Balin's Blade Bonanza

[Balin]

My first run with the Racer!!

I have been looking forward to trying this blade and I was not disappointed . I originally bought this blade because of the runner!! I was a middle/long distance guy in high school so the artwork matches what I used to race in!

I had a DFS shave mainly because of the neck swirls but it was a comfortable shave with minimal alum and aftershave feedback. It reminded a lot of the Lord Cool, which is a blade I enjoy also!

I am looking forward to tomorrow's shave!

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #1
Lord Racer in a Gillette Ball-End Tech
Ivory Soap

I went with the pure Ivory soap lather because I wanted to have less cushion and get an honest feel of the blade. It is quite usuable and had a medium level of sharpness to me. Not quite as sharp as a Dorco ST300. Humph... Pretty close to a Big Ben Stainless, right?

No complaints about comfort, etc, but it's not glossy smooth like the Gillette Silver Blue I am coming off from. This seems very much like a no-frills razor blade, however it is a not a poor quality one to punish yourself with. Imagine a monastic order that doesn't let its members accumulate wealth and fine possessions, yet does not require they eat moldy bread and take ice-cold showers. That is more the Racer to me. Utilitarian for sure, Spartan even, but not punishing.

A single pass produced a PFS. I went for a second pass, not because I needed it, but to get more a feel of the Racer, since the first pass was so quick and non-eventful. I will try to get 4 shaves from this blade and should not have any difficulties.

 

[lasta]

Second lap on the Racer, another decent shave. But, I would be generous and say this is a monastic order blade that occasionally allows fresh bread and maybe even some butter! Not quite Spartan.

Sharp enough, and actually above average in the perceived smoothness department. I haven't compared them side by side, but I would say very close/nearly indistinguishable from some of the other Lord blades I've tried.

 

[Guido75]

Date	12.03.2024
366 daily shaves	072/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorock Game Changer .84OC	Racer (2)	Omega 10108 Red
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (53)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
8.5/10 (DFS++)	9/10 (Butterysmooth)

Notes:

Summary. Liking the combination between this great razor and blade. Very favourable results.

For extended shave notes click here.

Second run with the Racer and similar to yesterday which then actually is a compliment to the blade. Mild yet effective enough. No BBS levels, but close enough. Spartan is not something I would label this blade with. I think it’s way better in comfort than the previous Sputnik.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Winking Whale]

Shave #1
Lord Racer in a Gillette Ball-End Tech
Ivory Soap

I went with the pure Ivory soap lather because I wanted to have less cushion and get an honest feel of the blade. It is quite usuable and had a medium level of sharpness to me. Not quite as sharp as a Dorco ST300. Humph... Pretty close to a Big Ben Stainless, right?

No complaints about comfort, etc, but it's not glossy smooth like the Gillette Silver Blue I am coming off from. This seems very much like a no-frills razor blade, however it is a not a poor quality one to punish yourself with. Imagine a monastic order that doesn't let its members accumulate wealth and fine possessions, yet does not require they eat moldy bread and take ice-cold showers. That is more the Racer to me. Utilitarian for sure, Spartan even, but not punishing.

A single pass produced a PFS. I went for a second pass, not because I needed it, but to get more a feel of the Racer, since the first pass was so quick and non-eventful. I will try to get 4 shaves from this blade and should not have any difficulties.

There's thread/review somewhere (may not even be this forum) where a guy claims to get 15 decent shaves off one of these. Not bad if true for an economy blade. I recently bought a 100 on special from a UK seller for £4 delivered. (I changed my avatar btw.)

 

[Guido75]

Date	13.03.2024
366 daily shaves	073/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Mühle Rocca	Racer (3)	Razorock Beehive
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (54)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	5.5/10 (Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
8.75/10 (BBS-)	9/10 (Butterysmooth)

Notes:

Summary. Back to the awesome Mühle Rocca today and it delivered another excellent shave with the blade going on 3 shaves.

For extended shave notes click here.

The Racer keeps performing and I have increased my assessment regarding the blades sharpness. I think it’s a good blade for a smooth comfortable shave. I have increased my assessment of the end result as well - I think it’s bordering BBS or at least it’s DFS+++ today.

This blade is growing on me I think.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Balin]

Shave 2 with the Racer!

I skipped yesterday so shave 2 had to mow down an extra days growth. There was a little more stubble left than usual after the first pass but the second pass cleared the rest. I decided to push for BBS today so I did a touch up pass on my jaw and under the chin. I did achieve a BBS result and I was nicely surprised that I had almost zero alum feed back.

The Racer still reminds me of Lord Cool and I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same blade as both are labelled super stainless. Its not quite a Lord Silverstar but I think its a decent comfortable blade for me . I will be back tomorrow!

 

[cranewarrior]

Lord Racer Shave #2
Baili BT131
Clubman Shave Soap

A second shave with better soap deepened my opinion that the Racer is somewhere in the middle range of sharpness/smoothness for me. I had no problems finishing with a close shave and had no irritation facially nor emotionally.

I'm pining away for the GSB and the UK London Bridge currently being written about in another thread though. I am perhaps being unfair however.

 

[lasta]

Lord Racer No 3, smooth start, but the blade also races to the finish.

My streak of almost two weeks of daily BBS has come to an end. Despite using an efficient razor, my 2 pass + touch up ritual only yielded a DFS level shave. Noticeable (by feel, not visually) stragglers all over the lower neck.

The blade is good enough, but IMO a middle of the road performer all around. It wasnt tuggy by any means, but I personally prefer something sharper, both to make the clean slicing process more enjoyable, and to achieve that shiny skin look easier.

