Spring to Fall I shave, Winter I let it grow.

Someone commented on not knowing "where to stop". Generally it's safe to stop just above the leg opening of your shorts, although I read a blurb in a cycling mag once that said something to the effect of, "If you shave up to the point where your legs would be covered by your cycling shorts, and it looks like you're wearing hair shorts, keep shaving."

Incorrect. The proper way to do it is to shave everything, including your lower back boobs and your ass crack. That way when you wear super-tight jerseys that are one size too small on your road bike and hunker down, everyone gets a great view of what appears to be a Walrus birthing a bicycle saddle.

You wouldn't want to just ride to work with your natural body hair. That would just be stupid.

Lower back boobs? Never heard/read that one before. Suffice it to say, if I were getting anywhere near that circumstance I'd cut out the beer and baked goods for a while.

And I wear bibs, so I'm not sure the full effect would be there to be "enjoyed".

I'm not a strict commuter, but I don't anyway. Seems pointless. I can barely be bothered shaving my face or getting haircuts.

It is pointless, but we humans do many pointless things.

For road racers, it's mostly tradition although as tjspiel points out, dressing road rash is more sanitary without a bunch of leg hair getting woven into the mix, and leg massages feel that much better when legs are smooth (not that I have tons of extra massage $$ floating around).

I don't shave my face; why would I shave my legs?

No, because I am not a woman and I don't need another personal care chore. Only reason I can think of is bandaging cuts and road burns, but I have only crashed once in 10 years and that was on a stupidly technical trail I had no business on in the first place.

Aside from women you mean? You're joking, right?

I shave just my eyebrows. It helps me go faster.

I'm not strictly a commuter. I shave my legs for CX racing. It's easier to apply and remove embrocation on smooth legs, less mud sticks to your legs if they're not hairy, and if you get in a wreck things are easier to clean up without a forest of hair to contend with.

My first reaction was HELL NO! However, now that you guys have mentioned it. I also agree that hairy legs and cycling tights don't go well together. And as I further analyze, I can't say that I've ever seen a hairy legged tights wearing roadie.

As for me, no way would I shave. I commute in either my work pants or Champion brand loose fitting jogging shorts. I've vowed to never ever wear the lycra + jerseys. Just my take.

Not only is looks a major thing but keeping up with it and the stubble is not for me.

I've no personal reason for shaving my legs, and I bike in jeans, so the coat of hair stays for me.

The amount of reduction in air resistance you'd get from shaving your legs would be absolutely minimal. Hell, it only helps swimmers get a few hundredths of a second in a race, and that's moving through a fluid that offers FAR more resistance to motion than air does. Shaving your legs is absolutely useless as far as making riding easier goes.

I understand the embrocation reason; I absolutely hate applying sunblock to my hairy arms and legs, and only do so because I hate sunburn even more. But I'm not sure that I believe the road rash reasoning. I've cleaned road rash up on some pretty hairy swathes of flesh, and it cleaned up fine; at no point have I ever thought "gosh, this hair is in the way". And if you do shave in anticipation of road rash, shouldn't you shave everything, not just your legs? I've had road rash running up both of my flanks, perfectly outlining the mess bag that I was wearing as I slid down the road on my back, to say nothing of my scarred arms.

I mainly commute/transportation ride and I do shave me legs.

I hit my legs about once a month with clippers in the summer. It makes it MUCH easier for me to clean off the bugs and dirt that would otherwise be stuck in the hair when I get to work. I ride through a lot of areas with swarms of gnats that I don't want to carry to work with me. Also makes it harder for ticks to grab onto me when I MTB.

So tell me, trx1, how do you end up reading and responding to threads that are 9 and 10 years old?

Easy - doing a search of "how to best shave my legs" and "commuter + razor burn".

Both are perfectly reasonable and not-at-all weird searches....

Not road rash in my case with racing. CX wrecks are only road rash if someone takes a spill on the rare stretch of pavement. More frequent are the multi-bike pileups in sand (like this past weekend) after a starting sprint that dumps you into a 10 yard long, 6" deep, damp sandpit. When you're on the front of the pack (just some advice from yer uncle Clifton now,) don't cock it up when you hit the sand at 25mph with 80 riders on your arse. There were a lot of these types of bungups last weekend with people not making it over little technical obstacles and getting rear-ended by other riders.
CX racing in the FOS division* results in a lot of pedal and chainring scrapes to the lower legs.

*Cat-4 35+; Fat, Old, and Slow

Yes, I shave my legs

and
shave head to 1/4 inch
face
the captain and the 2 sailors
my ass and ass crack
back
pits
trim my arm hair

Why? Well, the reasons are, in order of importance:

1) Now that I've started to shave, I HATE hair. Can't stand it. Absolutely detest it.
2) Eaiser to add sun block
3) Collects less flies and dirt

Take alot of time? Meh...I admit I do let it slide longer in the winter, but I usually do one body part a day. Face one day, head the next, legs the next, etc. Some parts can go longer than others such as the pits and back maybe once every 2 weeks. Other parts such as the head and legs have to be done AT LEAST once a week.

Does it improve cycling performance? No.

Friends make lighthearted fun as does the missus. Don't really care.
But they do call me "The Leg Man"....and/or "Chainsaw Doug" but that has nothing to do with shaving.

Oh! and I forgot to mention that I HATE hair. Obsolutely detest it.

Yes I shave! It's Hair-o- dynamic!
lol!

I do because it's much easier to clean up shaved legs.

Speaking from personal experience, I had a pretty bad crash in a race 5+ years ago, broke my femur. The doctor was quite relieved that they didn't need to try and shave around the road rash prior to surgery to screwing me back together. Point being, if surgeons shave the incision area prior to surgery to avoid infections, it's probably not a stretch to think that leg hair might not be all that great a thing to be mashing into your road rash while you're cleaning up. Besides, I've got an ugly mug, but cyclists legs. Never hurts to emphasize the positive. And anyone that says that vanity doesn't play into this is not being entirely truthful.

Have fun with that! Do you have to stretch the sailors taut, or just start hacking at them with the razor?

You guys do realize that shaving legs does absolutely nothing aerodynamically right? It's only done for aesthetics and to make recovery from road rash easier.

I would never do it because it'd be cold. I need all the fur I can get in the winter.

Entirely true. If anyone claims it makes them faster, it just means there's less wind resistance through the ears. It's at least 80 aesthetics, because seriously, does anyone really plan/prepare to crash? If you do happen to scuff up some road rash, well, you've just made it a little easier on yourself.