Look good to feel good.
As I write this, Rule #33 is being hammered on over in The Rules. This is a hell of a Rule, demanding legs be kept shaven at all times. I believe for most Velominati “at all times” is a tough ask. No one is saying you have to shave the guns everyday, unless you have Peter van Petegem’s five o’clock shadow twenty minutes after your morning’s shave.
If you have never done it for whatever reason, you owe it to yourself to try it once. It doesn’t reflect on your sexuality and it’s only hair, it’ll grow back. It will grow back unless you wax your legs and that might be a bit too much of an introduction. Me, I’ve never waxed anything but skis.
I think most cyclists who have never shaved their legs want to experience it but fear the awkward explanations. And it only becomes more awkward if you try to over-explain it. Plain and simple it looks awesome. It looks great like new handlebar tape looks great. And like new handlebar tape, everything keeps looking awesome with some basic maintenance. Forget the long-winded, hand-waving explanations. Most curious people are afraid to ask anyway because it’s politically insensitive to impugn your potential cross-dressing interests. They don’t want to take that chance. Cyclists put in untold hours on the road and nothing is more demoralizing than seeing sweaty, hairy legs down there.
I don’t race. I try to adhere to Rule #33 purely on aesthetic grounds. If I look better on the bike, I will feel better on the bike. Shaved legs do feel better and look better so give it a try. Does that make me a poser? I really don’t care if someone thinks that.
One thing I would love to find out is when do retired professionals stop shaving? I’m sure it’s a chore they fantasize about not keeping up with but really, if they still ride do they still shave? Robert Millar, please advise.
The weird thing is I live in a climate where shorts are most always worn so I see a lot of legs but the weird thing is more guys shave their legs than there are Cyclists out there. The is a subset of men who are naturally hairless or who are shaving their legs despite showing no other outward signs of throwing a leg over a top tube with regularity. I’m afraid to find out more.
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@RobSandy
Once you kit up, the planets will align and all will seem right in the world.
@RobSandy
Just make sure that you take into consideration the lowest point of anything else you might wear. Speedos and tan lines look ridiculous. A combination of speedos, tan lines and wookie shorts would be beyond contemplation.
@chris
Shit, that's a good point. I take my little boy swimming quite regularly - I therefore need to go up above swimming shorts level or the police will arrive next time I'm at the pool.
As for Speedos? On me, not ever. No.
I don't know about Dilemmas but this thread may need Counselling if it goes on much longer.
Lordy, this thread has brought back memories of my undergrad years in the late 80s. I'd work all summer then go abroad for two weeks at the end of September (France, Spain, Austria - sunnier places than Scotland) and come back with actual tan lines. Over the winter I'd swim and hit the sauna at the Uni rec center - wearing speedos. I wore them because I rode up and down to Uni and carried everything in a rucksack. Speedos were small, light and could easily be wrung out. On one hand, my unorthodox tan schemata marked me as a cyclist, on the other hand I looked like a freak. I suspect some of the fellow students who witnessed my multi-hued display are indeed still in counselling.
@Teocalli
Fuck yes. I'm mentally scarred already.
@DavyMuur
not I, but I suspect your problem isn't so much the hair on your skin there, as it is that there are things in your jersey pockets that are blocking the flow of air to your skin & therefore stopping the sweat from evaporating. It's the same mechanism that makes my upper back seem to sweat more every time I commute, thanks to the backpack sitting on that area.
@Mikael Liddy
Hmm, good point. I never considered that. Oh well, I will still shave it anyway because it is beyond ridiculous.
@Teocalli
Don't tell me you're a Guv'nor rider too?!
@davidlhill
Pashley? No, but they do look cool.