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Gillette red tip vs slim adjustable

I apologize if his has come up before, just joined the forum this evening. Does anyone else seem to have a different experience than the typical Gillette super speed/adjustable narrative? (Red tip=7-9, flare tip
=4-6, blue tip=1-3). In my experience, with my first slim adjustable shave being today, the red tip compares more to a 3 or 4 at most. And is no where near a 7 let alone a 9 on the slim. Wondering if anyone else has had this experience, or if my red tip is simply pretending to be a red tip.
 
First, welcome to B&B.

I have a hard time equating razors performance to each other. Today I shaved with a Slim on 7 and got a great shave. My Red Tip gives me a comparable shave.

I am one of those guys who treat each individual on its own merits. Be it a Slant, adjustable, SE, AS-D2, OC, SB, etc., I enjoy each one for its own characteristics.
 
Thanks @ackvil , I’m excited to be a part of the forum.

I agree, i believe they give comparable shaves as far as closeness, in my experience. Where my expectation is possibly misguided is blade gap, i was under the impression that the blade gap of each setting compared to the super speed razors. Is the intention simply to Mimick the shave of each of the superspeed trio razors?

I also agree that they are different animals. They feel completely different. And each razor should be it’s own experience.
 
I apologize if his has come up before, just joined the forum this evening. Does anyone else seem to have a different experience than the typical Gillette super speed/adjustable narrative? (Red tip=7-9, flare tip
=4-6, blue tip=1-3). In my experience, with my first slim adjustable shave being today, the red tip compares more to a 3 or 4 at most. And is no where near a 7 let alone a 9 on the slim. Wondering if anyone else has had this experience, or if my red tip is simply pretending to be a red tip.


I have used several red tips as well as several slims. I would place a red tip pretty close to a 4-5 setting on a slim. I sold all of my red tips because they were too mild. Compared to a SS from gillete they were fairly aggressive, but compared to a modern razor they are very mild.
 
@hsbbs04 i would agree. My Parker, which is a fairly middle/mild razor, is more aggressive than the red tip. That being said, i love both. And they have different purposes in my shaving life.
 
@hsbbs04 i would agree. My Parker, which is a fairly middle/mild razor, is more aggressive than the red tip. That being said, i love both. And they have different purposes in my shaving life.


You asked it the purpose of the razors were to mimic each setting of an adjustable. I think it was a way to customize a shave prior to adjustables. The regular, red, and blue tip razors predate the slim, and I believe all adjustable Gillette razors.
 
@hsbbs04 that sounds like a good answer, i have seen charts that compare the red to 7-9, it’s possible that those were not circulated by gillette, but someone else. I’d have to research them.

And yes, the superspeed trio predates all their adjustable as far as i know. At least the fat boy and slim. (As far as I am aware)
 
Welcome aboard! Must say that I have a lot
First, welcome to B&B.

I have a hard time equating razors performance to each other. Today I shaved with a Slim on 7 and got a great shave. My Red Tip gives me a comparable shave.

I am one of those guys who treat each individual on its own merits. Be it a Slant, adjustable, SE, AS-D2, OC, SB, etc., I enjoy each one for its own characteristics.

+1! I also have a difficult time because there are so many variables here.
 
The difference in blade gap between the black handle Superspeed and the Red Tip is only .2mm, just .6mm in the case of the Blue Tip. It's not an aggressive razor. I've never heard the comparison between these three and the Adjustables as described in the OP (Red Tip 7-9 ***), it sounds like it came from someone who never used them .
 
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I wonder how much influence relative sales of red/regular/blue Super-Speeds and Rockets had on the design of the Fatboy's range of settings.
If the Redtips and Regular out-sold the Bluetips by a significant margin, perhaps they felt that "medium" should be more aggressive than previously thought.
The difference in blade gap between the black handle Superspeed and the Red Tip is only 2mm, just 6mm in the case of the Blue Tip.
o_O Did you mean to say "0.2 mm" and "0.6 mm"?
 
Yes of course!
I wonder how much influence relative sales of red/regular/blue Super-Speeds and Rockets had on the design of the Fatboy's range of settings.
If the Redtips and Regular out-sold the Bluetips by a significant margin, perhaps they felt that "medium" should be more aggressive than previously thought.

o_O Did you mean to say "0.2 mm" and "0.6 mm"?
 
Thanks @BigJ . and @jmudrick i think i originally heard it from razor emporium/id lather be shaving videos. But I’ve also seen charts on google. Then when i experienced the slim myself, none of it made sense.
 
Brother Dutton, welcome aboard!

A term you may hear frequently on an answer to such a question is YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary.

I have a tough and coarse beard. Consequently I love a Gillette Red Tip. And I love a Gillette Slim on a setting of 6. But the Gillette Blue Tip is way too mild for me, though it is useful to shave ATG on the mustache area.
 
R

romsitsa

Hello,

your observation is spot on, comparing Super speeds to adjustable settings is quite misleading, but Gillette also used this equation:
The Superspeeds were advertised as light, medium, heavy standing for sensitive skin, medium beard, heavy beard.
The adjustables were advertised as 1-3 settings being light shave, 4-6 medium, 7-9 close shave. Or "9 settings for light to extra heavy beards".
By blade gap the Superspeed trio would fit between setting 2-4 on an adjustable.
But a Fatboy with three settings would be lame...

Adam
 
@jmudrick that chart is very helpful, the gap is far different.

@santamariasteve thank you! With my experience with the red tip, i would have to tentatively agree with your assessment of the blue tip, the 1-2 setting on the slim isn’t very useful for me until the 2nd pass

@romsitsa i agree, a 1-3 adjustable would be lame. And that 2-4 information is helpful, that’s what we were thinking the color comparisons came in at. Thanks!
 
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