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2011 R41 - The Quest Achieved!

Well done, Marcus! I treasure my R41 2011 so much, I bought a backup several months back. I'm concerned about the useful life of Zamak razors, and decided I needed to be certain that my R41-11 would not end with the tragedy of a broken stem...

Today, I still love the razor, but have come to the conclusion that there are a few others that shave as well for me. One is the Ikon Tech, of course. The others are the Le Coq cage comb, the PAA DOC Evolution in stainless, and the Charcoal Goods Level 3 open comb. The latter three aggressive beasts are relatively recent acquisitions, and I've learned from them that a shallow angle may be best for me when yielding an aggressive DE. I had used a shallow angle with the R41, but a steep angle with the Ikon Tech, but the Tech was too tuggy. Now I'm happy with shallow across the board. I've also learned to respect the Astra SP blade with these razors, which seems to be smoother than my previous go-to, the Feather.

These are my five favorite DEs. And as I'm on sabbatical, I suspect it will stay that way for awhile. Enjoy your new toy!
 
Couldn't find any in depth comparisons between the 2011 R41 and the Shavecraft Tech.
All the reports such as that from [MENTION=84529]rudyt[/MENTION] above say there's not much in it.

So it's TIME FOR A SHOWDOWN!
I shaved the left side of my face with the ST and the right side with the 2011 both with new Bic Chromes:
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The Shavecraft Tech really curves and braces the blade so that it's very rigid and actually feels more like an SE blade.
It's absolutely excellent for ATG shaving and leaves the skin most calm.
Like the Devette it does feel a little rough and "needley" during the shave and it's steep angle all the way.
The result is magnificent.

On the other hand, the 2011 has less blade curvature, a little blade chatter, can bite on ATG passes and there's a little skin disturbance.
But it's much smoother during the shave and feels really good on the face:
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So three passes later the right side of my face shaved with the 2011 feels waxy and of course mainly ultra-BBS.

The left side shaved with the ST is ultra-BBS too and feels like sandstone (we have a lot of that here in Devon).

So for me at this stage it's a slightly rougher but ATG friendly shave with the ST leaving the skin slightly calmer for a Sandstone BBS
vs
A smoother but more bitey and disturbing shave from the 2011 for that Waxy BBS.

Like they already told me, so far there's not much in it....
 
12 hours later here's some preliminary results:

For the first 8 hours there was literally no difference in the shaves. Both powerful and magnificent shaves outlasting all others and with great calm skin.

Between 8 and 12 hours a slight difference started to emerge.
The shaves from each razor were still indistinguishably smooth except when rubbing my face ATG when there was slightly rougher feel from the 2011 side.

However the 2011 has cleaned up better around the jawline because of its large range of effective angles.
This would tally with the superior ATG performance of the ST's rigid blade.

My beautiful assistant knew nothing of this experiment and when I asked her to judge which side of my face felt smoother after 12 hours she pronounced the Shavecraft Tech side the winner but only because when she rubbed it upwards it "felt like it had less hairs on it."

So really after 12 hours there's very very little in it.

The Shavecraft Tech has superior ATG performance and gives an ever so slightly longer lasting shave:
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The 2011 R41 cleans up better round the jawline and feels smoother on the face:
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Both are incredible powerful razors with great geometry so let's see where we are after 24hrs...
 
And 24hrs on there's still really nothing in it between the Shavecraft Tech and the 2011 R41.
Neither side of my face will really need a shave for another 12 hours.

The Shavecraft Tech side seems to have ever so slightly less stubble, and the regrowth on the that side feels softer.

This must be related not only to the superior ATG performance of the ST but also a different cutting angle by the ST from the 2011 R41.

The stubble on the 2011 R41 side may not be any longer but it feels more prickly.

So really it's down to the minutiae - both shaves have lasted equally long with better ATG performance from the ST and pricklier stubble from the 2011 R41.

It's great to actually see how closely matched these razors are.
 
Congrats on finding your grail!!

Great comparison - thanks!

Thanks guys!
We're now nearly 36hrs on and bizarrely now the 2011 R41 side is marginally smoother than the Shavecraft Tech side, the exact opposite of the 12-24hr results.

Perhaps the 2011 side was always slightly closer but the pricklier stubble due to the different angle made it more noticeable when still very short during the 12-24hr period.

So:
0-12hrs both sides equal.
12-24hrs ST side marginally smoother.
24-36hrs 2011 side marginally smoother.

This confirms that there really is NOTHING IN IT.

The ST has superior ATG performance and is a less bitey no nonsense shave with a lovely sandstone BBS finish.

The 2011 feels smoother on the face and is good round the jawline but requires more finesse of technique for a lovely waxy BBS.

Ha ha - this experiment proves that they are both awesome!
 
That's a detailed review! Thanks for taking the time to do the helpful comparison and sharing it.

I wonder what kind of results you would get with a different blade? My favorites in both the ST and 2013 R41 are Gillette Silver Blues and Personna Med Preps.
 
