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Chinese Clones

gvw755

gvw755

0
Okay, the latest Chinese clone heads were released just before the end of the year. One was a clone of Bevel complete with the wings at the end of the base plate, but with a scalloped guard. The other was a clone of the Muhle R41.

I had to order both because I needed to see how close they came to the real thing, and in the case of the Bevel clone, whether that small change is an improvement. Both came earlier this week:

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The Bevel clone went together okay, but there was a problem with the R41 clone:

cap 2.jpg

I guess Muhle don't have to look over their backs just yet. I will give a shave report and comments in my next couple of posts.
 
I started off last night with the Bevel head design with scalloped guard.

DSC03038.JPG

Since my Diamondback cap is still not back, I used the handle for my clone head. For those that remember the Bevel razor, it started life as a subscription razor system where there was a Bevel Razor and a whole host of prep things and the purpose was to combat ingrown facial hair. The razor was originally an Indian design and manufacture and the Bombay Shaving Company sold the razor alone with a mild and aggressive base plate (both smooth bars). Bevel sold the razor with only the mild base plate as it was designed for folks needing to be weaned off of cartridge razors (which caused ingrown hair)

The base plate was unique in that it had "wings"on each end to enclose the sides of the cap. While a nice touch, it did make the head longer than necessary.

Tonight's shave, I started my WTG pass and found immediately that the shave was significantly more blade feel than what I remembered the Bevel to have. I realized that the scallops actually had the effect of an open comb and so I adjusted my angle a bit and did my usual two pass plus touch up. Because of the size of the head, it was hard to maneuver under my nose, and overall the shave did have more blade feel than I prefer, however in the end I has a very good BBS. So I would have to rate this clone slightly better than the original as far as shaving goes, and slightly worse than the original as far as build quality goes, but one must remember that this is a $3 razor head.
 
So me being totally cheap (why else would I buy $3 razor heads), I have been able to work through the R41 clone cap so that the cap mostly seats properly, although I have to pry it off with a screw driver when I want to load and unload a blade. I pulled out my R41 with the fake tortoise shell handle to compare. Yes, the Chinese also cloned the gold Muhle handle, which I got a while ago and it cost more than the razor head. I guess real fake gold add cost to the handle.

The heads were almost identical, except for the badly shaped holes for the alignment pins and the overall poor quality of the clone.

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DSC03041.JPG
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Tonight, I will attempt a shave with $7 R41 clone and hope that my face looks the same after my shave as before. The alignment looks like it might work, although I have a backup razor at the first sign of trouble. 🤪
 
Tonight was my dreaded shave with the R41 clone with the ill fitting cap. I started out with my normal R41 angle and found much blade feel. Not having shaved with the 2011 version of the R41, this felt like what most folks described. I immediately adjusted my angle to use more cap and it settled down a bit, but the blade feel was still present. I am not sure if it was designed that way, or if it was the ill fitting cap. WTG was very efficient, and so that was a good thing. When I started ATG, I had some blade chatter shaving under my chin and so I am strongly believing that it was the ill fitting blade.

The good part is that I again ended up with a two pass BBS with minimal touch up. The bad part was that the shave was on the rough side similar to the Bevel clone of last night. Again, Muhle does not have to worry for now. ;)

I am monitoring other places to see if anyone else got the R41 clone head and if the problem was just mine or the entire batch. I would like to try a good one.
 
For the life of me I have NO idea why you would even try it instead of emailing and telling them they need to send another or bin it..............
 
Could you please tell me where you got the bevel clone head as I have the original head and would love to try a clone of it as I really like the original head... Thanks..
Also if need be if you send me a link to it you can PM me that link as we know I think links sre not allowed here.... Thanks..
 
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