rash scar on my left calf - it covers half of it. The hairs never bothered me when it was healing because I'd rubbed all the skin off so badly that they simply never grew back :eek:

I needed a graft on it too, so maybe mine was a slightly exceptional case.

Shaving is a commitment to cycling. If you shave you are saying I take this seriously. If I am not in the mood to ride I look at my legs and think am I a cyclist or some weirdo who shaves his legs. So I get on the bike and ride.

Looks!

you are riding at a good 20 mph pace, you swerve to miss a rock or pothole, and by chance you hit that small area of snad, you go down, you slide across the pavement, not to mention that sand that put you down, your leg is skinless and bleeding, you take your water bottle, spray your wound and wash it out and inspect your bike, get back on and continue.
Now with hair the sand, pavement, and whatever road debris happens to get inside the wound will not wash off as easy, the hair keeps it in and it hurts like hell, not to mention you have used both water bottles trying to get the wound free of sand, dirt and road debris.
hairless legs you spray with your water bottle, and tah-dah you get back on your bike and go, your finished, the sand, dirt and grime is gone and you still have a full water bottle and a half full or (half empty) water bottle because you drank a 1/4 of it and cleaned your wound with 1/4 of it.
The other reason for shaved legs are if you have the muscle tone, they look awsome, people always look and usually have something to say about it, and cyclist can spot you in a crowd anywhere.

I'm considering it not for the above reasons, but for weight loss. I'm so freaking hairy, I'll probably drop ten pounds with just a vat of Nair and a razor.

Because it's kinky.

Shaving is a commitment to cycling. If you shave you are saying I take this seriously. If I am not in the mood to ride I look at my legs and think am I a cyclist or some weirdo who shaves his legs. So I get on the bike and ride.


Here's the poseur test:

1) Find somebody who's the exact opposite of "hardcore"

2) Have them do something that is usually considered "hardcore"

3) If they can do it with no effort at all, it probably isn't hardcore.

Shaving one's legs doesn't prove anything. I could take anybody off the street, throw them in a pair of lycra shorts and run a razor up their legs. What would that prove? Let's see them move. That's the only *real* test of a biker, anything else is superfluous.

I'm not saying you shouldn't shave your legs. Or that you should. But I see way too many bikers out there that look cool as hell while standing still in their lycra suit and uber-pricey bike, yet still don't move any faster than the average redneck in a plaid flannel shirt on a 10-year-old mountain bike.

Ok, what is the point. Why shave? There is no way that those little hairs have save that much drag, and for the falling issue. Well if you have a crash and get road rash hair no hair is not going to make a diff.

126 pro riders in the peloton disagree with you. Shaved skin heals faster too.

Here's the poseur test:

1) Find somebody who's the exact opposite of "hardcore"

2) Have them do something that is usually considered "hardcore"

3) If they can do it with no effort at all, it probably isn't hardcore.

Shaving one's legs doesn't prove anything. I could take anybody off the street, throw them in a pair of lycra shorts and run a razor up their legs. What would that prove? Let's see them move. That's the only *real* test of a biker, anything else is superfluous.

I'm not saying you shouldn't shave your legs. Or that you should. But I see way too many bikers out there that look cool as hell while standing still in their lycra suit and uber-pricey bike, yet still don't move any faster than the average redneck in a plaid flannel shirt on a 10-year-old mountain bike.


Messanger is spelled Messenger.

I'm Hardcore I think, because I have a rack on my track bike. It's hardcore because everyone else thinks it's silly, but because I have the guts to do it, it MUST BE.

I'm too scared to shave my legs though, I might offend some crazy messanger from Canada.

i'm fairly heavy and pretty slow, but im on my bike basically 7 days a week, i ride atleast 100 miles a week, usually closer150 miles a week, and sometimes 200.
am i hardcore or a poser?

August Spies

I never said I was hardcore just commited. Generally I ride alone so who am I trying to impress. I would think we are all on the same team here. If you want to shave, shave if you don't, don't. If you want to judge me, I really don't care.

Not again.

