Problems after switching from Gillette Super Speed to Gillette Heritage. Thoughts?

[spacemonkey42]

If you can't find a Super Speed there is a clone from Weishi or QShave and is sometimes numbered 9306, but you can search Aliexpress for butterfly safety razor. Good luck and I hope you find something that works well for you!

 

[RAD patient]

I tried to offer Super Silver a super speed but my offer was deleted. Is that not allowed?
Can any of you gents tell me how to go about that?

 

[SuperSilver]

Like I said before in the post: I wan't to retire the SS I have for sentimental reasons.
Also, as I previously mentioned, I noticed that more aggressive razors work better for me. I am waiting on the Fatip Piccolo I ordered.
I didn't see the offer but I appreciate it. Thank you

 

[Swingboy8]

(...) Personally I don't rate the R89 / DE89 / Heritage head at all, so I can understand why you're disappointed with it. I find them very inefficient, and they clog up rather easily. Maybe you are having to go over the same spot too many times or having to press too hard?

The few times I've shaved with mine I've immediately had to shave again with another razor.

I'm glad to see that i'm not alone in that case ! I had exactly the same experience with the R89 in 2013 and i stopped DE shaving for 6 years because of it...

I tried to offer Super Silver a super speed but my offer was deleted. Is that not allowed?
Can any of you gents tell me how to go about that?

If i'm not mistaken, your offer must be post in the right section (sell-buy) and you also must have a sufficent amount of messages to be allowed to do that.

 

[RAD patient]

I'm glad to see that i'm not alone in that case ! I had exactly the same experience with the R89 in 2013 and i stopped DE shaving for 6 years because of it...



If i'm not mistaken, your offer must be post in the right section (sell-buy) and you also must have a sufficent amount of messages to be allowed to do that.

Aah, clear. Quite new here, thanks for the heads up.

 

[RAD patient]

Like I said before in the post: I wan't to retire the SS I have for sentimental reasons.
Also, as I previously mentioned, I noticed that more aggressive razors work better for me. I am waiting on the Fatip Piccolo I ordered.
I didn't see the offer but I appreciate it. Thank you

You will not be disapointed! Piccolo is a great razor!

 

[Filudo]

Greetings gents,

Thought I would start this thread because I would love to hear your opinions and experiences and hopefully improve my technique and/or arsenal because I'm obviously doing something wrong.
Short life story: Suffered with cartridge razors for many years, decided to follow the footsteps of my father and grandfather and gave a shot to the safety razor my dad gave me many years ago.
It was Flare Tip Gillette Super Speed with the regular tip (same color as the handle). I bought an Omega boar brush and Arko shaving soap. As for the blades, I started with Derby but I quickly switched to sharper blades and settled with Sputnik.
For years I shaved with this combination and it was perfect. I shaved every morning, against the grain, baby smooth, 0 irritation.
Then one day I thought about buying a new razor and retiring the Super Speed partly because I was curious and partly because I was a bit afraid of breaking the old thing which would make me sad. I decided on the Gillette Heritage.
Ever since I switched, from the very first shave, something didn't feel right. I tried both milder and sharper blades (eventually switched to Astra SP which I currently use) but after almost every shave I would get at least one bump (almost like something an ingrown hair causes) that usually turns into a pimple and causes hell for the next shave. I use the same technique as with the Super Speed: relax face with warm water, create a nice, thick yogurt-like leather and use no pressure.
I don't know the correct terminology for describing hair but my beard doesn't have that many hairs but the hairs are very thick and sharp.
I know most modern razors are light-years behind in quality when compared to vintage so could that be the problem I'm having? Is the heritage more or less aggressive than the SS?
I will most likely go back to the SS until I can find a decent replacement.
Could anyone recommend something? A good replacement razor or a change in technique? Should I just stick with the SS until it breaks?

Sorry for the long post.
Kindest regards.

I bought a Red tip, a black handle (looks new) and a flair tip (this one was dirty) for $10, then shipping and tax $22. Must say: the black handle is the best shaver followed by the flair. No idea why the red isn't so good for me..... Anyway, look for Gillette vintage razors at a decent price and you will enjoy them for ever...

 

[SuperSilver]

The Piccolo has even better blade rigidity than the Super Speed. The Piccolo clamps the blade very well on both the bottom and top of the blade very close to the blade cutting edge. Even though the Gillette Super Speed is a great design it is much easier for a well designed three piece razor to exert greater clamping force on the blade than a twist to open razor can. The only negatives about the Piccolo IMO are that sometimes you have to fiddle with the blade a little to get perfect blade alignment when tightening down the razor and it uses a different thread pitch so most other razor handles won't work. Also since it is a pretty low priced razor the plating quality is not always superb but since it is made out of brass it should still last a very long time.

