Well, rats... I completely missed the geography part of the challenge. DOH! The only thing I know about UK shaving is Connaught. If you don't feel like waiting on shipping or risking e-bay, then I would say you couldn't go wrong with an Edwin Jagger D89 or Muhle R89 (they have the same head). I have the EJ and, though recommended for beginners and not particularly aggressive, I still love the way it shaves. I am a baby chaser so regularly get 2 pass BBS. I've also used it for a one-and-done BBS (hint: straight up hill. ATG all the way, baby! Not for the faint of heart or delicate of skin!). If you go with either, I suspect you will appreciate the difference in handling when compared to the Futur. I like my Futur and its wonderful shaves (I've set mine to just a little past 2), but the EJ easily outmaneuvers it. I took a quick peek at Amazon-UK. I have this Baili. It is a mild razor, but delivers a quality shave... period!... and offers a lot of bang for the buck. The handle has a decent weight, but the head is lightweight. I am not sure it would survive if dropped onto the floor, but the EJ head is Zamak and would also likely bite the dust if dropped on its head. I got a BBS from my Baili. The trick with a mild razor is to NOT be lulled into applying pressure. You don't feel the blade and it can be tempting to just have at it. This is the path to razor burn. Don't take it. Also from Amazon-UK, you could try a Weishi (or pick a different color). It is an unabashed clone of a Gillette Super Speed and quite mild. Same caveats. It is also a good quality razor. Of these, I vote for the EJ. Amazon-UK seems to have a special deal on this one. For that price and as cheap as the Chinese razors are, you might grab all three on the same order! BUT WAIT!... What's this? Dude, that is a New Deluxe made in Merry Olde England and shipping from Carlisle, Cumbria. It's got some bids, but the same dude has an Every Ready 1924 for (currently) less than 5 quid (did I say that right?). Refer to what I said earlier about SEs. WHOA! This looks very familiar to me and ships from London as does this from the same guy. Looks like you have a Brit importing the same razors as Maggard Razors (and several others here stateside). The folks at Maggard stand behind their imports 110% and deliver outstanding service. If your guy is half as good as Maggard, those are good razors. I don't own one (yet!), but they are reported to shave comparably to the EJ, perhaps a tad more aggressive. Whew... I got carried away, didn't i? Sorry about that. My picks from the above in order: 1. The New Deluxe (if bidding doesn't go too high). 2. One of the Maggard style imports from London (who can resist that price?) 3. The EJ (or Muhle) because it is just a darn good razor that will shave differently from your Futur 4. Ever Ready 1924 - I love this, but the switch to SE is a bigger transition. BONUS: Add the Schick to your long game list and be patient. You want one. Seriously. Howzzat for a Yank who has never shopped on dot-UK sites before. Man, you've got some good choices! I am even wondering if I should start browzing ebay-UK! Let us know how you go! Sean
Many many thanks! I really appreciate the effort you have gone too. Now there's plenty of choice! I shall have to think carefully and I'll let you know which I go for! I'm watching the New Deluxe, another day or so to go on the bidding.
I rather like ebay-UK. I just found this New for £8.50 shipping from Bexhill-on-Sea. It isn't a New Deluxe, but I don't think the Deluxes shave much differently from the News. I prefer the Deluxe for aesthetic reasons and they fetch a higher price (for some reason! scarcity, maybe?), but a New is a good shave. Hmm... five hours left on that one. I hope you haven't retired for the evening. I may one day buy something from ebay-UK. However, it probably wasn't wise of me to post that on this forum. It will start a stampede and run up the bids. ... stupid, RAD-crazed wetshavers... ...
Well the wait is over, it's our anniversary next week and SWMBO saw me about to bid on a vintage in eBay. This precipitated that she has purchased me an R41. Oooooh! New toy, I need to go and have a shave!
I have the R41 and often just use it for the 3d pass/touch up. I find it is comfortable and works well. I suggest you try it and as mentioned, it is easy to sell on the B/S/T forum if it is not for you. Just be sure, as with any new razor, to try different blades and be very mindful of your prep.
Hi All, I have some photos on dropbox, but sharing on this forum doesn't seem to work and they're too large to upload. Is there a way to link from DropBox?
Hi All, Some photos below of the R41. I was quite surprised that the blade isn't more exposed. The Merkur Futur has more more exposure. The setting on the Future in the photo below is at 3. As looks can be deceiving, will report back after I've shaved. The Razor came from http://www.shavelounge.co.uk and came with one free Mühle blade, 5 Derby Extra’s and 10 Personna Platinums. My wife also considerately bought the blade guard which fits a treat.
