OK, this has always bothered me, and in the past I have done it! without knowing why…
Why do cyclists shave their legs?
I have been told that it’s to help with caring for road rash. If you scrape yourself up, you can easily put on bandages, etc. without the hair. Also, a lack of hair prevents infection from dirt, etc. getting caught in the air.
But is this true? Who started this idea? Is it still necessary?
As an ex-cyclist who raced in college and shaved his legs…
Cyclists shave their legs because cyclists shave their legs. It’s a tradition. That, and cyclists have beautiful legs and shaving them really shows off the muscles.
Any other reasons you may here are pure baloney.
:dubious:
It really is true that leg hair complicates bandaging up road rash. I don’t see how saying that’s part of it is “pure baloney.”
One of the docs I work with is a hammerhead; kinda guy who will ride 120 miles then show up to work a 10 hour shift in the ER and say, “I think I might have overdone it.” He said serious racers will go down sooner or later, and it really helps with the road rash. Course, I never saw the evidence.
In order:
Vanity. Shaved legs look good.
It’s a bit easier to put sunscreen on.
Road rash cleans up easier, and if it scabs over you don’t get hair matted in the scab.
But it’s a PITA, and you always have to decide where to stop. As the season goes on, the line gets higher and higher. Then there is the top of the foot and toes. Do you shave them? (answer: YES, especially if you wear sandals, and all cyclists wear sandals).
I don’t do it anymore. But I might start again if my legs start looking good.
I dunno. I once went over my bars after another rider hooked me in a race. I had road rash on everything from my nipples to my (shaved) calves to my (unshaven) thighs.
I didn’t notice any difference between shaved and unshaven areas. It all hurt. It’s not like I used bandages with sticky adhesives–I was using gauze pads held on with that stretchy bandaging shit and the university health center docs put some cloth sheets saturated with some kind of antibiotic ointment on them (I think normally used for burns).
Maybe it does make road rash easier to deal with, but I didn’t experience any difference myself, I never met anyone who noticed a difference (until perhaps you, if you’ve actually experienced a benefit ;)), and I haven’t seen any real medical evidence that says it makes a difference.
Therefore, I don’t believe it makes a difference. It does, however, give one a very plausible sounding excuse for shaving ones fabulous legs and making them look even better. 
It is done for two reasons. Wind resistance is cut down. This may seem trivial, but at speed, wind resistance is where most of your energy is going. Secondly, it helps cool the legs. Without the insulation of air trapped in the leg hair, you get a much cooler ride. This is especially important on hot days, on cold days, not important at all.
I tried it once, and it made a difference, but as I wasn’t in competition decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.
Other explanations you may see in this thread are wrong. (two can play at that game)
Any scientific proof of this? Compared to the surface area of the whole body and bicycle, leg hair is a drop in the ocean, so to speak.
Sticking bandages to very hairy skin is pretty much a pointless waste of bandages however. Unless you’re willing to encircle your whole leg with medical tape, they just won’t stay in place.
The sunscreen issue I’ve never seen to be a problem.
…I do wear a helmet for sun protection however. If I don’t, I tend to get sunburned at/into the hairline on my forehead. I can either squeeze a bunch of sunscreen into my hair, or use a lid. (
~
I once heard that it may help reduce the road rash damage because the hairs will get ripped out in a crash, or otherwise increase the damage done. Who knows?
It is, but serious cyclists obsess about even the most minor optimizations (look at the premium that marginally lighter bikes or components will fetch).
Runners (sprinters) do the same thing on the grounds that shaving makes one more aerodynamic. It may seem trivial, but even hundredths of a second can make the difference there.
It makes the post-race deep muscle massage easier too. Such a massage requires a strong hand, and can be painful if long hairs are being tugged. Pro cyclists have all sorts of unguents rubbed inot their legs before a race too.
I used to get sore hair roots from muddy cross-country mountain biking in shorts. Little clumps of mud would stick to my leg hairs and dry, and I would soon be festooned with muddy dangleberries that would tug on the hairs when traversing rough ground. Shaving my legs regularly would be too time and razor consuming, so I just took to wearing long cycling trousers when conditions are muddy.
I did compromise a few months ago and shaved just the one leg (for massage reasons after I broke the leg in a bunnyhop/SPD pedal clusterfuck), and having one hairy leg and one silky-smooth leg I could compare the massagability of the two. Using aqueous cream - a slightly soapy, slightly oily lube - I can indeed confirm that massaging hairless legs is much easier, and even trimmed or stubbly legs are easier than a normal hairy set of pins. Without any lube a proper massage could pull out quite a few hairs. Ow.
Professional European cyclists have their own masseurs, and proper leg massages are an important part of their preparations, both pre race, and post race, it helps to improve recovery especially to take out the aches, it may help rid the legs of lactic acid build up.
Hairless legs are very much easier to massage than hairy ones, the differance is huge in the amount of effort it takes.
Most serious amateurs will use leg balm and it will make it easier to put on and to remove.