leg shaving and wind tunnel tests

[mfarnham]

To shave or not to shave…that is the question.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... e20370814/

Martin

[Fozzy]

Wax??

[John D]

I've often pondered whether the reduction in weight that would result from shaving my back would outweigh the aerodynamic benefit from shaving my legs.

Just sayin.


P.S. Alan C...I think I've found a topic for that collaborative research project that we were talking about yesterday!

[Robgrant]

Love reading Alex Huchinson. Interesting to discover that the original work which was taken as gospel was based on a fake leg in a miniature wind tunnel with glued on hair. Alan, I'm surprised your skeptical mind hadn't ferreted this out. I suspect we'll be seeing your shorn legs shortly.

[Stéphane Tran]

I've often pondered whether the reduction in weight that would result from shaving my back would outweigh the aerodynamic benefit from shaving my legs.

TMI, John, TMI.

[EricS]

I think Alan C. should write his next book on this.

[Lister Farrar]

Darn. Hope someone retests and disproves it. Don't want go back to having to do that.

[Paul C.]

The real reason some of us shave legs is:

1.To look totally pro.
2. better for getting massage( but not from me)

cheers pc

[Alan]

You're absolutely right that this should be the subject for the next book. I'll put wind-tunnel testers in the queue with the other professions that piss me off and will eventually be the subject of a dirt-digging bestseller. That list includes orthodontists, veterinarians, and 'health food' store owners. (Advance apologies to anyone in the club who belongs to one of these esteemed professions)

As for research in this area, in the spare time I had this morning between picking my teeth with a debit card and staring at my keyboard, I thought of all kinds of randomized controlled trials we could perform that would advance the science in this area. Cyclists could be randomly assigned to a different arm of a multi-armed trial, each arm assigned to shave hair from a pre-specified sector of the body, including nose, ears, eyebrows, navel, back, butt crack, etc. With careful analysis, aided by Strava and some high-powered analytics, we could truly provide an answer to one of the thorniest questions to ever perplex mankind: "how do I make myself faster than other members of my species?"

[Fozzy]

I thought the best way to be faster than your fellow riders was subscribe to rule #5

[EricS]

I just completed my own trial. I built my own wind tunnel using a shop-vac, and found that riding in a speedo with a complete body wax gave me the biggest advantage. I recommend each TS member follow this regime beginning with the first cross race this weekend. If you dislike wax, try bathing in a tub of Nair.

Eric

[wonger]

riding in a speedo with a complete body wax gave me the biggest advantage. I recommend each TS member follow this regime beginning with the first cross race this weekend.

The funny thing is that you would not look out of place in your speedo at a cross race...

[agoraphobic cyclist]

The funny thing is that you would not look out of place in your speedo at a cross race...

I went to Burning Man, and a cross race broke out.

Results are going to depend on where you are on the Chewbacca scale.