I broke down and shaved my legs this week for the first time ever. I’ve adjusted to the look, but laying in bed last night I convinced myself that it was the wrong move. Please comment on the following logic:
The primary argument for shaving is less damage and easier to clean after a case of road rash.
BUT there are are two counter points to this which I think make hairy legs preferrable. First, assuming you’ll generally get road rash on your shoulder, butt and maybe thigh, how much does shaving REALLY help? It isn’t often that a person skids on their clean shaven calves or shins, and bike shorts afford a decent level of protection for the thighs. Second, and most important, if you consider the 30 year view of things, you’ll incur more health risk due to the increased sun exposure on your shaved legs than you will from the couple cases of road rash over that time. I’ve never had a sunburn on my legs, due to the hair being a natural sunblock. But now my legs seem like skinny white sticks just waiting to get roasted.
Am I missing something here, or have we all been convinced by the “everyone else is doing it” argument that shaving is the way to go???
I deliberately left that out of the discussion because my wife seems indifferent, at best, and I’m not going through the hassle of shaving just for sex appeal. If I was 25 and single, I would’ve considered that, but now I’m only concerned about the actual tangible risks and benefits of it.
Shaving does make a HUGE diffrence in road rash. Also, makes message easier and it is nice that you dont have hair to mess with. Chicks like it, and you are faster in the pool too.
Second, and most important, if you consider the 30 year view of things, you’ll incur more health risk due to the increased sun exposure on your shaved legs than you will from the couple cases of road rash over that time. I’ve never had a sunburn on my legs, due to the hair being a natural sunblock. argument that shaving is the way to go???
Holy cow, just exactly how hairy are you? Did you shave with a lawn mower?
I have to agree with Jim on the ladies comment… I’ve heard a lot opinions that refute the old “road rash” argument… However, I will say this. I have a friend who bailed hard on coming around a corner who didn’t have clean shaven legs… He spent the next week picking out folicles with tweezers (sorry if that was a bit too graphic)
For another take we should refer to the man himself, Lance. There was a commercial last year where Lance was talking to some famous Nascar guy (sorry don’t follow Nascar so I can’t recall who) Anyway, he was telling the guy that the reason he does it is because of a psychological effect of having the air hit his clean shaven legs getting the adrenaline pumping harder (or something along those lines) But i’m pretty sure the commercial was a bit of a joke… Although some of my swimmer buddies swear by this theory for their big swim meets (the water touching clean shaven skin makes them feel like they want to go faster). In summary, I think most of the reasons are psychological
A weedwhacker maybe, but not a lawnmower. I’m no ape…just your average guy. Am I the only one who thinks the legs are less susceptible to sunburn due to the hair? That blows my whole theory if so, but I swear my legs can hold out 2-3 times longer w/o burning as any other part of the body.
<<Also, makes message easier and it is nice that you dont have hair to mess with.>>
Way true. As far as sunburn, I just put lots of sunscreen on (it’s a clear gel, waterproof, can’t remember the brand but it has a volleyball on the front) and have not burned (knock, knock) even on 3 and 4 hour rides.
I am hairy like the monkey, and I don’t shave. I agree that the hair seems to provide some amount of sunburm protection, although whether this is quantifiable I cannot say. When I burn, it is usually on the places least frequently exposed to the sun. That makes it difficult to say that your legs burn less due to the hair, or that they burn less because you wear shorts a lot in the summertime.
The only reason I would shave is to eliminate the freakin’ chafing on long rides whichisdrivingmefriggin’crazy!!! At least the Arione seems to have helped with numbness, although it’s hard as a rock, or seems that way to me.
Don’t deny your monkeyness. We were all hairy once.
The only reason why I do it, is because it makes me look more ripped and feel fast. I shave down the day before my first race and stop shaving the day after my last race. The ladies at body marking love it and my wife seems to like it as long as I don’t let any “stubble grow”. As another poster said, I too am hairy like a monkey and will save the full body shavedown (complete with veins popping out of abs) in the event that I ever qualify for Kona (99% unlikely).
Re: “Am I the only one who thinks the legs are less susceptible to sunburn due to the hair?”
Hair is not an effective sunblock, especially for UV rays. Don’t kid yourself. Wear sunscreen every time you go outdoors. You may not feel a burn, but you are doing irreparable damage to your skin that is cumulative over the years.
Oh, and I totally agree that the only valid reason for shaving legs is because the chicks dig it and it makes your legs look good.
Poor Colin, You have been mislead on one of the fundamental evidences of being a triathlete. I feel I must appologize, had I dropped the “Coolness Manifesto” on all of you SlowTwitchers sooner, some pain and heartache could have been avoided, but alas, it is still not complete. I predect Round I will be complete in the next couple of weeks, so for right now rest in these words:
It is not how fast you are, it is how fast and sexy you look.
Although some of my swimmer buddies swear by this theory for their big swim meets (the water touching clean shaven skin makes them feel like they want to go faster).
Being a swimmer or a former swimmer, I used to think that myself. But now I’m a coach and have read up on this. Three diferent studies or experiments found out that it is a physical benefit and not psychological. In the first study, coaches measured swimmers level of lactic acid after they raced. The nonshave group had more lactic acid in their bloodstream than the shave group, indicating that they had to do less work for some reason. In the second one, in order to rule out the effect of drag, (and I forget how their performance was measured), but they had a group of swimmers swim on swim flumes or swim tethers and therefore swam in place. There was no difference between either group when drag was not a factor. In the final one, swimmers pushed off the wall and they went considerably farther after having shaved than they did before shaving.
Most people think that when swimmers shave that they are just taking away the resistance that the body hair provides. What actually happens is, when you shave, you are not only taking away the hair, but the layer of dead skin that has accumulated with the chlorine. Your body reacts by releasing a natural oil that is hydrophobic and repels water, making you slip through it much easier.