Well my wife surprised me with a new Mühle R41 for our anniversary. It’s actually the R41 Grande as I like long handles having got used to the Merkur Futur as my first DE. The Razor came from http://www.shavelounge.co.uk and came with one free Mühle blade, 5 Derby Extra’s and 10 Personna Platinums. My wife also considerately bought the blade guard which fits a treat. The R41 feels lovely to hold. Smooth and shiny and a nice thick handle. The knurling is ever so subtle and more like wavy lines on the handle. The R41 is chrome, 3 piece razor. The Shave Hot Towel Proraso Pre-Shave Creme Taylor of Bonds Sandalwood Shave Soap Trumper Sandalwood Skinfood Derby Extra Blade Having read all the warnings about the R41’s aggressiveness I was cautious. However, There was no need to be concerned. The Futur is also aggressive and having experience with that that helped a great deal. No pressure was applied. I did a couple of WTG passes. First thing I noticed is how light the razor is. The finish gives superb grip and the long handle of the Grande allows you to use your dominant hand on both sides of your face should you choose to do so. I also like the fatness of the handle that made it a joy to use. On the first WTG pass I could feel the R41 cutting, but on the second WTG pass it cut very very little. Looks like two WTG passes are not necessary! Going ATG was surprisingly easy. The WTG passes had really done their business. On the upper lip I tend to go XTG and again very little was cut as the WTG had done its work well. Where I really felt the blades aggressiveness was on the upper lip. It was just the blade on your lip and only small strokes reduced the beard until it was smooth. Again with the two ATG passes, the second pass just dealt with trouble spots. As an aside I tend to do two passes in the same direction as this really reduces the beard completely. I then did some touch up, firstly on the cheeks where the grain goes from nose to back of the jaw. Again, very little needed to be removed. I then went ear to chin over the jawline. This is an awkward section for me as the grain tends to grow chin to ear. Here I really heard it cut, but a couple of passes and it was all clear. Finally on my neck the bottom half grain grows from the Adam’s apple to the ear. This has proved another difficult area as the neck is sensitive. I used very short strokes and went against the grain twice. All smooth. When I finally finished it had taken me 30 min. The alum block gave a very mild sting in a couple of places. Post shave this is BBS smooth in nearly all directions. There are a couple of bits I need to work on. All told, I’m really pleased with the R41. An excellent shaver. The Derby blade wasn’t a good fit for me as it felt way too blunt. Especially having used Feather and Israeli blades in the Futur. It’ll be interesting to see how one of those blades works in the R41. This is now the closest shave I have ever experienced, although I must add that the Futur does give as good a shave. What I’m hoping is that once I’ve got the feel of the R41 it will surpass the Futur. I think I’d have been disappointed with the R89 not being aggressive enough.
AWESOME review... and thorough! Makes me wish I had used my R41 this morning! I am very glad that your wife chose the razor that really hit the spot for you (good woman, that!)! You sound well pleased and it makes your review a joy to read. However... (you knew that was coming, right?) unless you are immune to RAD, please do not strike the R89 from your list. I returned to my EJ89 this morning and once again reconfirmed that it is a keeper (2 pass BBS, with touch-ups of course). Sure, you can be like @HolyRollah and ditch all but your two most aggressive DEs (and then use them rarely because you favor straights), but I say embrace RAD and experience the shaving spectrum before settling. Even if you put the R89 at the very bottom of your list, put a star by a Schick injector and then circle it in red. Thanks for a fun thread and good read, Simon. I'll be looking for your posts around the Den. G'day (or g'night, since you're in the UK!) .
I'm pleased to see you had a good experience with your new R41 grande! What a nice gift from a thoughtful wife! For me, the R41 was the proverbial 'game changer' in the realm of DE razors. The level of aggressiveness mixed with both the quality and smoothness of the Muhle quickly made it my 'go-to' DE razor. I eventually swapped out the grande handle for one heavier but overall it's hard to find fault with this razor. Some will find it too harsh especially shaving ATG but with a light touch, a BBS shave with an R41 is a common result.
I have no intention of making these two my only razors! Having used my Merkur for more than 2 years exclusively, it's only been since coming across this forum that my interest in other razors has dawned. So I have you all to blame! It's also my first and only hobby. My wife appreciates that going for a shave for an hour is a great stress reliever for me. It sounds weird but she'll hear me say, "I'm going up for a shave", knowing the concentration of shaving will clear my mind for an hour, which is all I need! For this reason I have taken up SR shaving. I like the quick excellent results with DE's, but really enjoy the slower (for me) skill of learning to use a SR. I've only got one of those so need to build up with a few more! I've got a strop (although two narrow for my liking) and some small norton whetstones for honing. The only problem with SR's is that they're a lot more expensive. A heavier handle would be good. I'll look into that at some point once I'm comfortable with how the R41 handles as is. My wife commented how the shave was still clean and smooth some 6 hours later, which she has never done before. Thanks for all your help guys!
