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Race prep...means leg shaving.

Ok, so to live up to my title here, I decided to both document my pre-race leg shave today and to do an analysis of gear.

I have a duathalon tomorrow, 2 mile run, 17 mile bike, 2 mile run. It is the closest bicycle race to my home (about 5 miles away) and it becomes a local peloton throwdown of all my cycling buddies...so a good leg shave will go a long way to a mental psyche out.

I decided to use the opportunity to compare a modern lady's gear with old skool stuff. I used a gillette 3 blade disposable and a blue tip with a derby to go with as forgiving a set up as I could. I trimmed with a Wahl and used Cremo cream, but with a brush. Its all in the pictures.

I came to a major conclusion while shaving; the reason that single blades lost out to multi-blade cartridges and disposables is because of the ladies. As we know, it is a ladies world (and I am happy to admit that) and we men tend to like our significant other's to be smooth and soft. The disposable was a far, far better tool for this task than was the DE and thus I concluded that the big producers shifted production to the products best for a woman and to make us men go along for the ride.

Anyway, the pics are below. I focused on the 2 cuts on my left leg to show that they were there before and not because of the shave. Neither blade cut me in any way. Both were smooth, but the DE was so much slower and less agile than the disposable that I gave up on the DE after a while because it would have taken too long.

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BEFORE
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CREAMOED!
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The Finished Product
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What was your opinion of the cream for the job?

I think you're absolutely right about women driving the market. One thing I've discovered is that they tend to lose track of how long the disposable has been sitting on the side of the tube, and will go until a nick or cut reminds them to replace it.
 
Wow. I completely disagree with both of you. Being a woman, I shave my legs with a DE everyday. I will say, your weapon of choice was likely the wrong one for the task. I am in love with my (husband's) 38c. It is not even comparable to a cartridge or a disposible. Also, every woman I know is aware of how many shaves her blade/cartridge/(gag) disposible takes and what number they are on. No one wants to get hit with a rusty sword, my friends.

As for women driving the market, you might not know, but we do not get the newest and the shiniest until about a year (give or take) after that new thing comes out for you men. We do get the stupid and the insane, such as the 'soap on the cartridge' silly thing.
 
Wow. I completely disagree with both of you. Being a woman, I shave my legs with a DE everyday. I will say, your weapon of choice was likely the wrong one for the task. I am in love with my (husband's) 38c. It is not even comparable to a cartridge or a disposible. Also, every woman I know is aware of how many shaves her blade/cartridge/(gag) disposible takes and what number they are on. No one wants to get hit with a rusty sword, my friends.

As for women driving the market, you might not know, but we do not get the newest and the shiniest until about a year (give or take) after that new thing comes out for you men. We do get the stupid and the insane, such as the 'soap on the cartridge' silly thing.

I went with the blue tip because it was the mildest razor I have. I have a 38C and don't think it shaves any differently than does the blue tip...blue tip is probably a bit better actually, but, of course, that is on my face.

I, again, have shaved my legs from time to time and have always used a disposable. This was my first try at a DE in comparison. What I did not account for was the completely different quality of my skin on my legs versus my face. I would have figured that facial skin, being shaved, scrubbed, sunned and gassed with all the worlds chemicals was far tougher than leg skin. Alas, the opposite is true! Leg skin is very resilient. I finished the shave with alum rub and witch hazel, with aloe, splash and not a bit of burn.

However, as I said early on...its a women's world and I don't mind, so unless and until you shave your own legs, the woman's word should prevail here. Still, I will continue with the disposables on my legs.
 
What was your opinion of the cream for the job?

I think you're absolutely right about women driving the market. One thing I've discovered is that they tend to lose track of how long the disposable has been sitting on the side of the tube, and will go until a nick or cut reminds them to replace it.

The Cremo was excellent for the job. I have used it before.
 
Wow. I completely disagree with both of you. Being a woman, I shave my legs with a DE everyday. I will say, your weapon of choice was likely the wrong one for the task. I am in love with my (husband's) 38c. It is not even comparable to a cartridge or a disposible. Also, every woman I know is aware of how many shaves her blade/cartridge/(gag) disposible takes and what number they are on. No one wants to get hit with a rusty sword, my friends.

As for women driving the market, you might not know, but we do not get the newest and the shiniest until about a year (give or take) after that new thing comes out for you men. We do get the stupid and the insane, such as the 'soap on the cartridge' silly thing.


Well, there goes another piece of my market research crashing and burning.
 
Try a injector. I have been using a PAL adjustable twice a week for the last month and it is great. Best shave next to a straight, but a lot less time
 
Why did you feel the cartridge was a better tool? There wasn't really much of an explanation of it's superiority.