 

[Guido75]

Date	14.03.2024
366 daily shaves	074/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorock Game Changer .84OC	Racer (4)	Razorock 400
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (55)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	5.5/10 (Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
8.50/10 (DFS+++)	9/10 (Butterysmooth)

Notes:

Summary. A Razorock type of shave with magnificent gear. Great shave!

For extended shave notes click here.

The blade gave a nice performance yet again. Contrary to its name it doesn’t rush or race to results at all. Instead it performs steadily as a middle of the road blade delivering smooth shaves.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Balin]

Shave 3 with the Racer

I think the blade peaked yesterday. I had a comfortable DFS result today but it was definitely lacking sharpness.

I am with you @lasta the race may be over. I do agree with @Guido75 and @cranewarrior that its comfortable shave.

I am going to pop a fresh one in a different razor tomorrow to see how it does.

 

[Guido75]

Date	15.03.2024
366 daily shaves	075/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Lambda Athena	Racer (5)	Yaqi Lucky Dice
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (56)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
9/10 (One weeper)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
7/10 (DFS)	7/10 (comfortable)

Notes:

Summary. Hadn’t used this gear in a while and both were utterly amazing today.

For extended shave notes click here.

The blade on 5 performs steadily in similar fashion to earlier shaves. I stropped the blade on my Twinplex yesterday (which didn’t aid the blade and actually perhaps hindered it somewhat). One weeper but no feedback from the alum block at all. I think that’s actually a first. Combination of blade and razor could have been better so I need to revisit this combo with a fresh(er) blade in the future.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #3 - Lord Racer
Lord L6 Razor
Cella Soap (Green)

Ironically my best shave with the Racer blade was with a Lord L6 safety razor. I got a pretty good lather going with the Cella and proceeded to mow down my 2 day growth of whiskers. This time I did not notice the loudness of the blade like I have the two previous times and I am realizing noise and blade chatter plays a big part in my enjoyment of a shave and whether I perceive the blade to be smooth. I like quiet.

What was the difference? I'm not sure. I used the exact same razor blade and even the same edge. I have adopted a habit of using only 1 edge at a time from the One Blade in February challenge. I did a good pre-shave prep and did use a good, conventional shave soap that is easy to produce good foam with in Cella.

I'm going to have to rethink my opinion of the Racer. It is better than I have given it credit for. Clearly it's user error the first two times. Perhaps this blade is more razor-dependent the way I shave? Should I try it in the Lord L6 again or switch to the Fatip Grande like I had planned next time?

 

[Balin]

Second Racer Shave 1.

I swapped razors today to see how the Racer performed with a larger gap and more blade exposure. It was a fresh blade. The WR1 .74 has a blade exposure of .18

It performed a bit better today compared to my WR1 .67. There was a little more alum feedback but still within acceptable limits. I had skipped yesterday but there was no tugging and still felt pretty smooth!

 

[Guido75]

16.03.2024

• Guido75
• Mar 16, 2024

Timeless Ti95 SCL • Racer (6) • Semogue Cherry Finest • Mike’s Natural Barbershop

Date	16.03.2024
366 daily shaves	076/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Timeless Ti95 SCL	Racer (6)	Semogue Cherry Finest
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Mike’s Natural Soaps Barbershop (57)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality (details here)	Blade Sharpness
9/10 (One weeper)	3.5/10 (Working Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
6/10 (CCS+)	7/10 (comfortable)

Notes:

Summary. Superb way to kickstart Saturday. The shave itself was rather quick as I had to chauffeur one of the offspring early morning.

For extended shave notes click here.

The blade is at its end. I might do one more to have a fresh blade starting Monday. Nice blade all things considering. Sufficiently sharp and comfortable. The last GSB was smoother and it’s definitely smoother than the Sputnik. It lacks somewhat in sharpness although it’s not dull either. Much better than Astra’s to me for example. I wouldn’t say better than a Tiger Platinum - more on par with.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Balin]

I wouldn’t say better than a Tiger Platinum - more on par with.

 

[Guido75]

I vote we go for Asco for our next shave.

 

[Guido75]

We are three blades in so I thought I would give my impressions thus far.

Blade	Sharpness	Comfort	Excalibur potential
GSB	4	5	Yes
Sputnik	3	2	No
Racer	3	4	Maybe

Generally speaking I am becoming a fan of Lord blades more and more. Sharks (in any variety so far), Lord Platinum, Racer - all nice blades with the potential to give comfortably great (and close) shaves. Tomorrow we’ll evidence of ASCO is part of the family or not. Also wondering if Rubies will be similar to Racers or that the resemblance stops at the packaging.

 

[cranewarrior]

We are three blades in so I thought I would give my impressions thus far.

Blade	Sharpness	Comfort	Excalibur potential
GSB	4	5	Yes
Sputnik	3	2	No
Racer	3	4	Maybe

Generally speaking I am becoming a fan of Lord blades more and more. Sharks (in any variety so far), Lord Platinum, Racer - all nice blades with the potential to give comfortably great (and close) shaves. Tomorrow we’ll evidence of ASCO is part of the family or not. Also wondering if Rubies will be similar to Racers or that the resemblance stops at the packaging.

I'd like to know if the ASCO blades are the same thing as the Shark Stainless. I have a few tucks of both as well as the Crown Stainless and it would be funny if all were identical but for the labelling.

 

[Guido75]

I'd like to know if the ASCO blades are the same thing as the Shark Stainless.

I think I have some Shark Stainless blades as well - need to dig them up. Would be fun. Shark Chrome blades are easy double digits for me.