Immerse yourself in any sport for long enough, and you’ll become acquainted with its surrounding myth and lore.
Cycling is no exception, with its long history giving plenty of time for rumour to be baked in.
While some of these myths have long since been aired out, some endure through every generation, setting back training plans, scuppering race wins, or setting stereotypes for the sport.
We’ve outlined some that we believe are still very relevant, and shone a light for those who may be new to the sport. Even if you’ve ridden all your life, there’s likely something in this list that you’ve believed at one time.
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1. Riders shave legs to go faster
If you’re new to cycling, then it’s likely that your friends have already asked if you’ve started shaving your legs.
There is some truth to the claim that shaving your legs makes you faster.
Shaving your legs reduces drag and is therefore more aero, with research conducted by BikeRadar and Specialized in its wind tunnel supporting this, suggesting an average saving of 70 seconds over a 40km ride.
This is a lot of time gain, but it isn’t the primary reason riders shave their legs.
Many do so for the post-ride massage, making rubdowns easier as there’s no hair causing friction.
Riders also shave their legs for the reason that it makes healing from road rash easier in the event of a crash, though this one is harder to prove.
Really though, most roadies shave their legs simply because it's the done thing.
2. Long rides will make you stronger
Many riders are taught early on that the more time you spend in the saddle, the stronger you’ll be.
While long rides are great for training your endurance, they can have a negative effect on your punchier power output.
Shorter, more intense rides will allow you to focus on the muscle recruitment, power output and repeatability of your efforts.
Longer rides often require the same amount of recovery as shorter, intense rides, as fatigue is durational durational so even when training at ‘low’ intensity for a long period, the recovery can become a problem if the duration is wrong.
3. Lighter bikes are faster
This myth pushed bike design for decades, with the thought being that a lighter bike will get up to speed faster and be more efficient on hills.
While that thinking isn’t wrong, aerodynamics plays a much more significant role, but was largely forgotten by bike designers – and pro riders – until about a decade ago.
Now it seems every new road bike has an element of aero design that trades grams for a lower drag coefficient.
It’s true that some professional riders will still choose a lightweight climbing bike for mountain stages, but even this is becoming a rarer sight with many teams only using one frame, such as Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe and their Specialized S-Works Tarmac.
4. Longer cranks will give you more power
It's a common misconception that, all else being equal, since short cranks produce less torque than longer ones, it can be difficult to produce as much power with shorter cranks.
Power output is a combination of the force (or torque) you put through your cranks multiplied by your cadence. Shorter cranks may produce less torque, but your cadence tends to increase as your feet travel a shorter distance per pedal revolution.
Accoding to Phil Burt, a physiotherapist and bike fitter who worked previously with British Cycling and Team Sky, who said: “Crank length is not important in sub-maximal power production, within a range of 80mm to 300mm."
We’ve seen more and more riders opting to use smaller cranks, with Jonas Vingegaard spotted using tiny 150mm cranks at the Volta ao Algarve this year.
5. Narrow tyres have less rolling resistance
While wider tyres have largely been welcomed into the realms of road cycling, there is still a misconception that skinnier tyres have a lower rolling resistance in comparison.
For many years, 23mm tyres were the norm with riders choosing the skinny tyres for their lightweight and perceived lower rolling resistance.
However, extensive testing has shown that wider tyres have a lower rolling resistance both on rollers and in real-world testing.
When inflated to the same pressure, wider tyres have the same contact area on the road as skinner ones.
It's when deflated that real benefits are shown, with wider tyres deforming less when ridden on textured roads, causing less rolling resistance.
