Leg Shaving

Some male (and most female) cyclists shave their legs. Why do they do this? Should you do it? Why? Why do cyclists shave their legs? There are two real reasons, one allegedly real reason, and one reason which is widely considered to be rubbish.

The real reasons are:


 * because it looks good
 * peer pressure

Peer pressure comes from roadies, who shave their legs to emulate the pros. The pros shave their legs for the third allegedly real reason, which is:


 * it makes massage easier

They also say that they do it to make it easier to treat road rash, which is the reason which is generally considered to be bogus. It is, however, a more socially acceptable excuse - sorry, reason, than vanity.

Should I do it?
Hey, why not? A man should try everything once, except incest and country dancing.

There is no doubt that a tanned, muscular leg looks good. The glaring, pallid limbs on show at the start of the season may be less aesthetically pleasing, of course. Some report that their partner likes the smooth look and feel, which is not too surprising, since women have been shaving their legs for years on the basis that blokes like it. There are also some reasons not to:


 * some Significant Others hate the idea
 * not all legs are toned and muscular (but that can be fixed)
 * high maintenance - stubble undoubtedly looks worse than hairy legs!
 * "it looks a bit gay" if you care about that kind of thing
 * ingrown hairs can cause unsightly blotches and zits.

In the end, it's your choice. If you ride with the roadies and wear team replica kit you're probably not even reading this, since you'll be doing it already.

How?
There are three main methods of leg smoothing:


 * Shaving is quick and easy, but don't be tempted to use a Bic razor as it will massacre your legs. Women's razors may work better as they are designed for the job, and definitely don't try sharing a razor between legs and chin. Shaving leaves sharp, scratchy, itchy stubble, which comes up after only a few days, so you have to be prepared to put in the work to maintain the effect. Take care not to cut yourself as the skin on the shins is poorly vascularised so does not heal especially fast. Knees are the difficult bit, take them slowly, especially the reverse curves. The best method seems to be a warm bath with some bath oil, and use shaving soap or gel. For that extra touch of decadence, Helen Simmonds recommends that you and your partner do each other's legs, but who knows where that could lead?
 * Waxing is somewhat more effective and longer lasting, but more expensive. There are lots of home waxing kits, most work much the same way. Follow the instructions, working with clean, dry legs, warming the strips before use and lightly dusting with talc genuinely does work better. Waxing is reputed to be painful, but that's not really the case unless you have unusually sensitive skin, and it is undoubtedly the case that the hairs come out easier after they've been done a few times. You may well need several packs of wax strips to do your legs, as female legs are generally less hairy than male. Waxing will often miss a few bits, these can be tidied up with a razor. And it may leave behind small amounts of sticky wax on the legs. This can be tricky to remove, even using the oils or creams which are supplied with some waxing kits, though alcohol (e.g. surgical spirit) seems to work best. Some people suggest that waxing is more likely to result in ingrown hairs.
 * Depilatories such as Veet (formerly known as Immac) and Nair. There is a version of Nair specially for men, imaginitively called "Nair for Men". These products are marginally more effective than shaving, as the hairs are tackled slightly further down, but less than waxing. They are fairly expensive, rather tedious to use, fairly expensive and they stink. On the other hand they do usually leave a good smooth finish which lasts somewhat longer than shaving and the stubble is blunt-ended so less itchy when it does grow through. The biggest problem is getting even coverage, the only reliable method is to use your hands, but the chemicals can sting and irritate so surgical gloves might be advisable.

Whichever method you use it is advisable to exfoliate regularly using a loofah or one of those sponges which feels like a pot scourer. This helps reduce the incidence of the dreaded ingrown hairs. It also keeps the skin tone good. And while you're going to all the trouble you might want to use some moisturiser as well, to counteract the drying effect of the sun and wind.

Ahem, er, well, where to stop?
Ah yes, the vexed question of how far to go. The stock response seems to be "where the hairs start getting curly and tougher" although this point will vary from leg to leg, even on the same cyclist in some cases.

Where to stop will be informed by personal issues like: do you go swimming? If so you may want to go a little further to avoid an obvious tide mark, but the problems of stubble and ingrown hairs are magnified enormously the closer you go to the "curly bits".

And if your partner does like the smooth feel you might be tempted to go that little bit further. But this is a family website so that's quite enough of that...