barba which seller did you use?
New Improved Version of Ri Mei/Sodial Razor
- Thread starter FoiledAgain
- Start date
There may be two different head designs. My Sodial is ridiculously aggressive. And I routinely shave with a Super Adjustable set on 9. I would not​ give my version of the Sodial to a n00b. Blood would flow, for sure.
I have one in the mail from Amazon. It says it will take about a month to get here. We'll see how well it works.
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- #24
I can only speak for the razor I received, but mine is fairly mild, but not overly so. The blade exposure and blade gap make it look mildly aggressive, but I have found it to be just right and have not even come close to nicking myself. I have a Cadet TTO, a Cadet OC and a 25 year old Merkur 34c, all three of which definitely feel more aggressive than the new version Sodial/RiMei. The Cadet TTO seems to be the most aggressive and also the hardest to use because the angle which produces a good shave is not intuitive. The RiMei just seems to naturally fall into the right place when I am shaving. The same is true for me with the Cadet OC. Of course, YMMV. Happy Shaving.
I have two that I use often and they both match pretty well your description of being fairly mild.
I orderd the Ri Mei / Sodial from Panda Town on May 5th, 2013 and another from ZGCC on May 29. Both arrived in about 2 1/2 weeks and both were 4-piece old style handles. Yesterday, I ordered another from Panda Town and emailed them to be sure I got the new style handle. The reply:
"So sorry to inform you that we only could send the item as the order.
So, if you want another one, please first cancel this order then order what you like.
Hope my answer helpful to you. Now, please tell us if you would like to cancel this order or still ship it?
Waiting for your early answer."
I replied to say ship if new style and cancel if old style. In both emails I did attach a pic of the new style handle but have no idea if they saw it.
"So sorry to inform you that we only could send the item as the order.
So, if you want another one, please first cancel this order then order what you like.
Hope my answer helpful to you. Now, please tell us if you would like to cancel this order or still ship it?
Waiting for your early answer."
I replied to say ship if new style and cancel if old style. In both emails I did attach a pic of the new style handle but have no idea if they saw it.
I ordered the listing with less reviews. It seems like the listing with more reviews has complaints about a plastic handle. While the one with less reviews has no such complaints that I could find.
http://www.amazon.com/SODIAL--Silve...&ie=UTF8&qid=1379701742&sr=1-2&keywords=razor
http://www.amazon.com/SODIAL--Silve...&ie=UTF8&qid=1379701742&sr=1-2&keywords=razor
More conversation with Panda Town...
I said "Hi, I want to know if you have NEW handle style (please look at attached picture) thank you, Joe"
and I again attached a pic of the new Ri Mei handle (you can attach a pic to a seller message in Amazon)
I got this reply back:
"Dear J, So sorry for this inconvenience
Ok, please don’t worry. We will refund as you request within 24 hours So please wait patiently by the way, if you want to cancel immediately please do so as follows To cancel an item or an entire order:"
Then they cancelled my order. I think this is a language barrier thing. I never got a response that was apropos to any question I made. Seems like it would be simple to send a pic and ask, which version are you currently shipping, but I guess not.
So I would be interested to see which handle you get. PM me if you would, when it arrives?
I said "Hi, I want to know if you have NEW handle style (please look at attached picture) thank you, Joe"
and I again attached a pic of the new Ri Mei handle (you can attach a pic to a seller message in Amazon)
I got this reply back:
"Dear J, So sorry for this inconvenience
Ok, please don’t worry. We will refund as you request within 24 hours So please wait patiently by the way, if you want to cancel immediately please do so as follows To cancel an item or an entire order:"
Then they cancelled my order. I think this is a language barrier thing. I never got a response that was apropos to any question I made. Seems like it would be simple to send a pic and ask, which version are you currently shipping, but I guess not.
So I would be interested to see which handle you get. PM me if you would, when it arrives?
That was the one that I ordered. Ordered from them in May and got 4-piece.
My order was from ZGCC in early August. I got the new handle style. It's my first de. I've been straight shaving for a few months and found it extremely easy to get an extremely close and comfortable shave all three times I've used it. $2,25. So far I've been using an Astra sp
Forgot to mention. I ordered the sodial razor on amazon from the seller names ZGCC. got the new design ri mei.
By the way, the blade aligns in that 2.27 razor much better than in a Tech...
Maybe copy and paste your email into an English-to-Chinese translator online and copy that into an email to them?
I find a magnet strongly attracted to the head plate (with the safety bar), barely to the cover, and not at all to the handle.
That's the first I've ever heard that said about Sodials. In my experience and in every other review I find, Sodial razors are described as fairly faithful reproductions of early Gillette Tech (itself a rather mild razor), with perhaps a touch more blade gap and exposure. I have a gold ball end Gillette Tech, have compared them myself, and concur with that evaluation (and haven't noticed any difference in blade alignment). Google "Sodial razor reviews", such as these here, here, and here.
dcobranchi, I wonder if you're fully screwing on the head? Early Gillette 3-piece razors included instructions on adjusting the blade gap and exposure with the degree of tightness the head is screwed on: screw the head on all the way (maximum tightness) to produce the least blade gap and exposure for the mildest, safest shave; for a quicker, closer shave, screw the head all the way on and then unscrew it a quarter, half or full turn to increase gap and exposure. So, your unusual experience of high blade gap and exposure suggests you may not have fully screwed the head on. (I've seen photos of those instructions online, and if I can find them, I'll repost them.) Or, yours may simply be a defective unit: with cost cutting, one of the first things to suffer is production consistency.
If I had the money, I'd give people $20, $30, $40 dollar starter DE razors from my favorite traditional shaving vendors to check it out, along with a tub of TOBS, Cella, Castle Forbes, and a good quality boar and/or badger brush, a scuttle, alum, and aftershave, which kit would probably start around $100. That would certainly secure a nice sale to my favorite DE/traditional shaving products vendors. If the recipient liked it, and stuck with it, that equipment would last for years. But I can't afford that. And, how often could most people give that as a gift? And, how many such giftees really do take to it?
Rather than give a high-end premium kit and experience on rare occasion, I prefer to give people a simply damn-fine DE shaving experience, for no more than the cost of a meal or a few drinks. To give the experience of DE shaving, I think the Sodial is perfect -- you get a genuine, quite good quality DE shaving experience from a Sodial razor that will last just long enough so that someone can really get into it. If they end up loving it, then they can trade up asap. Certainly, if they stick with it, by the time it the Sodial begins to start rust or flake they'll be ready to justify spending as much as they want on a premium DE razor, and brush, and scuttle, and alum, etc, etc. And, if I end up giving 4-5 Sodial razors and kits a year as gifts, chances are higher that they'll reach more recipients who end up converting to DE shaving, and follow through trading up to better equipment, than if I give one primo set a year.
Sodial's store on Amazon. The razors arrived in 2-3 weeks. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7239EK/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1
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Try Dealextreme, I ordered mine there.
http://dx.com/p/rimei-stainless-steel-double-edge-blade-razor-silver-116281
Mine showed up yesterday in the mail and it is the old 4 piece one but I paid $2 Canadian for mine through Amazon.ca so it doesn't matter but I might try to get the three piece one. I am going to either try it tomorrow or Saturday.
- Thread starter
- #40
Daedpa, which company did you order from? Was it under the Sodial name, or one of the other names, such as Silvertone or RiMei? Knowing this will help people who want the new version to know who to order from and who not to order from.
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