leg shaving
firefightergaz
Posts: 132
in General Chat
Why do people shave their legs for IM or cycling events.......I volunteered at IMUK last year and was catching people as they 'fell' over the finish line and taking off their timing tags.....it struck me just how many people had shaved their legs.
I wonder, does it 'magically make you faster' or is their another reason............................other than vanity
I wonder, does it 'magically make you faster' or is their another reason............................other than vanity
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Theres no aero advantage afaik, herd mentality and the best reason seems to be cleaning up road rash injuries more easily.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/aero ... namics.htm
So splash out God knows how much on an aero crank and get exactly the same aero advantage as shaving legs - got to be done.
What tipped me towrds shaving was seeing a high def photo of me in action and all the hairs on my arms and legs sticking out creating all sorts of vortices and turbulence. Feels better as well.
I did find this quote: "You can get a bigger advantage by taping your ears back".
Personally I'm wondering if the Pearl lzumi lycra shoe covers take more than 13 seconds to put on...
I find these researches fascinating as a few changes can give a decent theoretical saving for nothing or just a few quid yet we are obsessed - hands up guilty - in spending loads to get the bling gear for not much more. Well it looks good in the photos doesn't it and that's the main thing
It makes a difference to the pros: it helps them with gravel rash and is much more comfy when they're having daily massages.
AGers do it because the pros do it. Simples.
I don't really need a carbon frame, Ultegra, tri shoes, speed suit yada yada yada but Al, Chrissie and the gang have got it all so I have too.
My legs are currently hairy, but I did lose the hair a few years ago for my first serious attempt at London. Have to say it feels much better for massages (so that bit is true at least). It also 'feels' much faster when training in the pool and looks better in pictures.
Not gone sa far as the arms, but tummy is clipped, neck is baby smooth as are shoulders - it all helps make the wetsuit more comfy.
In terms of time saved... are ANY of us really that consistent that we'd notice a 5s saving??? Anybody who says 'Yes' is full of it.
It's like saving 10g by buying a carbon fibre bottle cage. You'd be better off trying a bit harder for your morning cock-a-doodle-poo. Carbon looks cool, though, so spend away.
Summary: shave your legs if you want the pro TT-er look. If it makes you feel faster / more serious / more pro then it'll probably work.
I take all body hair off, mainly because I hate being hairy, but also cos it's easier with wetsuit, you don't get chest hairs getting caught in your tri-suit zipper, it looks better, it's sooo much better when it comes to road rash (both clean up, and adhesive removal), it feels better when the water/wind goes over bare skin - so it feels faster even if it isn't, it's easier to dry yourself (seriously!), and I could go on, but if I'm honest with myself it's really just cos I like the porn star look...and I don't mean Ron Jeremy.
Agreed the time saved bit is miniscule but we so often don't do things that are so simple. Why spend £500 + on deep section wheels and then not wear a pointy hat? Answer wheels are bling, pointy hat infers a statement of capability that I have to live up to yet a standard helmet has 4 times the drag of the bling wheels.
The shaved legs bit has not made me dsicernably faster but it does feel better; every cyclist I know does for the previous stated reasons of road rash etc. I have yet to find a regulation where it is compulsory so if it's not for you - no probs, but a second here a second there and one day that could just mean the difference between a PB or even a podium. If shaved legs 'theoretically' might save 5 secs over 40Km and if I then wear a pointy hat and have my water bottle in the right place all of a sudden I could save up to a minute, which is more than would be obtained from a set of Zipps.
People, aero savings benefit mere mortals such as myself more than it does for elites. If it doesn't cost anything or a couple of quid then why not adopt some aero practice? These things crop up time and time again in studies yet we dismiss them as not for us' and then we go out and buy carbon bottle cages, titanium bottle cage bolts whose benefit is negated by carrying a g'el that we do not use.
These things may not show a difference individually but collectively there is some serious time savings to be had for just a little thought and effort.
Tesser has also painted pictures in my mind of images I don't want..
As for the aero ... welll can get a bit swept up in that but anything is worth having if its free or low cost, if it will save me 5secs - cool, if it saves 1sec - better than a poke in the eye, even if it doesn't I feel better and that in itself has got to be a +
Antonyfromoz I can also see that it is part of the image thing. I mean we all need eye protection for the bike but why do people spend in excess of £100 for Rudy Project or Oakley shades when a pair of Bolle Contour safety glasses/shades can be had for £6? .. its the bling thing.
So shaved or unshaved good luck to us all.
- cleaning up gravel rash (as already stated).
- Also when you've come off and it's healing, it does take longer and is more prone to infection if there are lots of hairs either in the wound or depositing dirt in it.
Having recently had a big off myself, which took over an hour to clean up the various bits of gravel rash in A&E, I'd certainly agree that anything that helps is good. As both of my knees were badly scraped up and subsequently dressed, I found it damn painful with the dressings pulling on the hairs, more painful than the wounds in fact. As such, I took off the dressing (which in itself was painful as they only came off with a load of hair), shaved the areas round the wounds, hence no hairs for dressings to cling on to and then had them redressed. Much more comfortable!!
The above are really the only reasons to do it. 5 seconds over 40kms, like anyone would notice. A 1mph breeze would make more difference than that! Tosh!
In fact what you could also do is to have a tri suit one half smooth lycra and the other knitted wool - dpending on ... ahem which side you dress ... that could get quite itchy!