{"id":952456,"date":"2026-05-11T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/952456\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T11:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:00:25","slug":"do-i-have-to-shave-my-bum-how-high-should-cyclists-shave-their-legs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/952456\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDo I have to shave my bum?\u201d \u2013 how high should cyclists shave their legs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Follow<\/a><\/p>\n

Road cyclists will cite all sorts of reasons for shaving their legs. Some claim it helps road rash heal more easily, pro riders point to the benefits for post-race massages, others chase aero gains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for most of us, it is probably more ritual than a rational choice<\/a>.\u00a0Shaved legs have long been part of cycling culture \u2013 they mark you out as a serious rider, and there is nothing wrong with admitting that.<\/p>\n

While the ‘why’ isn\u2019t up for debate, the ‘how’ very much is. Specifically, how high should cyclists shave their legs? Quite literally, where do you stop?<\/p>\n

We put this important matter to the pro riders, the BikeRadar team and loyal readers, only to discover there is absolutely no consensus.<\/p>\n

“I will do a Selma Bouvier”
\n\"Namibia'sHairy face, but hairless legs for Dan Craven. (Photo by XAVIER BOURGOIS\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Dan Craven \u2013 former moderately hairy professional cyclist and Olympian, turned founder of Namibian bike brand, Onguza Bikes<\/a> \u2013 took a pragmatic view during his racing career: \u201cFor virtually all of my racing career, I would shave my legs to a point where if I crashed and my bibs were pulled up, that imaginary line is where I would do it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Craven says the thinking was mostly practical rather than aesthetic: \u201cBasically, if I crashed and my bibs pulled up, I wouldn\u2019t have a hairy road rash in an obvious place,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

However, he caveats this point, noting he isn\u2019t the most hirsute rider and suggesting others may take a different approach: \u201cAs much as I have a big beard, I don\u2019t have the hairiest legs\u2026 it\u2019s not like I\u2019ve got hair all over my back or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, hairy senior tech editor Ashley Quinlan goes a touch higher: \u201cAs a hairy man, I usually trim these days and spare the expensive razor blades for my face,\u201d he says. \u201cBut were I to go full pro again, up to the underwear line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ManIs there a hairy bum under Simon’s tights? We’ll never know. Felix Smith \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Tech editor Simon von Bromley agrees. \u201cIf I\u2019m shaving my legs, then it\u2019s all the way up, of course,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t have a set of hair shorts.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he does raise an even more existential question: \u201cSurely the real question is whether I need to shave my bum as well, or are \u2018hair pants\u2019 OK?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

We did not investigate further.<\/p>\n

Mountain bike presenter Tom Marvin is equally anti-partial-shave: \u201cAs a man with moderately fair leg hair, I\u2019m lucky that I can get away with rolling around with hairy shorts,\u201d he says. \u201cBut doing so is still horribly unsightly to those lucky enough to spy my legs uncovered.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs such, all leg hair must be removed up to the creases that define the border between leg and torso.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YoungSome choose an epilator in pursuit of hairless nirvana. Getty<\/p>\n

Others take a more pragmatic approach.<\/p>\n

BikeRadar reader and Bristol cycling scene stalwart Meg Dickerson says the decision changes depending on the time of year: \u201cI have super-light hair on my upper legs, so I’d tend to do the bottom of my legs up to just above the knees every time,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I would do all of my legs in summer, wearing shorts, going to the beach, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another reader, Alice Stockwell, meanwhile, admits her approach is somewhat unconventional: \u201cGenerally I will do a Selma Bouvier,<\/a>\u201d she says. \u201cOccasionally a hairy boxer but more often than that, it\u2019s to just under the knee, which I know is bizarre, but my coarsest hair is from halfway down the shin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canyon ambassador and founder of the All Terre cycling club, Claire Sharpe, says her enthusiasm for full-leg shaving faded over time: \u201c[I shaved] just higher than my shorts once I started cycling,\u201d she says. \u201cBut a general trend was I shaved lower the older I got because I\u2019d wasted enough of my life doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s since turned to epilation as a leg-shaving revelation: \u201cNow I epilate, which has given me even more time back \u2013 I would love to see a video of men doing this for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Road cyclists will cite all sorts of reasons for shaving their legs. Some claim it helps road rash…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-952456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116555601124573133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}