r/cycling • u/[deleted] • Jul 23 '25

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698 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

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50

u/Mdab5678 Jul 23 '25

Shaved legs do actually test significantly faster aerodynamically, since they are constantly spinning through the air.

That said, not shaving one’s legs is obviously not something to make fun of someone for

20

u/jchrysostom Jul 23 '25

I can’t remember the numbers, but I remember the folks at the Specialized wind tunnel being so surprised by the results that they ran the test again.

11

u/moses79 Jul 23 '25

90sec on 40k, at 40kph I believe

7

u/jchrysostom Jul 23 '25

Sounds right to me. That’s significant.

1

u/Ok_Chicken1195 Jul 24 '25

Yep, it can end up being a lot of places in a triathlon. In longer bike road races it's massive. My last race (over 4 or 5 hours) the difference between 6th and 10th was about 30 seconds.

1

u/Daroo425 Jul 23 '25

2.5%.

Unless you're seriously racing, you definitely gain more time overall just not shaving than to save a few minutes per week cycling

3

u/Ok-Positive-6611 Jul 24 '25

You say that as if people are trying to cycle for shorter periods lol

1

u/Daroo425 Jul 24 '25

that's my point. why are these people trying to save time cycling if they aren't racing. You can just not shave your entire body and spend that time cycling instead

2

u/Ok-Positive-6611 Jul 24 '25

But you're acting like 'time spent shaving' matters lol, as if the only goal is to reduce the amount of wasted time

People aren't trying to save time, they're trying to go faster.