Say it isn't so...

[crownjewelwl]

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/the_new_cycle_studs_90IDNqctmSK4JN66CnShPO

[AngryScientist]

the new mid-life crisis mobile huh?

[rice rocket]

More bikes in the market = more cheap parts to go around for us all. :)

[bobswire]

I think it's a good thing ,will get them in shape if they stick to it,better than the Harley and leather phase that many out of shape middle aged dudes flocked to years ago.
Besides who else can afford a 10K bicycle and beyond?
Since I was already a cyclist when I hit my M.A.C. I took up jogging which was the rage for us "boomers".

[rugbysecondrow]

Who actually shaves their legs (question directed to the men of the forum)? Seems a little G.A.Y. to me.

[crownjewelwl]

I'm Korean...I don't have to!

[bostondrunk]

Who actually shaves their legs (question directed to the men of the forum)? Seems a little G.A.Y. to me.

Me. And my nutz.

[Richard]

Probably describes the majority of participants on this forum.

[bobswire]

Who actually shaves their legs (question directed to the men of the forum)? Seems a little G.A.Y. to me.

A lot of men do especially ones who engage in competitive cycling. Me , I don't
but that's because of my own hang ups about it.

[rugbysecondrow]

Probably describes the majority of participants on this forum.


Simple question, why?

[Mr. Squirrel]

Me. And my nutz.

huh?

mr. squirrel

[bostondrunk]

Simple question, why?

why let my wife have all the fun??

Oh, I mean, its for aerodynamics and smooth massages, and for easier clean up of road rash .................................................. ..........

[cmg]

Simple question, why?

middle age cyclists

[avalonracing]

Some guys aren't too hairy so shaving isn't necessary, other riders just look WRONG if they don't.

Even if you don't race, it is cooler, your don't get legs full of bugs and you clean up better. When I was racing I shaved about 10 months a year. Now that I'm not racing, maybe 7-8 months a year.

[bobswire]

Some guys aren't too hairy so shaving isn't necessary, other riders just look WRONG if they don't.

Even if you don't race, it is cooler, your don't get legs full of bugs and you clean up better.

True, luckily the hairs on my legs are light colored so I don't look like a Chimp in cycling shorts.

[rugbysecondrow]

why let my wife have all the fun??

Oh, I mean, its for aerodynamics and smooth massages, and for easier clean up of road rash .................................................. ..........

Have you been drinking already? After I my first reply I googled it because I thought it was only something pros did, but apparently this is a middle aged cyclist thing too. Maybe my view of masculinity can accept pink shirts, earings and even baby bjorns, but not shaved legs. Aside from the obvious (it being extremely feminine and all), why adopt all the extra maintenance?

Maybe I just never saw leg hair as an issue that needed to be corrected. Do you all shave arms as well for the same issues (road rash, bugs and cleaning etc)?

Thanks for humoring me, but this is all pretty brand new to me...I had no idea the extent of the shaving thing...too funny.

[gemship]

why let my wife have all the fun??

Oh, I mean, its for aerodynamics and smooth massages, and for easier clean up of road rash .................................................. ..........

Yeah road rash I guess, I mean I don't shave but I don't race and I don't where a kit all the time and I certainly don't bet the odds of getting road rash although I totally understand and if I did race I would consider it, I guess.... I don't know shaving might be a tough one for me. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where he gets carried away with one rogue chest hair and ends up shaving all the way down to his balls. :banana:

[malcolm]

Have you been drinking already? After I my first reply I googled it because I thought it was only something pros did, but apparently this is a middle aged cyclist thing too. Maybe my view of masculinity can accept pink shirts, earings and even baby bjorns, but not shaved legs. Aside from the obvious (it being extremely feminine and all), why adopt all the extra maintenance?

Maybe I just never saw leg hair as an issue that needed to be corrected. Do you all shave arms as well for the same issues (road rash, bugs and cleaning etc)?

Thanks for humoring me, but this is all pretty brand new to me...I had no idea the extent of the shaving thing...too funny.


I'm 51 and started riding in the early '80s after becoming involved in the early triathlon stuff, never really liked the water but the bike stuck. I've never shaved. The reasons for have usually been, makes massage easier/better, easier to clean up road rash and of course more aero. I've never had access to massage in quantities great enough to warrant shaving and fortunately haven't had that much road rash (once in a blue moon) and have never been fast enough to really need the aero advantage.

I think mostly some folks just like it. It is with out a doubt part of the cycling culture.

[William]

I shaved when I was racing. Not for aero advantage or massage. I shaved for the road rash. I was mainly a crit monster and if you race crits and like to sprint you will end up on the pavement eventually. Nothing sucks more then trying to clean and maintain large amounts of road rash with lots of hair sticking out of it. Much easier and less painful if your legs are shaved.

