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hairy legs or not?

how many of you shave/wax (or God knows what else ) their legs? And what are the reasons for doing it and vice versa?

Comments

  • TRIumphantTRIumphant Posts: 850
    Never done it, andnever been tempted. The pre-pubescent school boy look I something i don't really want to revisit.
  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    Ooh I do like a shaved leg on a man!

    I'll mention at this point that I am a lady....
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    with my chicken legs? no chance!
  • apana790apana790 Posts: 76
    i have my shaved for the time trial tonight and an upcoming triathlon apart from major events i don't bother
  • TommiTriTommiTri Posts: 879
    I do it, because it feels so good!

    Nah, I do it because it makes it easier to get the wetsuit off, I can stand on it and kick the legs off when I have shaved legs, I can't when they are hairy. Plus is shows you mean business!
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    i can see a practical benefit to shaved legs for swimming and wetsuit removal but for cycling, really?! i'd love to see some evidence that drag is reduced by anything noticable at all.
  • apana790apana790 Posts: 76
    It does make you look pro and the competiton think twice before trying to over take you on the bike . Ive seen somewhere on the interent that they save 5 seconds in a 25 mile tt when goin at a speed of 25mph, so not huge savings but mite be worth a few places in a sprint tri or a time trial
  • Personally i wax it lasts longer i have (through work-as a massage therapist) come across men who shave their legs (triathletes and cycalists) and there is NOTHING worse than 3 day legs stubble :roll:

    Not sure i would like my boyfriend to do so it just seems wrong and i think in post on this very topic it was discussed weather or not it makes you faster and there wasn't really any proof of that in wich case you would only do it so that the road rash is not so bad if u fall
  • I believe the aero benefit of hairless is so small as to be negligable to any but the best. So far as I'm aware the only serious motivation for shaving for the bike is it makes it easier to clean up the mess when you come off. Aero benefit in the water is supposed to be very real however, but since most tri swims are in a wetsuit this rarely comes into play.

    If it makes you feel faster and more manly then go for it but I think the only benefit will be psychological.

    Personally I never made the leap... but I have been tempted
  • yeah.....no.....

    Mind you with my 7 minute T1 it might be an idea in future, that wetsuit did not want to come off
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    apana790 wrote:
    It does make you look pro and the competiton think twice before trying to over take you on the bike . Ive seen somewhere on the interent that they save 5 seconds in a 25 mile tt when goin at a speed of 25mph, so not huge savings but mite be worth a few places in a sprint tri or a time trial
    if a sprint is half of that then you are talking about a 2 1/2 sec gain - that might gain you one place ina tri at best. i'm not going to be doing 25mph ave either, so i won't see all that! when a second matters i might consider it again (or if the swim saving is more....)
  • ah you semi serious triathletes still with your eyebrows ... :roll:
  • SwizzlenapSwizzlenap Posts: 160
    I woulnd't mind doing it, more as a badge than anything else if I'm honest. However, my GF has specifically said she wouldn't find it attractive and as much as I love Tri some other things come first
  • sAltBaR_active » 29 Jul 2009 09:25

    ah you semi serious triathletes still with your eyebrows ...
    HAHA... eyebrows... so whats the time handicap incured by all that stubble then?

    I suppose you were just giving everyone else a chance to keep up?
    as much as I love Tri some other things come first
    You need to see coma's "how seriously do you take Triathlon?" thread
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    sAltBaR_active wrote:
    ah you semi serious triathletes still with your eyebrows ... :roll:
    and ears, imagine the drag those things produce!
  • yes i was giving the top racers a chance to catch up with me .. some refer to it as being lapped, but I'm not one to get all tied up in technicalities.

    on the leg shaving thing, if i felt i was in with a chance of first place i'd even be wearing those tiny speedos and crop top / boob tube style thing.. however until that day you're all safe - as is my leg hair.
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    At some races it is hard to tell whether a competitor is racing in a fancy dress gorilla outfit or just doesn't shave.
  • huwdhuwd Posts: 228
    From cycling I've always been told that its easier to pick gravel out of your legs if they are hairless. Nasty.
  • al_fordal_ford Posts: 119
    cyclists have shaved legs for 3 reasons (so I've been told).

    1) to aid cooling in hot weather
    2) cleaner grazes from gravel rash when you come off
    3) massages - much less painful and easier to absorb massage oil with hairless legs

    Nothing whatsoever to do with aerodynamics

    Oh yeah, nearly forgot the 4th reason ... vanity!
  • bulletbullet Posts: 115
    I've been toying with this very subject recently ,but still haven't taken the plunge !!!
    I know all the road rash ,aero arguments etc.
    I was talking to a friends wife about it ,& she said that you need to exfoliate (what ever that is !!!) as well as shave/wax.(in growing hairs apparently)
    All seems to much for me.
  • TRIumphantTRIumphant Posts: 850
    Is exfoliating an aerobic workout? Just looking at maybe a new training session.
  • Just checked the interweb and apparently exfoliating is something to do with trees which shed their bark, presumably derived from the latin ex (off) folio (leaf)? ... not sure what relevance this has to hairless legs?

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exfoliate
  • TesseractTesseract Posts: 280
    I take my hair off, legs, arms, back, front, almost everywhere

    Why?
    1 - Vanity
    2 - Because it's the look
    3 - I prefer not being a gorilla
    4 - easy to clean road rash
    5 - easier to take my wetsuit off
    6 - dry quicker after the swim (until I start sweating of course)
  • BlinkybazBlinkybaz Posts: 1,144
    I am not a hair remover but not that hairy to start with so I am still a normal guy when wearing shorts roundown. I dont think peoe old notice i wa ashaven v but its not for meyt. ud presuded I think if the benifits had that much impact.
  • 55ant55ant Posts: 22
    i think its lance amstrongs book where he claims cyclists have to shave their legs so you can get gravel out of your skin easier.

    that sounds like a pretty manly excuse, i mean reason, and im sure people will be sticking with it, the time you save by shaving is probably not worth the time explaining to people why you shave your legs! its a bit of a slippery slope, i mean once youv'e shaved your legs, where next? eye brows perhaps, or those parachute like eyelashes.
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    And nobody has dared to mention that removing hair improves muscle definition(vanity may have been mentioned,but).
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Shaved legs enhance your muscle definition and look better.

    Anything else is just a poor excuse. Easier to get gravel out? Balls. I've fallen off motorbikes fast enough that I had gravel a loooong way into my legs and hair makes no difference at all when you're using tweezers and a scrubbing brush. Also, a paramedic friend tells me he has no preference as to hairy or hairless when he stitches or glues

    I haven't shaved my legs for a couple of years, but I still keep the hair on my chest short-ish and make sure the back of my neck, shoulders and upper arms are hair-less. And I could easily justify that lot with a wetsuit excuse but I won't. It just looks better.

    Has anybody else noticed that shaved legs are going out of fashion a bit in Tri? Maybe in a bike race it is de-rigeur, but I rarely see shaved legs (unless, obviously, on a tri lady) in a race these days. Maybe it's a reflection on Tri becoming mass-market and Mr. Average-just-hoping-to-finish isn't prepared to forego his hirsute lower limbs.
  • may as well go all the way ..
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