We all know someone who is ultra hairy – the whole Silverback Gorilla look … you can probably picture them right now!! And it works for some people! But do hairy people make good cyclists?
Absolutely no idea.
But a question that does get regularly asked of cyclists is “do shaved legs help you go faster?!”
Beyond aerobic sports, in no other part of mainstream Western society does the male species commonly take wax or blade to leg hair. But among the Lycra set—particularly cyclists, swimmers and triathletes — smooth legs are touted as a rite of passage and a performance-enhancing procedure.
In this brief video, Mark & Chris @iamspecialized are breaking out the razors to find the answer;
“Well, there you have it – shaving your legs can make a significant improvement to your cycling performance!”
So, you now need to ask yourself if it really is worth saving approx 70 seconds over 40km by shaving your legs? Are you going to make a statement about your dedication to the sport by going against the societal norm and shaving all the hair off your legs?
I didn’t think so!!
So, the next question is, do men with bald heads have a speed advantage?!
(And thanks to Cap’n Andy for spotting this treasure!!)