I thought this razor deserved a thread of its own. Just arrived yesterday, here it is. Handle pictured is the new Mamba which provides a good aesthetic match and perfect balance. What we have here it seems is a Tradere for the masses. It retains the flippable baseplate of the brass SBS released in small numbers in 2015. It weighs in at a very hefty 56g. Finish while not exactly stunning is perfectly good especially given the $40 price point. I have only used the razor once, for my head shave, which was superbly close and comfortable.
For those who don't remember the Tradere... Reviews of the original SBS were that it gave nothing up to the Tradere in terms of shave quality. I would expect that would also be true of this 2017 edition.
If you look at the reviews of the 2015 SBS you'll find that among the few folks who had both, while most preferred the Tradere materials and finish, none I saw preferred the shave from theTradere .
I couldn't find this the other day so I just ordered the SBS yesterday. Any chance you can verify the head material? Is it steel or the weird aluminum alloy they have been using lately? An email to iKon solicited a response that just said, "thanks for the feedback".
I like the SBS styling. Both OC and guard bar on one razor is cool, too. The covered ends might be a solution for folks that have issues with DE blades that hang out past base & caps. If the plating is done well there's less worries about; ZAMAC - an acronym for the Zinc, Aluminum, Magnesium, and Copper alloy that Hot Wheels and other die-cast toy cars are made from. - Link to source info. If that's what it's made from. I have no inside knowledge, just noting the Aluminum component and their choice not to name it as such.
So I just got mine and shaved for the first time. It's a comfortable shave indeed! The head is massive, which accounts for the weight, it's literally a block/chunk of solid mass which makes it a little tough to navigate tight areas (under the nose). I found the angle somewhat unintuitive and found myself just pushing cream around a few times. Achieved a DFS with the feather black box blades and (don't judge) gilette gel (which is truly terrible and clogged the razor up several times... ugh, it's so bad!). All my stuff is in storage during a relocation, so it's what I have for now. If anyone is familiar with this style of razor, can you give me a heads up on what the flippable baseplate gets me? Does it open up the blade gap? I couldn't tell visually. Shaved with the target (cross) toward the handle, 4 dots toward the blade. Any info is appreciated! Thanks!!
Thanks RazorBurn! I ended up flipping the baseplate over for the most recent shaves and finding that with the "target" side down, I get a much better shave with that feather black blade. Also, as a follow up, I have not had much luck using the open comb side...can't quite get the angle right. I'll keep playing with it since it's all I have while my stuff is in storage!
I've found that the close bar gives me a better shave, that goes with the iKon 102, which I find to be a fantastic shaver. Please keep us posted with your shaves.
Razor is being discontinued according to message from Italian Barber: "If anyone is looking for an iKon SBS, we are blowing these our at 33% off. Because of a patent, they cannot be sold anymore so off they go,.." I'd like to know where things stand re the patent, I haven't been able to find anything. I believe Tradere had applied for patent 4+ years ago, perhaps that's finally come through Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
I do what I can . Great deal especially with the nice handle. They'll be $100 on eBay next year. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
For a $100 I'll be selling mine. It's an O.k razor, I have infinitely better ones, so I can be persuades next year to part with mine for a price. Maybe not, as it's a good shaver.
Based on your post I had to order one at lunch. I always thought they looked cool. Hopefully I like the shave! Steve