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I've been riding, off and on, for years. I've never shaved my legs. Do any of you shave? My wife would surely have a fitful response to this. So, I'm thinking about going for it.

I did when I was younger and occasionally raced intermediate level crits and time trials. I suppose it was helpful a few times after crashes for first aid to road rash. I doubt it made me any faster - I've never had enough leg hair to matter. And I barely notice any discomfort from pulling out hairs, whether peeling bandages off slowly or yanking quickly. One advantage to being older with chronic pain is the little stuff is hardly noticeable anymore. But shaving would probably be helpful for wooly bears and caveman types.

Spring is almost here...

Officially spring has sprung.
I did when I competed in triathlons in the mid 80's to early 90s. And now that I'm training again and plan to compete in some this year I'll do it again. I'd shave the night before my first race of the season then once a week to keep it manageable. Then the night before every race.
They say it's more aerodynamic, helps when you get road rash, shows more definition in your legs, facilitates post race massages and gives you a better feel for the water when swimming. But honestly I do it for the psychological affect. It means my training is going well and I'm ready to race You just feel faster. If I never did race I'd probably still do it because it helps identify me as a cyclist, shows off my legs, and most of all, it feels cooler. I say go for it. Can't knock it til you try it.

Tips: Use shaving cream, have at least 2 or more brand new shavers handy, start at the feet, and shave upward. I use Bic disposable with the pastel color handles. You may need more than 2 if you're really hairy. Oh and take your time especially around the ankles. You can expect an hour the first time then less than that if you shave weekly. Good luck.

Did it when I was racing and used every silly rationale in the book. It was a tribal ritual, a safe bit of homoeroticism, and felt fast. Wife couldn't stand the way it felt after a few days. I now have almost no hair below the knees from being old.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leob1 (Post 18635356)

No reason to.

+1. Not a chance.

At 70, I still do. My reason is that I take an oral chemo drug that causes about 98% of the hair on my legs, and other body areas, to disappear. What's left are very small, scattered patches with dark hair that often looks like dots on my legs. It looks ridiculous and I'd rather have no hair on my legs than spotty patches. However, if you don't have a reason to shave your legs, than don't. Then again, you could give it a try and see how you like it and if you don't, let it grow back and no harm was done.

I do. Not for any specific reason. It does not help my aerodynamic profile. I rarely 'crash', (only three times in my entire life, and all low-speed 'tight turns on a sand patch'). I just like the way it looks and feels. Unless the max temp of the day is in the mid-60s or lower, I wear shorts to work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eatontkd (Post 18634727)

I've been riding, off and on, for years. I've never shaved my legs. Do any of you shave? My wife would surely have a fitful response to this. So, I'm thinking about going for it.

She might not like it at first but wait until you're both in bed. You can add the rest of the story yourself. :innocent:

I'm 71 and still keep the leg hairs short. I don't shave anymore but I do use a trimmer every few weeks. :thumb:

I really don't see the point in shaving, unless I need to tape up my ankles again, and I don't compete in those types of sports anymore, so I don't see that happening.

I don't have very hairy legs anyway, so for the few nano seconds I'll save, it's not worth the effort or explanation. I also don't anticipate crashing, so that aspect is a non issue too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoAlpha (Post 18635176)

^ lol

I don't. I already shave the noggin and that's enough for me.

I have other reasons too. Whenever my family complains about my incessant cycling, I threaten them:

"Keep it up and I'll start shaving my legs. Explain that one to your friends."

I want to keep that one in my back pocket.

started shaving a few years ago...

looks good, feels good...especially when swimming.

shaving is not about being 'aero,' it's about road rash...my last trip to the ER after a crash with hairy legs was pretty unpleasant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biker395 (Post 18635754)

I shave the noggin, too.

Wife wasn't embarrassed by this comparatively mild eccentricity and appeared to buy the excuses. She just objected to the 400-grit Emery cloth feel of five-day shadow in bed. These days, however, she's worried about my wild eyebrows and keeps licking her finger and pasting them down. Daughter might have been slightly embarrassed if I'd done it when she was an adolescent, but probably not, given her delight in painting my toenails.

Hell, I swam with guys who shaved all visible parts for speed--talk about tribal rituals. That one's been debunked, too.

Road rash is unpleasant with or without hair, in my experience.

I crashed in Central Park during a race MANY years ago. First time I went down hard and the road rash/hair/blood clean up made for a very unpleasant experience after arriving back home in Teaneck. Once healed I shaved arms and legs and it felt weird but one thing for sure is that non hairy arms/legs makes for very easy and less painful cleaning after doing down. Never shaved for any of my triathlons and I should have for the first REV3 70.3 in Venice. Came to the round-about by Manasota Beach and according to my Garmin went from 25.3mph to 0 pretty fast when I lost the rear at the 15 mile mark. Big time bleeding from that point on until after the 13.1 at which point I was escorted to the medical tent for a half hour of medical attention to be cleaned up--OUCH!!!!!--and monitoring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biker395 (Post 18635754)

.......Whenever my family complains about my incessant cycling, I threaten them:

"Keep it up and I'll start shaving my legs. Explain that one to your friends."

I want to keep that one in my back pocket.

:roflmao2:That may work for me!

Legs and forearms. Started doing it 30 years ago and cant stop now. If i go 2 weeks without the itching and ingrown hairs become unbearable

forearms is due to the wide swath of skin i pulled off the first time i let my speed drp below 15 mph on a 45 degree velodrome and slid down all the way to the bottom

its just part of life now - only complaint is its time consuming as i am a big guy --- a regular shower takes 5 minutes- a bath where shaving is involved takes me at minimum 30

Oh lord, no. Its about the only hair I have left!