I'll listen to nodns on this one though. She's a lady. If she says the DE is better, it's better. Women's skin is more sensitive than Mens IMO. Plus DE is always better right?
 
Well, I shaved my legs for years, as I would do a bodybuilding show here and there, so I can give some input. I would say that cartridge razors are much easier to work with. You don't have to really worry about your angle, and you have to really be bearing down to use too much pressure. Your leg skin is thicker and tougher than sensitive facial skin. As far as a shave goes the DE may be better. Waxing beats both as far as smoothness goes, but has the disadvantage of hurting a little(tee-hee, tee-hee), and you have to wait 40 days and 40 nights before you do it again.
I do know some women who shave to a razor's last dying scrape, or have no clue as to how many shaves they get per. I trusted in the indicator strip.:rolleyes: That has the customer's interest in mind doesn't it?
 
Why did you feel the cartridge was a better tool? There wasn't really much of an explanation of it's superiority.

I'll listen to nodns on this one though. She's a lady. If she says the DE is better, it's better. Women's skin is more sensitive than Mens IMO. Plus DE is always better right?

I will give a short race report later...I'm still waiting for overall results but I did well.

I think the cartridge was better because it cut more hair, closer and faster. In other words it was better in every possible way. The pivoting head swept over my rippling muscles :)wink:) with ease, whereas the DE did not and the triple recessed blades, while no where near as sharp as even the Derby, allowed me to push the head into the various curves of my leg and thus let that pivoting head do its job. Now in retrospect, the pressure did no harm either as there were no nicks, cuts, weepers or burn of any kind.

Again...I do this once in a great while and have always done it with a disposable. I wouldn't suggest that my experience in any way trumps the experience of a woman who has had to deal with this regularly for her whole adult life. Do not discount the relative difference in a man's leg hair versus a woman's though...it took me a bunch of work with the Wahl to get to shaveable in the first place. Maybe the chicken wire on my legs responds best to the "lift and cut" concept whereas a woman's finer hair works best with a DE. I will try it again in 2 weeks for the next race and see what happens, but in as much as I am a DE first (straights second) guy on my face, its gonna be hard to switch me off the disposables for this task.
 
+1 BroDirt. That's why I still use Fusions to shave my head. It's much, much faster. For my face there's no comparison. Old-school all the way.
I shaved my legs regularly for years, and I have more area to shave than just about any woman I've met. I know a few girls who don't even grow hair that far above the knee, a couple not at all. It's not as if I am speaking about what I don't know. Like all things shaving, though, it varies. nodns may be a lot faster with her DE. I'm sure the shave is better. I'd like to see somebody shave their head as fast with a DE as I do with a cartridge, though.
 
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So, how did you do? Was the duathalon on Long Island or upstate?

Westchester Medial Center event.

I did well. I did PRs on all three legs and OA. I went 39/275 OA (taking out the 3 relay teams that beat me) and 8/29 in my age group (40-44). My bike split (my speciality really) was 17th fastest (including the relayers) and I am proud to say that I ran 7:11 miles on R1 and still managed 7:49s on R2. I lost almost 2 minutes in transition in comparison to a buddy of mine who finished 9 secs OA ahead of me. So if you took off only that time I would have gone 4th AG and top 30 OA. Hey, the cup of coffee, donut and newspaper I left in my transition stall was too good to give up!:wink:

Some things I just never should click on...

Sorry...maybe I should have posted a warning.
 
I went with the blue tip because it was the mildest razor I have. I have a 38C and don't think it shaves any differently than does the blue tip...blue tip is probably a bit better actually, but, of course, that is on my face.

For me, the length and weight of the 38c has a lot to do with what makes it a quality shave. I have tried ~8 different razors, but none were a blue tip, so I cannot compare those 2 specifically, however, the lighter and shorter handled razors were my least favorite.

Waxing beats both as far as smoothness goes, but has the disadvantage of hurting a little(tee-hee, tee-hee), and you have to wait 40 days and 40 nights before you do it again.

Seriously, it really is waxing ftw. However, having to have near 1/4" of regrowth is for the suck :(

Westchester Medial Center event.

I did well. I did PRs on all three legs and OA. I went 39/275 OA (taking out the 3 relay teams that beat me) and 8/29 in my age group (40-44). My bike split (my speciality really) was 17th fastest (including the relayers) and I am proud to say that I ran 7:11 miles on R1 and still managed 7:49s on R2. I lost almost 2 minutes in transition in comparison to a buddy of mine who finished 9 secs OA ahead of me. So if you took off only that time I would have gone 4th AG and top 30 OA. Hey, the cup of coffee, donut and newspaper I left in my transition stall was too good to give up!:wink:



Sorry...maybe I should have posted a warning.

Congrats on doing well, sir! And you have lovely legs.
 
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