Yeah, you read the title right.
Over the years here I've found myself playing devil's advocate quite often. Not because I prefer to be contrarian but because I always like to find out for myself how true the conventional wisdom tends to be. This has led me to defend cartridge razors, canned goo, Parker razors, the Feather All Stainless in the early days when it was an unknown quantity....and now, the Weishi. The little Chinese Superspeed clone that many newbies get before moving on to a Merkur, vintage Gillette or something else that's not as mild. And y'know what? It's not as bad as I feared based on the reviews. I got one off Ebay (the satin finish chrome model) because it came with 100 blades, so the price to try wasn't outlandish.
And as for first impressions (comparing it with my 1964 Superspeed) the Weishi is quality. I like that it is heavier than the standard SS (just a gram lighter than the Red Tip, actually) with a thicker handle and a slightly longer TTO knob. This gives it a definite feel of being heavy duty compared to the original Gillette. That doesn't mean it's as well-built, I realize that. Gillette has a proven track record on its side, of razors working perfectly after 70+ years. So I will not say the Weishi is better quality -- I have read some posts that say that it's shoddy in the long term, so we'll see. But brand new, I see no errors. The TTO action is perfect. The blade is aligned. The tolerances when the blade is loaded are exact and the doors close tightly without being "lazy." The plating is uniform and quite beautiful, if I say so myself.
Now, as far as blade gap is concerned, I noticed that the blade edge doesn't seem to extend out as much. But in terms of elevation off the guard bar, it seems the same as a Superspeed, or a Slim on 3. I loaded it with a new Red Personna (a baseline blade) and prepared to shave my usual 3-day growth using Trumper's Sandalwood soap.
The shave reminded me of my first shave with the Feather AS. The first few strokes caused me to say, "Wow, everyone was right. This thing IS mild!" But like with the Feather, I consciously adjusted my angle trying to find the sweet spot. And once I did, it was smooth sailing. Three passes and touch up, and I got my usual DFS with no irritation. A splash of Italian Floid did not burn at all. A post-shave feel of my face revealed a shave identical to a Superspeed without as much buffing needed on trouble spots. And it's worth noting that I DON'T have peach fuzz for a beard. My hair isn't wiry, but after three days it's probably medium-thick. so this was by no means an easy trial for the Weishi. It got the same treatment every razor gets.
Conclusion -- the Weishi is proof of YMMV I guess. I did not find it to be as terribly mild as it's made out to be. It's mild, sure, but if you go back to basics, do 3 passes while mindful of your angle, the shave is every bit as good as you get with the Superspeed without as much touch-up work. Time will tell if it's going to last/get wonky/fall apart, but for now I'm quite impressed with it. I could see it being quite adequate for someone who shaves every day. It's gonna go in my travel kit, that's for sure.
Over the years here I've found myself playing devil's advocate quite often. Not because I prefer to be contrarian but because I always like to find out for myself how true the conventional wisdom tends to be. This has led me to defend cartridge razors, canned goo, Parker razors, the Feather All Stainless in the early days when it was an unknown quantity....and now, the Weishi. The little Chinese Superspeed clone that many newbies get before moving on to a Merkur, vintage Gillette or something else that's not as mild. And y'know what? It's not as bad as I feared based on the reviews. I got one off Ebay (the satin finish chrome model) because it came with 100 blades, so the price to try wasn't outlandish.
And as for first impressions (comparing it with my 1964 Superspeed) the Weishi is quality. I like that it is heavier than the standard SS (just a gram lighter than the Red Tip, actually) with a thicker handle and a slightly longer TTO knob. This gives it a definite feel of being heavy duty compared to the original Gillette. That doesn't mean it's as well-built, I realize that. Gillette has a proven track record on its side, of razors working perfectly after 70+ years. So I will not say the Weishi is better quality -- I have read some posts that say that it's shoddy in the long term, so we'll see. But brand new, I see no errors. The TTO action is perfect. The blade is aligned. The tolerances when the blade is loaded are exact and the doors close tightly without being "lazy." The plating is uniform and quite beautiful, if I say so myself.
Now, as far as blade gap is concerned, I noticed that the blade edge doesn't seem to extend out as much. But in terms of elevation off the guard bar, it seems the same as a Superspeed, or a Slim on 3. I loaded it with a new Red Personna (a baseline blade) and prepared to shave my usual 3-day growth using Trumper's Sandalwood soap.
The shave reminded me of my first shave with the Feather AS. The first few strokes caused me to say, "Wow, everyone was right. This thing IS mild!" But like with the Feather, I consciously adjusted my angle trying to find the sweet spot. And once I did, it was smooth sailing. Three passes and touch up, and I got my usual DFS with no irritation. A splash of Italian Floid did not burn at all. A post-shave feel of my face revealed a shave identical to a Superspeed without as much buffing needed on trouble spots. And it's worth noting that I DON'T have peach fuzz for a beard. My hair isn't wiry, but after three days it's probably medium-thick. so this was by no means an easy trial for the Weishi. It got the same treatment every razor gets.
Conclusion -- the Weishi is proof of YMMV I guess. I did not find it to be as terribly mild as it's made out to be. It's mild, sure, but if you go back to basics, do 3 passes while mindful of your angle, the shave is every bit as good as you get with the Superspeed without as much touch-up work. Time will tell if it's going to last/get wonky/fall apart, but for now I'm quite impressed with it. I could see it being quite adequate for someone who shaves every day. It's gonna go in my travel kit, that's for sure.