Well put.

i'm fairly heavy and pretty slow, but im on my bike basically 7 days a week, i ride atleast 100 miles a week, usually closer150 miles a week, and sometimes 200.
am i hardcore or a poser?


I would say your a poser if you shave, shaved legs on slow bike riders is a no no. i didn't shave till i could hang and ride off the front with the best in town. also a hundred miles is weak, that amounts to around 5 -6 hours a week for ya. a cycling athlete puts in a min of 13 hours a week. anyone who is serious training could care less about miles, its the quality of the ride workout that counts, the "time" in the saddle. riding 3 hundred miles a week don't impress me ride 20 hours+ and you got my respect.

pacesetter-

way to make other cyclists feel welcome!!! maybe we should outlaw overweight people on bikes altogether. the jerk lessons are coming along nicely.

I would say your a poser if you shave, shaved legs on slow bike riders is a no no. i didn't shave till i could hang and ride off the front with the best in town. also a hundred miles is weak, that amounts to around 5 -6 hours a week for ya. a cycling athlete puts in a min of 13 hours a week. anyone who is serious training could care less about miles, its the quality of the ride workout that counts, the "time" in the saddle. riding 3 hundred miles a week don't impress me ride 20 hours+ and you got my respect.

Maybe you could let us know why any of us should care to have your respect?

I would say your a poser if you shave, shaved legs on slow bike riders is a no no. i didn't shave till i could hang and ride off the front with the best in town. also a hundred miles is weak, that amounts to around 5 -6 hours a week for ya. a cycling athlete puts in a min of 13 hours a week. anyone who is serious training could care less about miles, its the quality of the ride workout that counts, the "time" in the saddle. riding 3 hundred miles a week don't impress me ride 20 hours+ and you got my respect.

I spend over 20 hours a week on the computer, and about half the time on my bike this time on the year (100 degrees & humid). I don't respect people on the internet that can't capitalize the first letter in the beggining of each sentence but I don't try and suggest they don't post. I've shaved my legs and got some free cash doing so. I went around and collected bets... I still shave from time to time and once school starts again and the riding gets good I'm going to keep them shaved.

I would say your a poser if you shave, shaved legs on slow bike riders is a no no. i didn't shave till i could hang and ride off the front with the best in town. also a hundred miles is weak, that amounts to around 5 -6 hours a week for ya. a cycling athlete puts in a min of 13 hours a week. anyone who is serious training could care less about miles, its the quality of the ride workout that counts, the "time" in the saddle. riding 3 hundred miles a week don't impress me ride 20 hours+ and you got my respect.

Well, I was going to shave, but since I began to care so much about whether you respected me or not, I decided not to.

*changes mind*
*ignores the pointless dogma*

Maybe you could let us know why any of us should care to have your respect?



Why do i need your respect? you and everyone else here is nobody to me! pay my bills then i will respect you. Sha asked a question "am i harcore or a poser" and if he shaves hes a poser, if he is slow and fat ect. people here should not ask a question if they do not want an honest anserw. and if someone over the net hurts your feelings you should go see a shrink.

Why do i need your respect? you and everyone else here is nobody to me! pay my bills then i will respect you. Sha asked a question "am i harcore or a poser" and if he shaves hes a poser, if he is slow and fat ect. people here should not ask a question if they do not want an honest anserw. and if someone over the net hurts your feelings you should go see a shrink.

You should spend a couple less hours on the bike and take a spelling class.

I forgot to mention those 100 to 200 miles are up hill both ways and on most days it's snowing :)

You should spend a couple less hours on the bike and take a spelling class.


Ok ***** eyes.

Do you ever wonder if the Female European Racers have to think about whether or not they will shave their legs?

Why do i need your respect? you and everyone else here is nobody to me! pay my bills then i will respect you. Sha asked a question "am i harcore or a poser" and if he shaves hes a poser, if he is slow and fat ect. people here should not ask a question if they do not want an honest anserw. and if someone over the net hurts your feelings you should go see a shrink.

