"clm, who likes nice tanned shaved triathlete and cyclist legs"

trichixdiggit.......... works for me gonna keep'em smooth

thx ironclm

Thank god, another voice of reason has arisen, I am in complete agreement with you. I think the current metrosexual trends, including shaving any and all body hair, along with going to Hair Stylists instead of a barber (or in my case using a pair of clippers every 2-3 weeks), etc... symbolizes the gradual feminizing of american men. It also happens to coincide with a general drop in testosterone.

I am a relatively hairy man and my legs couldn't possibly get much hairier. Last year I shaved my legs, and only my legs, for the first time for the summer race season. I did it because it seemed like the triathlon thing to do, and body marking looked much better. I'll admit, my legs did look good, but it was very strange. However, I would never shave for any other reason than a race. My legs are currently as hairy as ever. I haven't decided yet if I'll shave again this year. If I do, it will only be for races since I really don't buy in to all the other reasons to do it. I doubt the aero benefits really exist, and if you're crashing so much that it's a problem then maybe you shouldn't be on a bike.

In response to anyone who says taking off a wetsuit with hairy legs hurts, I say you're all full of $hit. I have done plenty of open water swims and never had any problems taking off my wetsuit or putting it on for that matter.

It's troublesome to me that people find natural aspects of the human body to be "gross". I'm not saying men should go back to being cavemen, but give me a break, a little masculinity isn't a bad thing.

I think that the bottom line for shaving is probably narcissistic. You see the muscle definition better, it gives you a reason to stare at yourself or others at you. I'm quite sure that's why body-builders do it. Think of Arnold flexing on a podium; it just wouldn't work if he was hairy. And we might call body-builders any number of things, but feminine is not one of them.

Bottom line: I'll take narcissistic over feminine any day.

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Aerosexual.

For all you "metrosexuals" this was on Yahoo news. Shave away!

Armani Embraces 'Metrosexual' Fashion Thu Jan 15, 7:47 PM ET

By DANIELA PETROFF, AP Fashion Writer

MILAN, Italy - Giorgio Armani summed up the five days of menswear preview showings for fall-winter 2004: dressing a man who dares to show tenderness.


AP Photo


Throughout the week designers have been abandoning tough guy looks to explore the gentler side of the male ego, from the sporty wholesome look of the English countryside, to the genteel style of velvet suits, cashmere sweaters and silk evening wear.



"Metrosexual" is the name invented for a man who combines macho with mild, claiming some femininity for the male sex.



"It's a question of esthetics, not gender," said Armani after the show in the theater of his ultramodern headquarters.



Front-row fans on hand to applaud the designer who put Milan style on the international fashion map included Olympic track and field champion Carl Lewis (news - web sites), soccer star Andriy Shevchenko and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics.



Armani, a strong supporter of the organization, opened a photo exhibit of portraits of famous sportsmen during the current fashion week. He plans to turn the exhibit into a book whose proceeds will go toward financing disabled athletes.



"He has been so generous, and his support has had an incredible impact," said the sister of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy.



Armani's winter collection centers around the new "George" jacket. The shoulder is subtly padded, hinting at power, while the soft lines and sweaterlike fabric give it a feminine feel.



"Above all it is very comfortable," Armani said.



T-shirts under jackets are replaced by refined silk shirts, while trousers are loose-fitting, but never baggy.



Evening wear includes the sweater tuxedo which combines silk and jersey to produce a jacket which is as soft as a cardigan but as formal as a dinner jacket.



The cozy floor-length teddy bear coats in honey beige or coal black are all about Armani esthetics. They look terrific on both him and her.



Wednesday night Armani presented his second line Emporio collection, in a downtown Milan disco.



The show was followed by a roaring party, with flashing lights and blaring music, creating a very different mood from the highbrow feel of the label collection.



But Mr. Armani never does anything by accident and the venue and the party were picked on purpose to underline the energy of the collection aimed at a younger client.



Emporio Armani plays with clothes stereotypes. A jacket is so flimsy it doubles as a sweater. A shirt instead is stiff with marked pockets and buttons to look like a jacket. Most pants even in elegant silk have shiny stripes like those of road workers and garbage collectors who have to be spotted in the dark. Silver running shoes complete the style swapping collection.