If I don't race, I don't shave.





William

[Nil Else]

I get plenty just for wearing colorful tight lycras and riding around on skinny bikes I'd never hear the end shaving my legs besides I never really like the look, ie, on myself.

As for “High-end bikes are the new golf”, lemme just say I have some real cheap golf buddies that thinks I've gone over the edge just from finding out how much I spent putting together my most frugal frankenstin trainer rain bike. I did get back to riding seriously and bought my first Nag in my early 40s though... mahbe there's something.

[oldguy00]

Thanks for humoring me, but this is all pretty brand new to me...I had no idea the extent of the shaving thing...too funny.

You have close to 2000 posts on a cycling forum, but leg shaving in cycling is a new concept to you?? :confused:

It's just part of the culture (at the non-pro level). Yes, it does make for more pleasant massage, and it does help with road rash, although with any luck that won't happen too often.
I've been riding/racing off and on for 20 years now. It would feel really strange to have hairy legs at this point!
Show up at your local cat 4 race of 100 guys. Ask them all why they shave their legs. They'll all give similar responses.....but mainly its just what is expected..
If you find it gay, I can only assume you are a very insecure person.

[jeo99]

I have been riding for around 50 years. Other than racing I do not see the need nor the desire to shave. Habit, come on!
:rolleyes:

[rugbysecondrow]

You have close to 2000 posts on a cycling forum, but leg shaving in cycling is a new concept to you?? :confused:

It's just part of the culture (at the non-pro level). Yes, it does make for more pleasant massage, and it does help with road rash, although with any luck that won't happen too often.
I've been riding/racing off and on for 20 years now. It would feel really strange to have hairy legs at this point!
Show up at your local cat 4 race of 100 guys. Ask them all why they shave their legs. They'll all give similar responses.....but mainly its just what is expected..
If you find it gay, I can only assume you are a very insecure person.

From how much people enjoy shaving, I should qualify that by GAY, I mean joyful. It seems to be that joyful expression of shaved legged solidarity that compells those non-racers to join the ranks of the cleanly shaven.

Yep, nearly 2000 posts I just realized this was prevailent. Seems I have been paying attention to the wrong things...actually not realizing this until now means I was paying attention to the right things.

Now, since we are discussing superfulous shaving, is there any other sort of "maintenance" that goes well with chamois cream. :banana:

[firerescuefin]

It's purely part of the culture...and I have embraced it...actually like it. My wife rolls her eyes...and occasionally I get yelled at for using her razor or not cleaning well enough in the shower.

Now here's the funny part. The young guys at the fire station made fun of me....then slowly started doing it themselves (they're part of the bodybuilding set). No one announced it, but we've got 4 guys on my shift with shaved legs and arms...just one cyclist.

[Seramount]

another leg shaver here.

it's a hassle, but I like the look and feel (especially when swimming). haven't crashed in quite a while, but at 5000 mi/yr, the odds are it'll happen again at some point.

I'll be ready for the rash when it does...

[veloduffer]

I still shave even though I stopped racing. Besides the cycling rationales be they substantive or not, a major benefit was ...CHICKS DIG IT. A number of women commented that they liked the feeling of hairless legs against theirs.

If you're feeling awkward about leg shaving, a lot of the current young generation shave their torsos - hairless chests are in to show off those six-pack abs.

[kong79]

Now, since we are discussing superfulous shaving, is there any other sort of "maintenance" that goes well with chamois cream. :banana:


Don't shave the boys. The hair down there helps minimize chafing. Yes, I would know from experince. (My wife wanted to see what it looked like)(I know, TMI).
And I'm another one that shaved when I raced. After crashing twice in one summer, and suffering through the pain of not only the road rash, but also the pain from pulling off bandages stuck to the leg hair, I decided to do the manly thing and shave the legs. Never did my arms though. I haven't shaved for about 5 years now. I do kinda miss it. For me it became a symbol of spring and the beginning of race season and the end of the winter doldrums. Now I mark the changing seasons by what sport or activity my kids are doing.

[nahtnoj]

Who actually shaves their legs (question directed to the men of the forum)? Seems a little G.A.Y. to me.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/road-bikes/product-road-bike-root-category/2010-dz-nuts-bald-leg-shaving-lotion-7424.2936.0.NONAV.html

I used to shave in the summer when I was doing really long MTB rides. After 4-6 hours of dusty trails, washing off back at the car was a whole lot easier.

[dimsy]

Who actually shaves their legs (question directed to the men of the forum)? Seems a little G.A.Y. to me.

I do, only between March and November.

[rugbysecondrow]

lets out this a little. I am curious how where the split will fall.

