Hello all, Just a brief introduction. I post every day to the SOTD post, but decided I want to start doing product reviews. These will range from razors, pre shave, post shave, blades, etc. This will be my first review, so go easy. Please excuse the college dorm room setting and phone pictures. So this is a Q-Brothers safety razor, private labeled by Muhle. For those of you that don't know, the Q-Brothers own a store in Chicago called Smallflower (and online), which carries lots of wetshaving gear. This was my first nice DE razor, after testing out a cheap one to see if it was for me. Looks: First off, here are some pictures of the razor. It is a relatively short razor with about a 3.25 inch handle. This razor has a weight to it, but is by no means heavy. It is very beautiful. All of the chroming is flawlessly done with no visible areas with any problems. It is great quality from Muhle. Looks good to me, simple, yet sophisticated and expensive looking. 10/10 Blade Gap/ Alignment: The blade gap is pretty small. This is with a Personna Lab Blue blade loaded in the razor. It does not have a very large or uneven blade gap. The alignment is also perfect, as I have never really had to adjust a blade. Most of the time it pops perfectly into place. 8/10 Head: This is a Muhle R89 Closed Comb head that comes with the razor. Like I said earlier, no issues with the plating at all and it looks perfect. All that is different is the Q logo on the top. This razor head on my skin is very mild and is suitable for daily use. It works very well and does not get clogged easily. 10/10 Handle: This is the only place of the razor I don't love. The handle is nice, but I have a few issues with it. First, I wish it were just a little bit heavier. I am a fan of short handled, heavier razors. This is fairly short and fits the hand nicely, but I just want it to be a tad bit heavier to feel more premium. Second issue is that there is no knurling or anything to add grip. I oftentimes have left over slickness from the soap on my hand while shaving and this handle becomes VERY slick, so be careful. 6/10 Price: Overall, this is a great deal. Off the Smallflower website, it costs $32.50 for a quality German razor. Pretty good deal. Not the best, but I find myself using this razor the most because of how mild it is. 8/10 Overall: Overall, the performance of this razor is great with any blade I've tried. My go-to is a Personna Lab blue and that makes this razor incredibly smooth, while still getting a close shave. I recommend this razor for daily use, and I find that this is my most used razor, right now. 8.5/10 Please let me know about the review, and if you have any feedback. Thanks for viewing!
Great read thanks for taking the time and very informative. I really like the razor it's very sharp and blingy looking but the lack of knurling on the handle is a definite put-off for me I do feel it's well priced as it seems of good quality.
Nicely done on the review. The biggest complaint folks seem to have with the Mühles (aside from those who prefer stainless or solid brass razors) are the handles. Lightweight (which some do prefer), but even the textured handles (seen below in the Grande version of the R41) one finds by Mühle can still have a slippery feel in the hand. I've seen where some Mühle owners have pull the top off the handle and added weight (lead pellets, etc). Mühle does excel in achieving a very nice finish on their razors.
You may want to check out the Maggard branded stainless steel handles which they sell separately. I have a Muhle R41 and I like it better with a heavier handle.