The show also launched Armani's new line of Athletic wear with the code name EA 7, for the fashionable fan of working out.

No offense but you seem a little uptight. Who really cares? I say when in Rome do as the Romans. I shave and wear tri suits because it looks fast and if you feel fast you will go fast. Don't discount the psychology of it, it's half the game. If all the top pro's stopped shaving their legs everybody else would stop too, garaunteed. It's all about image. It's all based on perception. Why is it manly to shave your face but not your legs? Why worry about it?

Any new razor will work great.

Just use electric clippers to get most of the hair off first.

jimatbeyond thank you :))

And just like that you're going to start shaving? Without addressing the pros and cons, the metro-sexual-aero-narcissistic-spousal-hero-worship angle of it? I realize that the spitting contest above is, well, 14 years old, but can you just ignore it?

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Michael

http://www.velonews.com/2014/09/news/news-wind-tunnel-data-shows-shaved-legs-faster_344854


All the data you need to justify shaving!

The phillips body groom trimmer/electric shaver works quite well, too. Faster and I don't cut myself behind my knee (which I managed to do on a fairly regular basis).

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All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. ~Gandalf

I say don't shave. If any age grouper or even pro gives you crap about it just ask them if they have won more olympic medals than the brownlees, who don't shave at all.

And if you do it, just a close clipping the day before the race does the trick. You don't even need to shave with a razor. Any more time than that is time you could be out training or napping.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

I hosted a friend at IM Boulder a few years ago and he showed up lean and fit - with shaggy legs. His wife and adult daughter were there and once they saw me and my hairless gams they shamed him into shaving his. They wore him down and eventually I think turned it into a family affair with the ladies providing tips and commentary as he scraped off his pelt.

He confessed afterwards that he thought they looked awesome and entirely because of the aero advantage, delivered a nice PR at the race.

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

Shave EVERYTHING! Just make sure you are used to certain parts being shaved, kinda like "don't try new equipment for the first time in a race".

Ya, but the aero benefits don't have the same impact if you're already sitting on a moto.

This. Best 50€ I've spent.

When I read this, I checked the date on the posts!
14 years old - that explains it.

More Aero? Yeah, it you're able to ride fast enough so that it would matter. Helps road rash heal? Sure, but there are lots of other things to worry about. Your girlfriend will like it? Maybe, maybe not. The cool kids all do it? Seems to be the case.

But I haven't seen anyone mention how it will help you look better in the race photos. And those photos are there forever! (At least I look better without fuzzy legs.)

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

Rule 12. You’re representing a group of people generally regarded as some of the fittest in the world. It’s a hot, sweaty, sometimes muddy sport, that keeps clothes to a minimum. Hanging out all day with gorilla legs and a hairy back does not make you a good steward of the sport. Clean it up.

http://badig.com/...-being-a-triathlete/

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

I am an italian sasquatch so I have been shaving since my teens...But I don't shave with a razor. My arms and legs get a #1 or #2 from an electric razor. This means that it feels smooth, no stubble for the wife, and looks like I am fully shaved except when you are closer you see the hair...so no one asks me if I shave because it looks natural. Now chest/back hair I shave completely off. Does it prevent injury? Probably not as much as razor shaving. Does it make you go faster? It probably does still cut some of the time off not that I would ever notice but a pro might. Does it look better and feel as good? Heck yes.

Testing shows (article posted a couple posts ago):

"The tests showed that shaving his legs reduced Thomas's drag by about 7 per cent, allowing him to exert 15 watts less power and still go at the same speed. In theory, that translates to a 79-second advantage over a 40-kilometre time trial that takes about one hour."

I think that's pretty significant. And 40k per hour is something I can do, and I'm an okay-ish biker. I also payed a lot of money for wheels that will do the same thing... so not shaving the legs just doesn't make sense ;)

So when you shave your legs, for your reasons, it's totally cool. But when other men do it, if it's not for triathlon, it represents the feminizing of american men.

Got it...

Yep, shaving it all (at least keeping things neat and trim), I notice much less chafing. Even the chest, when I keep that tight, my nips don't get chafed nearly as bad when I forget to lather the body glide on.