Oh boy, a shaving thread. These deliver almost as well as Lance threads in the 41. :popcorn

Can we do a saddle bag or waving thread next? Can we, can we? Pretty please. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by mprelaw (Post 18636183)

Oh boy, a shaving thread. These deliver almost as well as Lance threads in the 41. :popcorn

Can we do a saddle bag or waving thread next? Can we, can we? Pretty please. :D

I only wave at cats who shave.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mprelaw (Post 18636183)

Can we do a saddle bag or waving thread next? Can we, can we? Pretty please. :D

Keep it up and I'll starts a chain lube thread!

I'll stop shaving when I know I've done my last crash.

Ben

Dont shave! Use Veet for Men. .

Another customer, the Cantakerous Tiger wrote: "I like the clean shaven look down in my gentleman's log cabin, so for the past few years I've used a shaver. However the hair keeps growing back... so I decided to get to the root of the problem and purchased this product.

"Probably the first thing you will notice after using this product is the pain. Although as a man I lack the required experience, I'm going to estimate that using this product is at least eleven times more painful than childbirth.

"Imagine sticking a rusty razor blade into your favourite eye, before tying your hands behind your back. Then imagine that you use the entrenched razor blade to slice open a raw onion. All the while being butt naked.

"This product is slightly more painful than that."

But still worth a three star rating.

Yes, but not in winter months.
Shaving + Nair keeps it smooth.

As [MENTION=411805]MoAlpha[/MENTION] stated = a mild eccentricity.

I manscape with an electric razor set to max length, so basically I'm shortening all the hair to a humane density. Wifey does my back.

So, let me be a real pain in the arse and suggest that if road rash is what worries you, use clippers to get the ground cover down to a level where it won't block irrigation or obscure pebbles, and if you don't have that much hair, leave it alone. Shaving increases the risk of wound infection by stripping the surrounding skin of its ability to keep bacterial growth in check and that's the source in the majority of infected wounds.

Never have and if I start now my dear lovely wife would surely have something to say. Having said that, I am among those who do not have much hair on my legs, at least not enough to make a difference.

This OLD post from way back in my early days on Bike Forums always makes me laugh.
http://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...e-my-legs.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stumon (Post 17836)

CAUTION!!! ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

Don't shave your legs! Really. You're asking for trouble!

I have to warn all of you about one seldom talked about danger of shaving your legs...

In the early 1980s, I was in my mid twenties, buff & toned, and a fast enough cyclist to stand a chance in local races. Naturally, to gain acceptance from the Bike Powers That Be, (or Were) I made sure that my legs were as smooth as those of the girls at the Cheetah III.

Trouble is, I got to really liking the ritual... you know, buying women's skin-care products, sinking into a hot bath and shaving, the cremes and lotions... I began to shave my armpits, just for the heck of it. I kept my facial stubble all-but-invisible.

One day, I came across a stash of makeup leftover from an ex-girlfriend who had halfway moved in. A little eyeliner to bring out my eyes, just a tiny bit of lip gloss for the Bardot look...

Somebody, somewhere, should be saying "uh oh..."

Before too long, I was wearing silk panties under my Nashbar eight-panel shorts, and I occasionally ordered plus sizes from the women's clothing section of the bike catalogs.

Since I had an extremely masculine hairline... as in: already balding at age 24... I waited until Halloween and bought a really nice "Cher" wig from the Sally Beauty Supply Company. Nobody though it was weird... they just figured that I had a costume party to go to.

The ruse was complete. By 1983 I was a full fledged transvestite biker. I'd go on mixed rides sponsored by LBSs in full bikerette drag, and I answered to "Lydia." The guys would all hit on me, the girls looked at me as if I was from some other planet.

It gets worse. I'd dress out in transvestite biker casual clothes and wander into bike shops. Bike wrenches, known for their lack of respect from the opposite sex, would fall all over this muscular young lady who came it to check out this years' machines. None of the guys ever suspected... James, you know who you are!

I began thinking... "Hey, I'm short and thinly built... I'll bet I could pass as a 'she' in a bike race. Hmmmm, I could compete as a woman, and smoke the real ones. This was probably the only way I was ever gonna win a race.

I entered, I competed, I won. And won. And won. By 1987, I had a rep as a seriously fast and powerful biker, who just might be a ****... nobody knew for sure. Then one day on a hilly stage of a race in the Blue Ridge, it happenned... I crashed. Bad. CPR on the scene, life support in the ambulance, multiple surgeries at the hospital.

And every cyclist in four states found out that I was a man. Reputation: torpedoed & sunk. Race career: way beyond over.
Legal problems became serious... It seems that misrepresentation of gender for financial gain is a federal crime.

It took the intervention of the Federal Witness Protection Program (God bless those guys!) and my agreement to turn state's evidence on a huge transvestite & transsexual sports racket... to get me clear of all this trouble. I changed my name, grew a beard, let my leg, chest, back, and 'pit hair grow out... and kept a very low profile.

For years, I didn't dare ride a bike, but I gradually grew brave enough to sneak out at dawn or dusk. Today, I ride dilletante-style comfort bikes, with toe clip pedals and rear parcel racks. I dress macho, too... black & white vans, baggy shorts, and tank tops that show off all that body hair. I make sure that everyone sees that I'm bald.

I ride in the shadows, on the fringe of society, careful not to draw any attention to who I was or what I did. "Lydia" is long gone, and I am nothing without her.

ALL BECAUSE I USED TO SHAVE MY LEGS!!! ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by eatontkd (Post 18634727)

I've been riding, off and on, for years. I've never shaved my legs. Do any of you shave? My wife would surely have a fitful response to this. So, I'm thinking about going for it.

Just my ears-they really slow me down.