Some pressure is always applied. For me, angle dictates that pressure. Shaving very shallow I use more pressure than when shaving steep because, when I shave shallow, I push the cap into my skin. I can come close to meeting the same edge to skin angle with the R41 as I can the Grande, its all in how I hold it and the pressure I apply.
Ok, so i think this is the reason why the shallow angle has always been such a disaster for me : i never applied pressure on the top cap the rare times i tried to use it...
But i think i'll stick with the regular neutral angle, i've never had bad surprises with it.
Thanks again for this excellent post !