Tradere SB or Titan? Has anyone tried both of them?

I'm ready to buy either a Tradere SB or a Titan, but I can't afford both and probably don't need both!

Has anyone tried both of them? I would love to know the differences and get anyone's thoughts on the pros/cons of each.

As posted in the General Discussion thread...

I have owned the Titan and all of the Traderes.

The Tradere SB is a very nice razor - very smooth and close shave - no real negatives.

I haven't tried the newest iKons - but I have owned the OSS and the S3S. They were both very mild shavers and in the case of the S3S, very over-priced as well. The OSS was the better razor - although a very mild one. I'm hopeful that the new offerings will be better "all-around" performers than what has been produced so far.

The Titan - in spite of much hoopla, is not a particularly good shaver. It shaves in fact, like a $30 New York Shaving Mariner with 1 shim in it. So close in fact, that you will not be able to tell the difference. With that said, it is a wonderfully built product, I just found it to be woefully overpriced for the results it produced (or lack thereof). I certainly wouldn't buy one new (which of course I did on pre-order for $185), you can find them almost daily on the B/S/T forum, which should indicate something.

The iKons I have used are very much akin to the EJ89, Superspeed, Weber DLC type of razors in terms of aggression.

The Tradere SB will give you results very much like a Merkur Slant.

The Tradere OC 2nd Gen will get you very close to a Fatip or Cadet.

The Titan H will get you close to a Muhle R41.

At the end of the day - at least from a cost perspective - it's very hard to blow away an EJ 89 for mild shaves, a Merkur Slant for moderate shaves and a R41 for aggressive shaves. You can buy all three of those for around $125 to $150 brand new - and have a very nice selection of shave performance. If you want to "fill in the blanks" between all of them, add a Progress, Future, Fatboy or Slim Adjustable and for all practical purposes, you're covered for just about any shaving mood that you're likely to be in.

To the specifics of your post - the Tradere SB will be a better all-around razor with fewer negatives. I cannot speak to the ATT Atlas or the new base plates - perhaps they got it right in the newer versions than they did with the Titan. In all fairness, I also found the original Tradere OC to be a subpar design - although the new SB and 2nd Gen OC Traderes turned out quite nicely.

I have a Tradere OC and an Atlas R1. From everything I've read, the razors you're looking at buying are different in aggressiveness. The Tradere SB is more mild than the Tradere OC, but the Titan is more aggressive than the Tradere OC. I sold my Fatip and R41 based on their aggressiveness, but love my Tradere OC. That said, after reading in this forum, it seems the Titan is a little too much razor for me. So, bottom line, If you like aggressive, buy the Titan, if you want less, buy the Tradere SB. If you want middle of the road, buy the Atlas R1. If you want somewhere between aggressive and middle of the road, buy the Tradere OC.

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely leaning toward the Tradere. I love the look of it and almost everyone who gets one seems to love it, or at least the ones who post anything. I haven't found one on the BST yet. For some reason the OC version keeps popping up. Hopefully I can find one on the BST soon or I will have to just order it new!

Just to mix it up a little, here are some reviews coming in from the Volunteer Trials on the new Above the Tie Titan/Atlas Base plates: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...rial-from-Above-the-Tie?p=4666977#post4666977

The Atlas gives an aggressive shave with the H1, but the feel on the skin is not that rough IMHO. I have never seen a razor that can take off as much stubble, WTG, in a single pass. Extremely efficient.

I haven't used a Tradere, but having been a raving fan of the R41 for quite some time the Titan H1 yields the same results with less chance of irritation. Feels better in the hand, too.

Samjax said:

As posted in the General Discussion thread...

I have owned the Titan and all of the Traderes.

The Tradere SB is a very nice razor - very smooth and close shave - no real negatives.

I haven't tried the newest iKons - but I have owned the OSS and the S3S. They were both very mild shavers and in the case of the S3S, very over-priced as well. The OSS was the better razor - although a very mild one. I'm hopeful that the new offerings will be better "all-around" performers than what has been produced so far.

