livedarklions

I've been on Eliquis since last election day, and just resumed long distance riding a couple months ago. I'm probably on a lower dose than you, because my cuts do clot fairly normally, just take a little tiny it longer.

I didn't have the cancer, but I can tell you I'm not a fan of bilateral lung blood clots. They messed me up good.

WhyFi

I prefer to do a knock-down with electric clippers... and then sit in the tub, shaving and singing, "I feel pretty! Oh, so pretty!"

indyfabz

When I was hospitalized for three days back in November I was on constant heart monitoring. They used industrial strength patches. The large, round ones. Talk about painful to remove. Left some spots on the chest hairless. Definitely thought of that film scene.

GhostRider62

The question became not whether shaved legs offer an advantage but whether any reduction in CdA benefits a slower rider. A slower rider benefits more in time, that was my key point.

I have actually measured these sorts of things myself. Every change I make, I measure. Of course GI/GO is a problem. If you don't believe specialized wind tunnel data, ok. Google Swiss Side, they also measured it. It is pretty easy to measure the change in CdA from one helmet to another or one jersey to another. Once you have change in CdA, estimating the change in speed or time is easy.

Specialized isn't the only one to measure the effect of shaved legs. I have seen more like 8W. Specialized results surprised me as I said.

Koyote

At the time, I think I read an interview with Steve Carell about that scene. Those women weren't actors -- they were salon workers. And they waxed him for real. Talk about suffering for your art.

caloso

You don't need an excuse, you can do it just because you want to. Some of us mortals have already given our reasons, including ease of sunscreen/embrocation application, preemptive wound care, lack of pulling from elastic grippers, aesthetics, comfort, and tradition.

GhostRider62

Positioning is free, you just have to take the time to measure. I can quantify relatively small aero changes, about 0.03 m^2. It just takes discipline to do it. It is free. Most would consider that small change to be marginal in the cycling world.

How much to spend for 1 watt is a good question. How many hours does it take to improve the engine 1 watt? What happens when the engine can't get any stronger but only weaker? It is all a tradeoff. I worked my tail off one year to gain a lousy 11 watts. How much would someone spend for 11 watts? Some won't spend a penny, for others money is no object. Helmets are not too expensive and they offer potentially a reasonable gain but the problem? A helmet that works well on me might be a drag for you. I probably have over $1000 of helmets laying around or about what an entry level set of fast carbon wheels run. Selecting the wrong front tire can be disastrous and that is a freebie, too.

How high to shave? I go just above where my casual shorts would sit.

GhostRider62

Different boundary effects. A golf ball may leave the clubface at 180+ mph. (Don't tell Zipp's brilliant marketing but I suspect they know their audience...)

It isn't hard to self massage, just elevate the legs against a wall and massage away.

Beards are not the same as legs. Aerodynamics are funny that way. Specialized's video commentator said that beard vs no beard was essentially identical. The data was on the screen, you can see for yourself.

pgjackson

The more I read some of these responses, the more I believe that some of you just have a shaving fetish. Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing, but grown men spending who knows how long to shave their legs on a regular basis in order to save half a second applying sunscreen....or to prevent some kind of road rash issue (seriously, how often are some of you crashing???)....or simply because you think it makes your legs look pretty.... I mean, OK I guess.

WhyFi

We don't think they look pretty - we know that they do.

livedarklions

I understand that CdA is easy to calculate based on shape, but I don't think there's any way it's simple to calculate based on texture, which is a really micro-level.

Ultimately, though, I think the "bigger benefit for the slower rider" is still sales claptrap. I don't think people topping out at 15 mph are really being held back significantly by small variations in wind resistance, but generally topping out at a speed they're comfortable with. They're generally not doing the big things to reduce air resistance. Seriously, how many people do you see in a tuck riding at 15 mph on flat ground?.

livedarklions

I don't care about shaving legs much one way or another, but boy did you lose me with this post. Sheesh, talk about selective reading....

If you ride several thousand miles a year, pretty good odds you'll get a spot of road rash once in a while.

Troul 

A must see if there's a funny bone in your soul anywhere.

pgjackson

Enough that it makes sense to keep your legs shaved year round? I'll take the risk.

GhostRider62

I did not say calculate CdA. There are a variety of ways to measure on the road. The easiest and most accurate is using the RChung method. You can Google it if you want measure your aero profiles and changes to kit, bike, position, etc.

I seriously do not understand your arguments. Who tucks at 15 mph? Who even suggested that? The fact that you still think ""bigger benefit for the slower rider" is still sales claptrap" tells me you have not really looked at the evidence presented. Who races at 15 mph? OP sounds like a sportif or racer type rider. Nonetheless, there are significant aero benefits to harvest even at the modest speed of 15 mph.

I am not going to respond anymore to you, so, good luck to you.

livedarklions

I didn't pull 15 mph out from a hat, you said that was about where the effect clicked in. It's also the number a lot of the sales pitches/"studies" you've been linking to seem to coalesce on I'm sure it makes sense to talk about comparative benefits between lower-20s riders and mid-20s, but I'm questioning the bottom end of the logic. If you're saying something as broad as the slower the rider, the greater the benefit, then yes you are saying something that should apply across types of riders

Most of the stuff you've linked to seems to be trying to sell racing-type gear to 15 mph riders, yeah I tend to think that's marketing claptrap.

bbbean 

Gosh, we've never discussed this before.

livedarklions

Don't think anyone's trying to convince you to do that. I ride several thousands of miles a year and don't do that, but I don't accuse people who say they do it for that reason of being fetishists.

And if you're going to go the "you can't take a joke" route now, remember, the first thing you needed to do for that move was actually be funny.

pgjackson

It is a fetish for some people. Not all, but some.

Koyote

pgjackson , you may be an avid road cyclist, but you're obviously not a golfer.

Germany_chris

Yes, I shave all my body hair with the exception of my eyebrows.

pgjackson

Guilty!

shelbyfv

Five pages! Up next from the "new" member- Question about Chain Lube.

wolfchild

Leg shaving and hair removal is a feminine trait...There is really no good reason for a man to shave his legs

GlennR

I dated a girl that didn't shave her legs.... and she was ALL WOMAN.