Guys...Do you really recommend shaving my legs???

i dont think anyone will say that its completely necessary (maybe unless your some elite triathlete...) but you sure do feel faster in the water with smooth legs (wether or not you have any significantly faster times or not is debatable) I'm lookin to do my first tri in august, and have no plans on shaving... unless i have some drastic change of mind...

thats my .2c

i don't think it's an absolute necessity. i've seen guys at races with hair. no hair helps road rash heal faster, massages are better apparently, and temperature wise it's cooler. it does feel better somehow, i'm not sure why. for some guys it's just cool.

Shave!

It is not necessary unless you want to cut every possible second from your time. I would advise you to shave all over, that includes legs, arms, pits, chest, head, even you hands if you have hairy nucles. When you get right down to it, every hair on your body causes drag to some degree.

Just do it!!! Come on you "hairy" chicken

I can vouch for Max's "dead sexy" legs! LOL Bring on the Nair guys!

Road rash with hairy legs is brutal... and heals twice as slow. Shaved legs also makes a difference in the swim. Also, many athletes get regular massages to aid in recovery... shaved legs are MUCH easier to work on and the massage feels much better. Trust me, if you're serious... SHAVE! I do my legs, arms, and chest. Peace.

Do it.

I did. I've gotten quite a few comments too on how sexy my legs look.

It fees great in the water. The first swim I did after shaving. Holy Cow! Heh.

So, don't be afraid, go for it. If anyone makes fun of you, they're just jealous.

-C

I been shaving on and off for the past numbers of months.  I get lazy and will let my legs go for a couple of weeks.  Other than that its been fine.

alas,

no one has mentioned how really GREAT it feels to have just shaved legs in between ice cold, cool, clean sheets?

oh, wait, this is a triathlon forum....

well, as a female I always shave before a race....we may be sweating, grunting and groaning but a girl always has to look good, eh?

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After reading this thread, I told my girlfriend that I would be shaving my body before my first tri-event and she said I was getting obsessed with this stuff. I said, "yeah, that's just about right"

On my run that day, I envisioned myself in my first tri, with my legs bloodied and stinging from my first shave, swimming in the Atlantic with a pack of sharks in tow. Guess in addition to swim, bike and run training, I'd also better practice shaving.

Damn it!!! I was hoping the majority would say no, that is just for the elite racers, etc... But nooo.... Now I have to go and shave my legs!!! Don't you just hate peer pressure??!! Yes, I know it will be best! I will do it! I just have to decide when. Maybe, I should choose my 1st race, then do the shaving thing. I think "obsessed" is the right word. I haven't even picked a race yet, and I have just returned from the bookstore with two TRI books in hand and then went to the gym and got a membership, just so I would have a place to swim. And all of this was before noon. Now I have to tear myself away from this board and go for a run. I could stay here all day reading these posts. Thanks all for the help! I'll let you know how the shaving goes!!!

Lane

Not necessary.

If you're like me, shave your run splits instead..... Ha, ha, ha...

-Eightman

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Well, I tend to think it's mostly mental. When I was on swim team in HS, the really serious girls wouldn't shave anything all season and then shave for regionals. Even they said it just made them *feel* faster, but their times weren't significantly different afterwards. And just think how much more drag there in in a pool than from the air. However, the road rash thing can't be argued with....

I think I'll shave for my tri. But, I'm a girl, so it's mostly so I don't scare anyone....

-Kim

OK this is KILLING me - "hairy beavers" swim well but not as well as fish?!?!?! Anyone else start to think like a 13 year old when reading this?

On topic - I mentioned the leg shaving thing to my wife a while back, and she was so against it that I never have. Oh well, guess I will never qualify for Hawaii.

Bill

I was questioning whether to shave or not once upon a time, and then I did it, and my conclusion was that the usually mentioned reasons for shaving are garbage (although I haven't been getting any massages so I can't speak about that).

In spite of my skepticism about the functionality of shaved legs, I still say shave 'em. This is just for aesthetic reasons. I'm mainly a runner, so my legs are the only place where I have much muscle, and shaving shows them off (think of those body builders that shave everything they can find). I'm not super hairy to begin with but shaving exposed muscles I didn't even know I had, and that's a motivating thing. Plus, after you cut the hair, and it starts to grow back, it looks totally disgusting, so once you start you can't go back unless you can conceal your ugliness for a long time.

So, in conclusion, I don't personally think shaving contributes anything useful but may make your legs feel and look better...well, look better to me, at least. What I really want to know is what women think of shaved legs on men. Any thoughts on that?

-dave

I think shaved legs on men is both a little skanky and a little sexy. It's kind of conflicting.... sexual boundaries and borders, androgony.... Well, if I met a guy who wasn't a SERIOUS cyclist who had shaved legs (not on race day), I'd mostly think he was trying to show off. But, you know some chicks go for that.

I don't like shaving too much. Don't do it if you don't want to.

Shoot, I'm always looking for excuses not to shave mine and I'm a chick. It gets real old after 15 years ...

I understand the road rash aspect of it, but how often are you falling off your bike? I usually think that's more of a concern for mountain bikers.

LOL, Whit! I stopped looking for excuses all together. At this point, I need an excuse TO shave my legs...

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my fiancee said if i shave my legs she won't come near me!