az_cyclist

I started last year, after the spring Solvang double. I had trimmed with the beard trimmers from time to time. I kind of like he feel and the look.

EvilWeasel

I think we might be over complicating things abit here.

OldsCOOL

That is what we are good at.

bbbean 

Sometimes you wipe out, tear your kit, but continue the race. Do you really want to run the risk that a stray body hair would slow you down when you need every watt and every bit of speed you can generate?

fastcarbon

As I recall the Eastern Europeans before Eddie B came over to the US were much faster than us. Their legs and bodies were really hairy and they still beat us. At that time I stopped shaving and didn't ride better or worse.

kingfishr

After 20 years of not shaving my legs I decided to give it a try in an attempt to better my time on the repeat of a 10K time-trial. The 5K out and 5K back is on a flat stretch of road running along the waterfront north of Barsebäck in Southern Sweden. My target was to complete at 40kmh average, my best so far has been 37.0kmh. So I went all out, shoe covers, aero-suit and shaved legs Unfortunately there was a cross-wind of about 40kmh so I was pretty sure I would not reach 40, but I still improved my time by 32 secs with an average of 37.7 with an average power of 254 watts vs 260 watts one year ago. I think my performance numbers have been pretty consistent, so I attribute the improvement to the shoe covers, aero-suit and shaved legs. But how much each gave is another question. I have a 13k TT tomorrow, so will be shaving my legs again...

chasm54

Somehow I don't think hair was the key to Eastern European athletic prowess in late 20th century.

qcpmsame 

Unless a side effect of the PED overuse and blood doping, et al., was hair growth.... I suppose the steroid use might stimulate it, wouldn't know myself.

Bill

rydabent

When viewing cycling in the real world, isnt a fact that probably only .00000001% of cyclist would benefit from shaving their legs?

OldsCOOL

That figure may be correct.

chasm54

Let's assume there are a couple of billion cyclists in the world. .00000001% of 2 billion is 0.2, by my calculations. That is, less than one.

I think we can readily agree that there is more than one cyclist on earth that would benefit, in one way or another, from shaving. But perhaps you don't view bicycle racing as a "real world" activity.

aubiecat

And I'm not one of them.

OldsCOOL

Finally, we put some numbers up to keep the mathmeticians and physicists busy.

bbbean 

Who is it that doesn't benefit from being more aerodynamic?

mrFreel

There may be something to the speed advantage. The lady I ride with shaves her legs and is often just in front of me. Then again it may be that I enjoy the view from behind her

Mike

godeacs

The advantage to me is if/when I crash....easier to clean up and treat. Plus my legs look good....

Black wallnut 

I shave, what you do is up to you. If you pass me and sneer I'll laugh it off or drop the hammer and drop you, depends on the day and my mood and how fast or not fast I am going.

John_V 

Another leg shaving thread so another respond. Oral chemo medication keeps about 90% of the hair on my legs from growing. Normally, I would not shave my legs but the 10% of hair I have on my legs grows in scanty blotches and looks worse than not having any hair at all. I shave what little is there because it looks better and it feels better in our high humidity. It's also easier to manage road rash after a crash or fall.

fastcarbon

or less!

Gerryattrick

Not that I'm talking about myself of course, but do protruding ears cause more drag than leg hairs?

Should this imaginary person I know tape his ears flat before a ride?

trackhub

Who cares if it makes you a little bit faster? The best reason to shave 'em, is because ladies seem to like it, quite a bit.
Is there a better reason?

Zinger

Fixed that for ya

I wonder if shaving my legs would offset my non aero brake hoods, sweatband, crochet gloves, baggy shorts, cotton T shirts, 28c tires and stem that reaches to my seat level.

choteau

One question on shaving of hair, do you also shave eyebrows, arms and fingers, face, ears (this is the 50+) to gain speed OR run a loose ball bearing BB which could gain you about the same amount?

Bikey Mikey

The hair on my legs is so sparse, thin, and light, that it already looks like I shave my legs. It's my beard that slows me down, lol.

MickeyMaguire

And women get turned on by it.