Now, times may have changed, its has been years since I raced mountain bikes (the kind you pedal, not the noisey, air pollut'n yonkers), but every bike race I went to, I had to shave my legs. Some guys would go full body smooth for the
NORBA events. Why you wonder? Well that is a good question. Some say it helps the healing . . .less scars, no ripping of hairs on bandages. . .some say its for aerodynamics, *snicker*. . . the truth is, its looks good. At the amateur level for racing, you compete for sponsors.
Power Bar,
GT,
Power Grip, etc they look at you race record AND how you look. A lean, mean, smooth marketing, whoops I meant, racing machine.
Now I am not talking about scraping some fuzz off my leg, but I am talking about hacking at a full body beard. Have YOU tried shaving the back of YOUR knee? Or how-a-bout the back of your thigh? The warbly knee-cap area? You have a lot of room for error when shaving 360° off the lower part of your body. Its easy shaving what you can see, but thing out of view. . .ouch! To add insult to injury, I would spend the next day heaving up hills, cutting down single tracks, and sweating like a mad man. Ouch ouch ouch ouch, damnit thoz little cuts sting.
Needless to say, it wasn't shaving, but prostrating myself for business that soured me to the sport. Shame on me, I made a job of the hobby I loved.
Pain may be temporary, chicks may dig scars, glory is damn cool, but shaving you legs is a fscking pain.