I received mine yesterday and shaved with the scalloped bar this morning. I've never shaved with a EJ DE89, but from what a lot of folks are saying, this is very similar. I must say, I was impressed. A nice, easy two pass shave that was plenty efficient yet mild. I personally like it a lot more than I liked the Game Changer .68. For some reason, I just couldn't get that razor to work for me. This razor with a much smaller blade gap and exposure really worked for some reason.
I did purchase all the plates and both heads as it was cheaper to do that with the 20% discount than it was just to get the smooth head and three plates with the 30% discount, as I then would have had to pay for shipping. I shaved with the scalloped bar and smooth head, although that is not what I have set up in the picture. The blade alignment was perfect and fit was great. When I tried to put the other head on, it had some resistance with both the handle that came with the razor and also the Razorock handle I tried. I didn't force it on, but there was quite a bit of resistance. Also, I'm not sure that the blade fits flush with this head. I'll have to test it out but may be a bit of defect there.
I did take a couple comparison pictures of the scalloped bar and the next open comb plate side by side with a blade in them. The pictures show the differences between how the blades are held in the razor. I also think there is more of a positive blade exposure with the mid-aggression open comb than with the scalloped base. In the very last picture you can kind of see that the blade looks to be slanting down, and that is with a fully secured handle. Tough to tell from the pictures, though.
One shave in, but I at least like the scalloped bar plate with the smooth head.
I did purchase all the plates and both heads as it was cheaper to do that with the 20% discount than it was just to get the smooth head and three plates with the 30% discount, as I then would have had to pay for shipping. I shaved with the scalloped bar and smooth head, although that is not what I have set up in the picture. The blade alignment was perfect and fit was great. When I tried to put the other head on, it had some resistance with both the handle that came with the razor and also the Razorock handle I tried. I didn't force it on, but there was quite a bit of resistance. Also, I'm not sure that the blade fits flush with this head. I'll have to test it out but may be a bit of defect there.
I did take a couple comparison pictures of the scalloped bar and the next open comb plate side by side with a blade in them. The pictures show the differences between how the blades are held in the razor. I also think there is more of a positive blade exposure with the mid-aggression open comb than with the scalloped base. In the very last picture you can kind of see that the blade looks to be slanting down, and that is with a fully secured handle. Tough to tell from the pictures, though.
One shave in, but I at least like the scalloped bar plate with the smooth head.