Pay attention here... This is the second post where you have explained how we can gain your respect. NOT the other way around. I simply asked why anyone should want your respect. It was actually a rhetorical question to point out the fact that you must be a conceited a$$ to think that anyone would want your respect. So, you don't really have to answer the question. You see, you are nobody to me either. You keep making reference to "your respect" as if it were some prize that we should all be trying to attain. I'll let you in on a secret... I really don't care whether you respect me or not.

Pay attention here... This is the second post where you have explained how we can gain your respect. NOT the other way around. I simply asked why anyone should want your respect. It was actually a rhetorical question to point out the fact that you must be a conceited a$$ to think that anyone would want your respect. So, you don't really have to answer the question. You see, you are nobody to me either. You keep making reference to "your respect" as if it were some prize that we should all be trying to attain. I'll let you in on a secret... I really don't care whether you respect me or not.
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

Pay attention here... This is the second post where you have explained how we can gain your respect. NOT the other way around. I simply asked why anyone should want your respect. It was actually a rhetorical question to point out the fact that you must be a conceited a$$ to think that anyone would want your respect. So, you don't really have to answer the question. You see, you are nobody to me either. You keep making reference to "your respect" as if it were some prize that we should all be trying to attain. I'll let you in on a secret... I really don't care whether you respect me or not.


Ok poser, my weak man. don't ask questions if it's gonna hurt your feelings sissy biatch.

First you look to others' possible faults to make you feel better about yourself, and then you start to call them names (biatch), which, by the way, would get you a serious beat down anywhere besides the flat, desolute desert you live in. You may be a "stronger" cyclist, but you are definitely a *****!




e
Ok poser, my weak man. don't ask questions if it's gonna hurt your feelings sissy biatch.

First you look to others' possible faults to make you feel better about yourself, and then you start to call them names (biatch), which, by the way, would get you a serious beat down anywhere besides the flat, desolute desert you live in. You may be a "stronger" cyclist, but you are definitely a *****!




e

This desert is far from flat "G", and id rather be a strong ******* then a weak poser.

Back to the topic...

I don't shave, but have in the past. Personally, I see much more reason to shave if you mountain bike versus ride on the road. I crash many more times on trails than on the road. For road riding, I probably crash once for every 4,000 miles. Considering this is about a year's mileage for me, and I would have to shave atleast once a week, say at 10-15 minutes a pop, twelve hours of frekin' shaving just to "in theory" save a bit of skin in one crash isn't worth the time and effort.

Sure, shaved legs look better in bike shorts, you can show off, yada yada yada :rolleyes: You know you just want to look like Lance. :p

This desert is far from flat "G", and id rather be a strong ******* then a weak poser.

But, as your posts have proved, you're neither. Instead, you're just pathetic.

Pacesetter ... your attitude give cyclist a bad name. Sorry you are so tortured ...
maybe you need a long, hard ride in the desert heat.

As for shaving legs ... I had a fall last week, and tending to the wound from my ankle to my knee was a real hassle to bandage. I carefully shaved the area, and thought what the hell ... shaved both legs. The road rash is healing well, and keeping it clean is easy. I'll keep them shaved, just in case.

I don't want want to disappoint anyone with a legitimate question (as opposed to calling some one a muther%$#%$% or an a****** or a p**** eating frog f******* poseur) Though it's very entertaining.

Here goes it: to those of you who do shave your legs...

Does it itch like hell when it comes back in? Do you actually shave? Or do you prefer to Nair? I Nair my back and upper chest, taint, junk (too much info?) and find that it's okay. But when I've tried shaving said areas. Well, it sucked big time.

So fill me in. What do you guys do?

And have you married people gotten any flack from your spouses? What if you use their razor?

Thanks in advance!

