Teiste
Forum GOD!
As per request of one of your members in DFS, here is what I wrote there regarding this new razor from the old designer/machinist of Paradigm razors.
And good to see that this forum is still running and active.
Disclaimer : I'm a friend of the designer/maker of this razor and a beta tester of his creations.
I do have a medium beard, not soft but neither too coarse. Some of my all time favorite razors are Rocnel Elite 2023, Seygus Zeppelin 0.7, Henson ++/+++ , RazoRock Lupo 0.72 and Wilde and Harte.And my favorite blades are Gillette Platinum, Silver Blue , Nacet and Iridium Super, so you can an idea of what I like to shave with.
After a lot of testing, the new Ascender razor, named "Skyline" is now in production.This razor performs slightly more aggressive than the previous Ascender Eagle keeping the same smoothness. How that could be possible, I don't know, and I'm sure that Ross won't divulged it either. But while you can feel the blade more than the Eagle, the smoothness is basically the same. I have tried it with all the blades I have mentioned before and the results have been always the same : effortless, very comfortable shaves.
The scalloped based might have something to do with that but again, only Ross knows.Don't ask me about GAP and blade exposure, I haven't asked Ross.The idea was to create a slightly more aggressive razor than the Eagle keeping that smooth factor and that's what I have been testing. I have shaved my head and lower part of my neck without any kind of irritation, with usually two passes, one with the grain and another against the grain.This last shave, with an Super Iridium (Russian) blade, I did a 3 pass shave, with, across and against, and same results. But don't be fooled by it's smoothness, if you apply more pressure than needed it,or the wrong angle, it will bite you. I did learned that with the first prototypes...
So yes, there is a blade feel, is that's something you're looking for on a razor.
This razor also has a better grip for me than the Eagle, due to the facetted handle. But again, that depends on how you prefer to hold your razor while shaving. Is also 3 grams lighter than the Eagle.And as the Eagle would be released in Titanium with a matte finish.Andnits design screams pure art deco. Reminds me of the Chrysler building in NYC. I'm afraid that my pictures don't do too much justice to its real beauty.
So if you have a medium to heavy beard and want to enjoy daily close shaves, this razor is for you. If your beard is soft, unless you shave every 72 hours or more, I won't recommend it. I don't have an extra coarse beard and Japanese blades won't work for me but I can see this razor performing well with those type of ultra sharp blades. For head shaving, again, splendid. As good as the Henson Ti ++/+++ and those are big words for me.And if you're a razor collector, well, you already know.
I'll keep you posted when I know more about a releasing date (hopefully early December). In the meantime, enjoy your shaves, gentlemen. Thank goodness we have plenty of great artisan razor makers to enjoy these days. I remember when I started on the shaving forums, back in 2008, and the only choices were Merkur, EJ/Muhle, Parker and vintage razors...
My appreciation to Ross, who always takes my inputs/criticism with a lot of patience and professionalism.
And good to see that this forum is still running and active.
Disclaimer : I'm a friend of the designer/maker of this razor and a beta tester of his creations.
I do have a medium beard, not soft but neither too coarse. Some of my all time favorite razors are Rocnel Elite 2023, Seygus Zeppelin 0.7, Henson ++/+++ , RazoRock Lupo 0.72 and Wilde and Harte.And my favorite blades are Gillette Platinum, Silver Blue , Nacet and Iridium Super, so you can an idea of what I like to shave with.
After a lot of testing, the new Ascender razor, named "Skyline" is now in production.This razor performs slightly more aggressive than the previous Ascender Eagle keeping the same smoothness. How that could be possible, I don't know, and I'm sure that Ross won't divulged it either. But while you can feel the blade more than the Eagle, the smoothness is basically the same. I have tried it with all the blades I have mentioned before and the results have been always the same : effortless, very comfortable shaves.
The scalloped based might have something to do with that but again, only Ross knows.Don't ask me about GAP and blade exposure, I haven't asked Ross.The idea was to create a slightly more aggressive razor than the Eagle keeping that smooth factor and that's what I have been testing. I have shaved my head and lower part of my neck without any kind of irritation, with usually two passes, one with the grain and another against the grain.This last shave, with an Super Iridium (Russian) blade, I did a 3 pass shave, with, across and against, and same results. But don't be fooled by it's smoothness, if you apply more pressure than needed it,or the wrong angle, it will bite you. I did learned that with the first prototypes...
So yes, there is a blade feel, is that's something you're looking for on a razor.
This razor also has a better grip for me than the Eagle, due to the facetted handle. But again, that depends on how you prefer to hold your razor while shaving. Is also 3 grams lighter than the Eagle.And as the Eagle would be released in Titanium with a matte finish.Andnits design screams pure art deco. Reminds me of the Chrysler building in NYC. I'm afraid that my pictures don't do too much justice to its real beauty.
So if you have a medium to heavy beard and want to enjoy daily close shaves, this razor is for you. If your beard is soft, unless you shave every 72 hours or more, I won't recommend it. I don't have an extra coarse beard and Japanese blades won't work for me but I can see this razor performing well with those type of ultra sharp blades. For head shaving, again, splendid. As good as the Henson Ti ++/+++ and those are big words for me.And if you're a razor collector, well, you already know.
I'll keep you posted when I know more about a releasing date (hopefully early December). In the meantime, enjoy your shaves, gentlemen. Thank goodness we have plenty of great artisan razor makers to enjoy these days. I remember when I started on the shaving forums, back in 2008, and the only choices were Merkur, EJ/Muhle, Parker and vintage razors...
My appreciation to Ross, who always takes my inputs/criticism with a lot of patience and professionalism.