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That's a detailed review! Thanks for taking the time to do the helpful comparison and sharing it.

I wonder what kind of results you would get with a different blade? My favorites in both the ST and 2013 R41 are Gillette Silver Blues and Personna Med Preps.

Yes blade choice is very interesting here.
[MENTION=111161]ShavingByTheNumbers[/MENTION] is doing some amazing research and compiling a blade database for the wiki and it seems that the Personnas along with the Bics, Voskhods and Kais are slightly thicker blades.

This could explain why these blades are reported to work so well in the chatter-prone 2011 R41.

The Kais are also wider than most blades (who knew?) which should be interesting.
I've acquired some but the cheapest I could source them was £3.50 for 5 blades so they'd better be good [emoji3]
 
And on to the next round -

I shaved my entire face yesterday with a Streamline to reset everything.

Tonight I shaved the left side of my face with the 2011 R41 and the right side with a 2013 baseplate and Spitfire cap.

The Spitfire cap is a 3D printed cap developed by [MENTION=27444]aimsport[/MENTION] and intended for use with the 2013 R41 to alter it's performance so that it equals or exceeds the 2011.

Careful examination reveals that the 2011 cap has more curvature than the Spitfire cap (which also obviously weighs less) whilst the 2011 baseplate has more curvature than the 2013 baseplate.
So the geometries of the stock 2011 and the Spitfire 2013 are markedly different if you look closely enough:
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And the shaves do indeed feel different.

The 2011 is definitely smoother.
The Spitfire 2013 is louder with noticeably more blade chatter and blade feel, and also more "bitey".
Actually for me the Spitfire 2013 feel cruder altogether.

Both razors gave an irritation free waxy BBS and were manouverable with a big range of effective angles but there's no doubt that the stock 2011 R41 felt a lot nicer on the face during the shave.

But what about the longevity of the shave and the differences in regrowth?
The next few hours will reveal all
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Marcus - congratulations, and thanks for the thread! You are surely a Major Domo of aggressive razors!!!

Thanks! You've given me a lot of encouragement along the way with these great razors!

20hrs on the shaves from the 2011 R41 and the Spitfire-capped 2013 really are indistinguishable.

Although the face feel of the 2011 whilst shaving is much smoother, and the Spitfire 2013 definitely has more blade extension and chatter, the end result is the same.

So it really is fair to say that the Spitfire cap can get a 2013 R41 to emulate the performance of a 2011 R41.

So what can happen if you put the shallower Spitfire cap on the more curved 2011 baseplate?
 
[MENTION=67066]mjclark[/MENTION]

Is the Spitfire top cap still available anywhere? I found one on Shapeways and also saw a Lancaster and Hurricane top caps listed for the R41 also. Is this where you got yours? If so, do you also know anything about the other 2 top caps?
 
[MENTION=67066]mjclark[/MENTION]

Is the Spitfire top cap still available anywhere? I found one on Shapeways and also saw a Lancaster and Hurricane top caps listed for the R41 also. Is this where you got yours? If so, do you also know anything about the other 2 top caps?

I got my Spitfire from Shapeways.
There's a good discussion about these caps here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/418446-3D-printed-R41-top-caps-discussion

The Lancaster is the exact opposite of the Spitfire, designed for use with the 2011 baseplate to emulate the performance of the 2013, i.e. toned down a bit.

The Hurricane is for the 2013 to give the nicest possible shave - I've not used one but people like them a lot.
My 2013 cap filed down to 18.6mm width has the same effect.
 
I got my Spitfire from Shapeways.
There's a good discussion about these caps here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/418446-3D-printed-R41-top-caps-discussion

The Lancaster is the exact opposite of the Spitfire, designed for use with the 2011 baseplate to emulate the performance of the 2013, i.e. toned down a bit.

The Hurricane is for the 2013 to give the nicest possible shave - I've not used one but people like them a lot.
My 2013 cap filed down to 18.6mm width has the same effect.
Thanks. I found that thread after I posted here and found it to be a very good read. Perhaps I will pick up a Spitfire and a Hurricane and give them a try...
 
So after a shave with the IBC shavette last night to reset the stubble, tonight I shaved the right side of my face with the stock 2011 R41 and the left side with a Spitfire cap on the 2011 baseplate.

Compare the different curvatures of the cap with the same baseplate:
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The 2011 baseplate with shallower Spitfire cap has more blade exposure, lots and lots of chatter and is rough and bitey.
Really not a pleasant experience that felt more like stunt shaving.

And as I've learned from the lovely Devette, and counterintuitively, more blade exposure doesn't necessarily mean a closer shave because the skin stretching effect of the guard is reduced.

I won't be pairing the Spitfire cap with the 2011 baseplate again but it was fun finding out.
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The Spitfire cap is much better suited to the 2013 baseplate for which it was designed.

So how will the 2011 cap on the 2013 baseplate perform?
Could be interesting...
 
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