Why do i need your respect? you and everyone else here is nobody to me! pay my bills then i will respect you. Sha asked a question "am i harcore or a poser" and if he shaves hes a poser, if he is slow and fat ect. people here should not ask a question if they do not want an honest anserw. and if someone over the net hurts your feelings you should go see a shrink.

i hope you get run over by a semi becuase you ran a stop sign you didnt see because you were to busy trying to look cool and show off while passing some cyclist "poser"

G'day,

yawn....hasn't this thread been done 40,000 times already?......now i'll just sit here & wait for the next "why do they pick on Lance"?, thread or the "shimano vs Campy, which is better?" thread which will surely pop up in the next 5 minutes!...get a life folks...there's riding to be done!,

cheers,

Hitchy

<edit>

I don't shave, except for me face on occation, and I've had plenty of minor wounds, hair has never been a factor for any of my injuries either in catching and tearing or cleaning, I'm not a super hairy guy fyi. Then again when I do keep my face shorn I don't use foam or soap or whatever most people do, just plain water for me and I've done most of my own first aid since first grade and I've gone over the bars a couple times without so much as a scratch. So it seems I don't exactly have the most sensitive or easily broken skin in town which would meen that I am probably not the best source if your looking for a middle of the road answer. But it is a qualified if not quantified answer.
I think for most folks it has to do with a subconcious need to pretend that they are a big time athlete and their mind justifies it by making them think that they're doing it for something like faster healing (total bull -and it won't make you bench more either). Mind you this whole process is done in the we corners of the mind and the person has no idea that its going down like this, thats why its called SUBconcious.

ahh late late late night rambling

Ok, here we go one more time. :rolleyes:



to those of you who do shave your legs...
Does it itch like hell when it comes back in?
If you let the hair grow back in the autumn, it itches for a week or so. Some of us shave year round so that's not a problem.



Do you actually shave? Or do you prefer to Nair?
Use Nair the first time to get rid of the long leg hair. After that use a razor.



And have you married people gotten any flack from your spouses?
My wife likes the feel of my smooth, muscular legs.

Soldiers going into combat always have very , very , short hair as it makes treating head wounds so much easier : when ever I´ve been operated on they´ve always shaved the affected area first .

I would say your a poser if you shave, shaved legs on slow bike riders is a no no. i didn't shave till i could hang and ride off the front with the best in town. also a hundred miles is weak, that amounts to around 5 -6 hours a week for ya. a cycling athlete puts in a min of 13 hours a week. anyone who is serious training could care less about miles, its the quality of the ride workout that counts, the "time" in the saddle. riding 3 hundred miles a week don't impress me ride 20 hours+ and you got my respect.

I am sure that we are all going to enjoy watching you in the TdF for the next 23 days. Which team did say you were on? Oh, it dosen't matter. We will just find you by looking for the yellow jersey. :rolleyes:

Soldiers going into combat always have very , very , short hair as it makes treating head wounds so much easier : when ever I´ve been operated on they´ve always shaved the affected area first .
That's part of the reason. The more commonly cited one is that short hair is easier to keep clean-no small benefit in the field. This is the same reason many Marines and soliders trim or shave their, uh...personal areas, and part of the reason for "going commando."

And of course the reason for the short hair in bootcamp.....they make em. :LOL: So they can easier assimilate(mentaly) into being a cog in the machine, no styles to worry about, leaves that much more of their old personal identity behind, no fussing with it, and they all look as similer as possible. (part of the mental cleansing of bootcamp) Its all part of 'making' a soldier.
Shaving does happen before people get surgery yes, however I'm not planing to have surgery on every bike ride, in fact in 20 years of riding the issue hasn't come up and that would have been a lot of shaving.
Personaly I find the the hair acts a bit like a built in scruber when washing up out in the boonies. [Theres a lot of wilderness around here that I explore for extended periods.]
The pros probably shave to eliminate even the chance of extra wind resistance as they zip along at 45+kph, so they look neat for the camera/ part of team uniform, and with competition that fierce accidents are much more likely as the envelope is pushed.

In the end its just your preferance and of course how sasquach like or unlike you are and what you like to hide or show off. I think all the reasons people have for shaving or not have been listed here.


And have you married people gotten any flack from your spouses?


My wife likes the feel of my smooth, muscular legs.
The last time I got a nice neat short standard GQ type haircut half the chicks I know were pissed, one wouldn't even talk to me for a week. So I went back to my 'trim three times a year' collar length hair/ponytail(its a big full bodied thick head of hair). I'm afraid of being drawn and quartered if I shaved my whole self. They're from the city and they're not hippies in case your wondering about demographics.