Bringing this back up.

I'm planning on shaving the stems down tonight for the first time. Not sure why I'm so nervous about such a common thing in our sport. I won't come near podium in Texas but I do want to get the most out of my race, especially on what is expected to be a very windy bike course, I'll take every watt saved I can.

You guys shave the arms too? I've read arms do not matter much because your body sits behind them and catches the wind anyway. Anything on this?

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Regards,
J. Smith

I either shave the arms or wear a long-sleeved skinsuit.

For a reference, try the Win Tunnel feature by Specialized bicycles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_C8K9x47q0

And since the Specialized legs video hasn't been linked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZnrE17Jg3I

My wife HATES it when I shave arms/legs. So, I only do it for "A" races and for stretches where I have a series of races on successive weeks. That usually means I have two "shaving seasons" per year and each season lasts a month or less. (Then, I feel like a slob after the Chewbacca grows back.)

Why do I shave? Because it gives you more speed than a lot of very expensive aero equipment. It's cheap speed. And if you don't want to go fast, why are you riding a Tri/TT bike? And why are you in a race?

I do, only because I can't imagine that it would be slower to shave them, and I have almost no arm hair so it takes 5 minutes. Might as well finish the job while you're at it.

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Strava

absolutely, arms and legs. I just feel faster when shaved. I wish I could be shaved all the time, but it's a PITA so i don't do it unless I have a race or just let it get too long an feel slow lol.

Arms 100%, but shaving around your elbows is hard, especially using your non-dominant hand, so plan to spend most of the 5 minutes just on that.

I'd guess performance improvements are negligible, but I shave anyway, feels fast when I swim/bike/run and looks good.

Did the legs, solid 40 minutes. Guess it will get easier and faster. Arms are on deck tomorrow. Way more hair than anticipated. Wookiee status.

I swam 2000 tonight, water felt WEIRD! Great swim though, felt slick in the pool, I don’t want to jump to conclusions but I averaged about 5 seconds faster a 100 then my typical pace but didn’t feel like I was laying down any extra effort.

Mrs Jsmith82 doesn’t hate it, so there’s that....

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Regards,
J. Smith

I use hair removal cream (VEET), stick it on, leave it for 12 mins, wash it off and you're good to go.

Does anyone have data on shaves arms when on a tt bike? Seems the effect would be less than on a road bike like the win tunnel video.
I’m a fairly hairy guy, 5-6 on the Chewbacca scale, and always shave my legs but haven’t don’t my arms. Might do it for this year.,.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Other option which I always do is just to run a set of clippers over the legs on the shortest setting. Doesn't get you quite as smooth as a wet shave or Veet, but it's pretty quick to do, I assume it's short enough to get whatever aero benefits there are, and also by not taking it right back to the skin then it's not itchy or stubbly when it grows back.

As a summer leg shaver I see a lot of others struggling on this forum so I'll give you my steps.

1) I start with the clippers then wet shave after. It's the long hairs that get in the way. Imagine shaving your head or beard? You wouldn't go to town on a month long shave would you?

2) I'm converting away from cartridge razors (example being the fusion) and other over priced items and went to an old school safety razor. https://www.amazon.com/...s=dorco+safety+razor

It takes a little getting used to but just as close if not closer, less irritation, and blades are as cheap as 5 cents. Other than being a superior shave the advantage here is they dont get clogged even if you were cutting through a forest beard with a months worth of growth. It should easily handle arm and leg hair.

3) I take the winter off for legs but once I start I find it's easier just to keep going. Other than the speed there's a bunch of reasons to shave. Take advantage of those. Shaving once or twice a week turns that 20 minute job into a one minute job. I generally save the arms for races only though since my arm hair is not all that thick.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I shave once a week once spring hits until winter. It goes really fast as long as you shave weekly. If you are shaving for the first time, it takes forever and is brutal because the hairs are so long. It won't be that bad later on.

BUT, you are going to hate the prickly cactus feeling at day 2/3. You eventually get used to it, but when I first started shaving it really annoyed me when trying to sleep.

After watching the Specialized wind tunnel test I decided never to not shave again.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZnrE17Jg3I

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