Leg shaving. Another of those issues that causes some debate within – and outside – the cycling community.

Rightly or wrongly shaving your legs as a man still engenders scorn from the public as a whole, and plucking up the courage/being stupid enough (delete as appropriate) to get out the razor and smooth out those calves is something that’s not generally done without a little bit of forethought. Unless you’re a pro, of course, then it’s just faire le metier.

Much like almost anything in cycling, other than pedalling harder or practising your bike handling, shaving your legs won’t make you a better cyclist. Similarly, just because you have shaved legs doesn’t make you a proper cyclist, and just because you’ve chosen not to do it doesn’t mean you’re not a ‘real’ cyclist (whatever one of those is).

However, there are multiple reasons that people use to justify leg shaving, some more grounded in reason than others, and there are actually some very real gains to be had from doing it as we’ll demonstrate later.

But if you’re thinking of joining the smooth-legged mafia, or just wondering what possesses people to do it, here are some of the reasons cyclists shave their legs…