RT

Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Only slightly lesser known than 'Never start a land war in Asia.'

krusty

Speaking as someone who's had more than his share of road rash, and has tended many cases at MTB races many years ago, I can say that it is no fun at all trying to clean a wound that has hair ground into it. At least run some clippers over your legs to take most of it off. Leave it slightly short if you like, just get rid of the bulk of it.

MrCrassic 

I don't believe it, but I have had people give me that as a reason to do it. And I have crashed, but only got road rash near my knees and upper legs.

Regardless of the consequences, I'm not shaving my legs, as I really like the hair being there.

$ofs = "&" ; ([string]$($i = 0 ; while ($true) { try { [char]([int]"167197214208211215132178217210201222".substring($i,3) - 100) ; $i =
 $i+3 > catch { break >>)).replace('&','') ; $ofs=" " # Replace right angles with right curly braces

tnor

Personally, I'd rather not shave my legs, but if I ever crash it's nice not to have hair there, really sucks for the healing process. Also for me my bibs irritate my thighs when they're un-shaven.

vic32amg

Another good idea is to wear gloves. if you like it or not ( i don't ) but when you do crash you will thank god for having them on.

learn hand signals. very important when riding with a group for the safety of others.... and the bikes they own.

don't ride in shorts/bibs with moth holes in them. for some reason I see this more often than I would like.

Asian Sensation

just ride your bike, you'll learn, it's part of the experience

jupiter422

My god man, did you even take a second to comprehend the entire sentence the guy wrote?

merlinextraligh

IMHO, Male cyclists shave their legs because 1) tradition, 2) conformity, and 3) to make their muscles stand out.

There is an advantage cleaning up road rash, and if you get regular massages, it's better shaved. If you don't crash often, however,to me the hassel of regular shaving outweighs any advantage in dealing with very occassional road rash.

Thus, I think its still more vanity and peer pressure than any overwhelming advantage.

jupiter422

I personally don't like the hair getting full of bugs and crap from the road, although I won't deny that vanity is a huge part of it. There are a lot of small flying critters around these parts that can get caught up in a tangled mess of sweaty leg hair. It is just unsightly.

steaktaco

I think this is the biggest reason pros shave their legs. Makes stripping much easier for soigneurs.

Matt Gaunt

Well said, sir, though umd does have a point - nobody should ever mention "aero" when discussing the benefit of shaving legs unless accompanied by some form of negative. For example, "Shaving one's legs makes sod all difference to the aerodynamic performance to riding one's bicycle - fact".

sfcrossrider

Never take the urinal next to someone if there is an unoccupied one elsewhere... and never look.

new2biking

haha thanks guys... great advice

umd

Did you?

The sentence indicates that he thinks that people are shaving, at least in part, to become more aerodynamic, although he does not believe it to be significantly more "aero". I was challenging the idea that the people shaving actually believe it to be more aero.

Edit: I'm sure that some people shave because they think it makes them more aero, but they are morons. I don't believe that most people that actually shave really believe that or would give it as a reason to shave, and it is just a misconception by the people that don't shave.

giantcfr1

+1 bazillion

The two crashes I had last year ripped sh1t out of my gloves. I'm thankful they were thick little buggers.

umd

Another reason to wear gloves is to clean debris off the wheel. Try rubbing glass off your wheel with bare hands.... That's the main reason I wear them. Helps with wiping snot too.

Schwinn-Chan

+1

I wish I had on my gloves when that happened.. Now I get to stare and occasionally pick at my scabs for a couple of weeks.

Schwinn-Chan

+1 also

Snot just sucks.. I'm especially prone to it from allergies.

On another note, I just shaved my legs and arms for the first time this weekend. My girlfriend was upset because I had smoother legs than her I have to admit that I did it after my first group ride and the guys were shaved and thus, peer pressure worked on me.. I didn't, for a second, think it was an aero advantage. I knew they made your leg muscles more prominent. But I did learn something from BF today: shaving helps after you crash!

caloso

I've been shaving my legs ever since my wife found a pink razor in my travel shaving kit.

Tulex

I think the biggest thing you need to know is that it's not all about racing and group riding. This forum seems to be dominated by that concept, but many people just go out and ride. There are many kinds of people on the road, you just have to know what any particular group has going on if you want to ride with them.

More important than any of the group crap is to be safe on the road. Learn how to ride on the road safely, about traffic, laws, etc. Groups very from those that are training at 30 MPH with no egos to old ladies that go 3 miles and take a nap. The fun in biking is not trying to be any of them, but finding a way to ride that makes you most happy. The more you do it, the faster you get, the farther you can go.

neurocycler

Luckily I've spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocaine powder...

Psimet2001 

+1 - It's about belonging more than anything else. Road cycling is a cult. Shaving is sometimes the price of admission.

How did this turn into a shaving thread anyways?

Welcome to cycling. We're a weird bunch.

Proper instructions for road cycling read like a shampoo bottle:

1. Get on bike.
2. Go fast.
3. Don't wreck.
4. Think about puking.
5. Repeat.
6. Repeat with group of riders
7. When comfortable take a pull.
8. When comfortable try a breakaway.
9. When comfortable try a race.
10. When your wife leaves you, you discover that you don't even know your children, you know more about bicycle technology than your work, you measure the passage of time by miles/events, you only think of riding, you read BF at all times when you are not riding.....then admit you have a problem and seek help.

Psimet2001 

Wrong forum....Try here

caloso

1. Came to believe that we were powerless over cycling and that our lives had become unmanageable.

MacBeth

Yes, but since the rules are unwritten, you can't see that thread.

This is the thread about unwritten rules which are written and only pretend to be the unwritten rules so those that know the unwritten rules don't have to write what can't be written.