The Titan - in spite of much hoopla, is not a particularly good shaver. It shaves in fact, like a $30 New York Shaving Mariner with 1 shim in it. So close in fact, that you will not be able to tell the difference. With that said, it is a wonderfully built product, I just found it to be woefully overpriced for the results it produced (or lack thereof). I certainly wouldn't buy one new (which of course I did on pre-order for $185), you can find them almost daily on the B/S/T forum, which should indicate something.

The iKons I have used are very much akin to the EJ89, Superspeed, Weber DLC type of razors in terms of aggression.

The Tradere SB will give you results very much like a Merkur Slant.

The Tradere OC 2nd Gen will get you very close to a Fatip or Cadet.

The Titan H will get you close to a Muhle R41.

At the end of the day - at least from a cost perspective - it's very hard to blow away an EJ 89 for mild shaves, a Merkur Slant for moderate shaves and a R41 for aggressive shaves. You can buy all three of those for around $125 to $150 brand new - and have a very nice selection of shave performance. If you want to "fill in the blanks" between all of them, add a Progress, Future, Fatboy or Slim Adjustable and for all practical purposes, you're covered for just about any shaving mood that you're likely to be in.

To the specifics of your post - the Tradere SB will be a better all-around razor with fewer negatives. I cannot speak to the ATT Atlas or the new base plates - perhaps they got it right in the newer versions than they did with the Titan. In all fairness, I also found the original Tradere OC to be a subpar design - although the new SB and 2nd Gen OC Traderes turned out quite nicely.

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I am wondering about your beard. Is it heavy, medium, or light? And what blade or blades did you use when testing these razors?

Had the Tradere OC & SB sold them both once I got the Titan. Both great and quality products but I perfer the more classic style of the Titan plus now I use the entire ATT system. Hope that helps

Medium-Heavy on the Gray side.

I tend to use Super Iridiums, Voskhods, Astra SPs, Gillette Silver Blues and Personna Labs a good deal of the time.

For efficient shaves - I'm finding the R41, Joris, Barbasol Floating Head, Gillette Big Fellow Old, Cobra, OCMM and Futur to be all doing a pretty good job. For mild/moderate shaves - I lean towards my Weber DLC, Megress LH, Slant 39C and Gillette Slim Adjustable and find them to be very satisfactory.

The Cobra Classic with the Feather Artist Club blades continues to be my personal favorite in overall closeness and smoothness...by a fair margin over all the others (it is an SE though).

I buy, sell and trade razors all the time...it's just sort of a hobby to me. So, when something new comes out, I generally pick it up and give it a go for a while...comparing it for several shaves with others in my lineup. Some remain, but most go and I post accordingly about my personal experience with them. Oftentimes, when my personal experience is in conflict with the "flavor of the month" that everyone is buying (including me), there will be some debate as to how good something really is. As an example, I personally think the original Tradere and the Titan were over-hyped a great deal. I bought them, used them and just didn't enjoy the Kool-Aid as much as many others. This is all about YMMV and for others it can be a concern with budget limitations as to what to buy and how much to spend. I feel it wise to keep both of those things in mind when I post about a razor's shave performance and overall value.

I appreciate the dissenting voice with FOTM issues a concern.... but now I just have the Cobra Classic more obsessed over in addition to the modular Above the Tie offerings. Sigh. Great shave with a Weber this morning, so grateful for that at least!

strohman said:

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely leaning toward the Tradere. I love the look of it and almost everyone who gets one seems to love it, or at least the ones who post anything. I haven't found one on the BST yet. For some reason the OC version keeps popping up. Hopefully I can find one on the BST soon or I will have to just order it new!

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I don't know why either. I own a first generation OC (with a Weber handle) and love the look, weight and shave. The only disadvantage I know of is it takes a little bit more effort to shave under the nose because of the large head and extended sides. I've used almost every vintage razor, only a couple of modern ones, but the Tradere OC seems to be the Goldilocks for me.

I just sold my Tradere SB and here is why, it didn't shave well for me. It was to hard to find and hold the right blade angle, the handle was to long and thin which put the balance off for me. I received my ATT Atlas R1 yesterday and got my best shave ever. It has a shorter fatter handle and the audible feedback while shaving makes it easy for me to find proper blade angle. Mine is just one in the many opinions out there, but I hope it helps. Oh I have light to medium growth and my beard is about 70% grey.