A little additional info...Most people use the Piccolo with the standard Fatip top cap and handle and love it. If you want to play around and experiment than you probably will be able to use your Heritage top cap with the Piccolo base plate and then you can use your Heritage handle and most other common DE razor handles as well. I actually prefer to use an Edwin Jagger DE89 top cap(which I think is very similar to the Heritage top cap) on my Fatip so I can use a different razor handle. In addition using the DE89 top cap also eliminates the need to fiddle with the blade alignment because the blade alignment pins are a larger diameter than the stock Fatip top cap. Blade clamping and rigidity is the same with the DE89 and Fatip top caps.

Just to clarify, I love Gillette Super Speeds. However I also think that the Fatip razors are one of the best performance values for a new DE razor widely available today that hopefully will work as well for you as it does for me and many other people.

I am writing late because it took a really long time for my Fatip Piccolo to arrive.
I also wanted to use it for a while before writing.
Before reading your reply I wasn't even aware of the Fatip brand. Usually, when you watch videos on razors or read blogs people recommend the usual: EJ, Muhle, Merkur... but rarely Fatips. So I decided to do a little research and saw that people have nothing but praise for it (apart from the possible blade alignment issue) and I ordered it.
Everything you and other reviews said was spot on!
Somehow, the Fatip Piccolo manages to be as smooth as my Super Speed yet very, very, efficient. It comes off aggressive with its open comb design yet I find it very forgiving like the SS, definitely something a beginner should consider because it won't hurt you if your technique is a little off.
Before the Piccolo arrived I have been using the Heritage + Old Type and recently I went back to the OT handle and had amazing results once I got the hang of it. I think I can get just as good results from my Piccolo once I get used to it.
Thank you once again for your recommendation friend, and thanks to everybody for advice. This is a wonderful community. Cheers!

 

[guitarslinger]

Op, the ss shaves better than the heritage.

Buy another ss on eBay.

 

[spacemonkey42]

So great to hear the Piccolo is working well for you, @SuperSilver! If you ever get the urge to try other things, you might consider a Gillette slim adjustable. Vintage, inexpensive, similar to the super speed, and you can dial in different levels of aggressiveness. Enjoy shaving!

 

[Shaveprentice]

I am writing late because it took a really long time for my Fatip Piccolo to arrive.
I also wanted to use it for a while before writing.
Before reading your reply I wasn't even aware of the Fatip brand. Usually, when you watch videos on razors or read blogs people recommend the usual: EJ, Muhle, Merkur... but rarely Fatips. So I decided to do a little research and saw that people have nothing but praise for it (apart from the possible blade alignment issue) and I ordered it.
Everything you and other reviews said was spot on!
Somehow, the Fatip Piccolo manages to be as smooth as my Super Speed yet very, very, efficient. It comes off aggressive with its open comb design yet I find it very forgiving like the SS, definitely something a beginner should consider because it won't hurt you if your technique is a little off.
Before the Piccolo arrived I have been using the Heritage + Old Type and recently I went back to the OT handle and had amazing results once I got the hang of it. I think I can get just as good results from my Piccolo once I get used to it.
Thank you once again for your recommendation friend, and thanks to everybody for advice. This is a wonderful community. Cheers!

I am very glad the Piccolo is working well for you! I have found that over time my ability to get consistently great shaves with my Fatip OC has definitely continued to improve. As is the case with a lot of razors, I have also found that while many different blades work fairly well in the Fatip OC for me, some definitely seem to be significantly smoother than others.

 

[SuperSilver]

So great to hear the Piccolo is working well for you, @SuperSilver! If you ever get the urge to try other things, you might consider a Gillette slim adjustable. Vintage, inexpensive, similar to the super speed, and you can dial in different levels of aggressiveness. Enjoy shaving!

I recently made a post about a Gillette Black Beauty I got. Still haven't tried it but I'm sure I will enjoy it!

 

[SuperSilver]

I am very glad the Piccolo is working well for you! I have found that over time my ability to get consistently great shaves with my Fatip OC has definitely continued to improve. As is the case with a lot of razors, I have also found that while many different blades work fairly well in the Fatip OC for me, some definitely seem to be significantly smoother than others.

I have tried multiple blades and found out Sputnik works best for me. Probably because they are a bit more forgiving than, say Astra SP. Of course, blades are probably the most subjective part of wet shaving.