I bought a Muhle R89 razor and it turned out to have a much larger handle than I expected. I figured I had best pass this info on to everyone in case there are those out there who really do think that size matters. This picture has a Merkur HD on the left, a Gillette slim adjustable in the middle, and the R89 on the right. As one can see, the R89 is no shorty. However, the handle is not very heavy considering how big it is. I shaved with the R89 for a week. It was slightly less aggressive than the Merkur HD; all-in-all, a good shaver.
One thing I found surprising was that even with the large handle it is very light. Great razors though, and I love the knurling.
That picture does make it look a bit mild compared to what I am used to. With all the changes, it is hardly an R89 anymore.
Wow, that is considerably different than the previous incarnation of the R89. The old handle had very similar dimensions to the HD handle.