A poll

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=78443

[Nil Else]

Funny timing, talkin about shaving, nutz n boyz and all, as I was watching the "Becoming Human" Nova series (I think that's the title) on PBS last night and they were talking about the process to figure out when human beings lost their hair by analyzing molecular clock of genetic materials of the two different louse that lives on human beings: louse that lives in our head hair is the original human louse that human being had for eons whereas human pubic louse that lives in pubic hair/area are basically from gorilla!

Guess is when we lost most of our hair, louse moved up to the head where hair remained, then, later, we picked up gorilla louse in our pubic region either having contact with them or sleeping in their nests. I was watching it with a side glance on and off so I didn't exactly get all the precise details but interesting, eh? :eek:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/becoming-human-part-2.html

[firerescuefin]

that's one theory...

[Nil Else]

that's one theory...

Oh no... are we going down that path? Please no. It was meant as just anecdotal funny tidbit.

[oliver1850]

.

[firerescuefin]

Oh no... are we going down that path? Please no. It was meant as just anecdotal funny tidbit.


No we're not :beer: Let's talk bikes and dudes shaving their legs ;)

[firerescuefin]

but I think it cost me in the fitting in department


You don't fit in because they fear you. You are upsetting their "how to be fast" paradigm.

[FlashUNC]

I hit the deck once in a race with hairy legs.

Never again. The ease of cleaning the wound post-crash is well worth any "Omg feminine" jabs.

[Nil Else]

The ease of cleaning the wound post-crash is well worth any "Omg feminine" jabs.

It all depends on where & what types of people and places you mostly/daily hang out in your shorts + many other factors, eg, an older single dude among highly conservative Harley ridding hommies and co-workers...if you know what I mean. To some of us it's worth "it" and to the rest of us not.

What goes without saying is, if, say, for lack of better example I can think of, someone like elder Einstein type with his lovely wife on his side shaved his legs no one would care much except, perhaps, a head-scratch. You can insert a single hairy manly man in the place and imagine. A bit of extreme example but we get the picture right? Most jabs and harassments are humorous and light-hearted, however they are nonetheless harassments that can grow legs and it is something rather not too terrible to avoid particularly if you don't feel shaving is necessary or like it. I guess it all depends on how much hair you have as well as among many other possible variation.

[rugbysecondrow]

nevermind.

[kong79]

In all my years of shaving my legs, no one outside of racing ever noticed, or at least no one ever said anything to me about it. I never offered that information to anyone either.

[veloduffer]

In all my years of shaving my legs, no one outside of racing ever noticed, or at least no one ever said anything to me about it. I never offered that information to anyone either.

Same here but I'm Asian, so folks don't expect it. I'm hairer than most of my clan (hairy legs & chest and face but no arm hair or back hair). My father has no hair except on his head and family bits; he doesn't even have a beard to shave (lucky). Must have received the hair gene from my mom. :D :confused:

[malcolm]

Whatever the reasons may be, I think the shaving thing comes down to "looking the part". If you want to be seen as a serious cyclist, you do what others do. That includes lycra, club jerseys, Oakleys, and carbon rims. You can make a case for all these things, but you can also cycle a lifetime without them. I've done the local racer's group ride in blue jeans, and once on a mountain bike. Still took my pulls, but I think it cost me in the fitting in department. Last night's club time trial, I wore black baggy shorts and a black T with a front pocket, both from Wal-Mart, and rode the $500 (complete) Cannondale Optimo with its $55 wheelset that I posted in the Gallery. I was 6th fastest, about 6 min. slower than the pro who's the fastest guy there. Everyone else packed up and went home, and I went out for another 20 mile ride, alone in my Fred outfit, and moderately hairy legs.

Shaved legs and a skin suit and you would have won.

[FlashUNC]

It all depends on where & what types of people and places you mostly/daily hang out in your shorts + many other factors, eg, an older single dude among highly conservative Harley ridding hommies and co-workers...if you know what I mean. To some of us it's worth "it" and to the rest of us not.

What goes without saying is, if, say, for lack of better example I can think of, someone like elder Einstein type with his lovely wife on his side shaved his legs no one would care much except, perhaps, a head-scratch. You can insert a single hairy manly man in the place and imagine. A bit of extreme example but we get the picture right? Most jabs and harassments are humorous and light-hearted, however they are nonetheless harassments that can grow legs and it is something rather not too terrible to avoid particularly if you don't feel shaving is necessary or like it. I guess it all depends on how much hair you have as well as among many other possible variation.


The college dorm was bad enough. I got the nickname Scuba Steve from one hallmate for the leg shaving.

I knew a few guys on the football team who shaved arms and legs to try and minimize turf burns and such.

Que sira sira.