It's a technique to find the most head-on shallow angle that a razor allows. This solves most irritation issues over time. High blade angle (riding the bar) causes scraping.
It is also the easiest way to find the most efficient/effective angle on milder razors. At least for me. This was my biggest aha moment, along with getting my best lather.
This is one of the bits of advice that drastically reduced post-shave pain for me. When I started out, there was all this (well-meaning) nonsense about maintaining a 30 degree angle and stuff like that. I threw all of that out of the window and just focused on riding the cap, and just like that my shaves improved quite a bit.
Like too many things in our world, "ride the spine" shaving is both safe and ineffective. It tames a Parker SRX like a boss. Welcome to Infinite Pass Shaving. Soap lover's secret weapon....
It's true. Techs are nice on the cap. One of the benefits of the technique is that it leaves maximum soap in front of the blade.
What's important here is that you go by feel instead of trying to match some "magic angle" (like 30 degrees). It doesn't matter if you prefer a more steep or shallow angle, as long as it feels like the best angle to you. Riding the cap is a good starting point, because it gives you some reference, and because a shallow angle works for many people.
I couldn’t agree more!! You know what’s happening as you place and pull the blade. It self-reveals. WHATEVER the angle, or however much the razor head touches you. If you DON’t have the right angle, you’ll “snowplow” the cream, and not cut any hairs! I had just never heard the “riding the cap” analogy before. Someone in HERE make that up????
Well, I think it's a good starting point, and the term is basically self-explaining. I think @GDCarrington originally came up with the term?
I hit the hyperlink for Mr. Carrington and I see what you mean. I also noticed briefly a comment about wet shaving, which is something I did for years! It’s only been recently, that I started using creams again.