I believe the many of you who say youve had issues with merkur...but a merkur 180 long handle was the first razor i bought when i got into this and ive had no issues at all. Its still my go to razor and gives me the best shave. I guess the best truth we have on this page is ymmv
My 34c is well made and functions great - my most used razor. Also it works well with a large variety of blades.
Funny, my Merkur HD razors work well with just about any blade, and the Astra SP blade works well with just about any razor.
I've had a few Merkur razors and have been happy with them. Currently I only have a short Progress and a Future. Not bad for the price. The high end razors are certainly nice but I just think that they cost too much. I have a few and I'm happy with them, the Timeless OC and the Mongoose are two examples. Thing is I can buy a nice stainless steel propeller for my boat for around $180 machined and polished. Enough material to make at least 20 razors and the thing has to have precise angles and be balanced plus has to fit the drive perfectly or it just tears things up. Why?