Glad it's working well for you @halvor
New Mühle stainless steel razor 'Rocca'
- Thread starter sɐǝɹpu∀
- Start date
Progress_user
Forum GOD!
I write this impressions after a period in which I tried my best to improve my technique with the Rocca (V2 and V3 after the launch). I gave the V2 to a friend and now I’m trying to recover it from him in order to see if the shaves with It were smoother than with actual V3 (can’t remember exactly now but I think still rough).
After a long daily use of the V3 I have come to these personal conclusions:
- it is a very efficient razor. It works very good with a 2 days growth but for a daily driver it’s harsh on (my) skin. That means my skin looked very damaged after every shave - no matter what shave soap, pre shave, after shave, no presurre at all I used etc.
- Polsilver, Astra green/blue and Gillette Nacet and Greens worked very good for me in this razor. Good means still with a damaged skin and a bit less ingrowns/irritation and harshness.
- the design of the razor made me buy it and try my best to keep it as a final one. In my opinion, after the Fatboy and Progress this design was very attractive to me. That pushed me as well to jump from the begining and buy a separate V3 head thinking will improve my quality of shaves. Now I think I should have waited a little bit more for your feedbacks and spend those 37euros on something else.
- Not sure but I think the surface is to be blamed for the lack of slickness on the skin. Somehow it amplifies the rough effect/ agressive of the shave.
- Could be my opinion and I might be wrong (didn’t use a scale to check the weight) but I think the V3 head adds some weight? I mean the balance is more head oriented? Not sure.
- I love my Progress. After giving a break to the Rocca, I remembered my moves/passes with the Progress. Absolutely comfortable, even ATG. No ingrowns, no irritation and perfect to use daily ( I start with 2.5/3, then 3.5/4 and last pass ATG 1,5 - so I do like agressive settings. I compared the blade gap of the Rocca with the Merkur Progress and discovered that it is the same at setting 4).
- with all the YMMV involved here, your opionions are of high value for all users/interested buyers in Rocca. Big thank you!
So, what should I do with mine?
After a long daily use of the V3 I have come to these personal conclusions:
- it is a very efficient razor. It works very good with a 2 days growth but for a daily driver it’s harsh on (my) skin. That means my skin looked very damaged after every shave - no matter what shave soap, pre shave, after shave, no presurre at all I used etc.
- Polsilver, Astra green/blue and Gillette Nacet and Greens worked very good for me in this razor. Good means still with a damaged skin and a bit less ingrowns/irritation and harshness.
- the design of the razor made me buy it and try my best to keep it as a final one. In my opinion, after the Fatboy and Progress this design was very attractive to me. That pushed me as well to jump from the begining and buy a separate V3 head thinking will improve my quality of shaves. Now I think I should have waited a little bit more for your feedbacks and spend those 37euros on something else.
- Not sure but I think the surface is to be blamed for the lack of slickness on the skin. Somehow it amplifies the rough effect/ agressive of the shave.
- Could be my opinion and I might be wrong (didn’t use a scale to check the weight) but I think the V3 head adds some weight? I mean the balance is more head oriented? Not sure.
- I love my Progress. After giving a break to the Rocca, I remembered my moves/passes with the Progress. Absolutely comfortable, even ATG. No ingrowns, no irritation and perfect to use daily ( I start with 2.5/3, then 3.5/4 and last pass ATG 1,5 - so I do like agressive settings. I compared the blade gap of the Rocca with the Merkur Progress and discovered that it is the same at setting 4).
- with all the YMMV involved here, your opionions are of high value for all users/interested buyers in Rocca. Big thank you!
So, what should I do with mine?
Dr Watson
James
Once Muhle give it the all clear, mine will be back on the BST... I've got no time for razors which look pretty and shave badly.
Missoni
Fellow Traveller
This is helpful in explaining the issue I think. This is the same with my V3 head. I sent the below photos to Muhle for confirmation if the head was as it should be. Apparently not!. They are sending me a replacement new head. Thanks to @Dr Watson for highlighting this. I enjoyed the shave's from the Rocca so maybe a new head will be even better or I just like a lot of blade feel, flex and chatter. With at least three iterations of the Rocca head design over several years, Muhle have certainly had the opportunity to nail the quality issues. I suspect the quality challenge of mass producing the Rocca head at a low enough cost to ensure high margins is significant; clearly they have not yet got a grip on this. Can not fault Muhle's customer service though which is reassuringly good.
Dr Watson
James
Ooh I do love a plot twist! I think there's four of us so far (five now including you) on this thread alone with the blade clamping issue spanning across both v2 and v3 razors.
If Muhle have admitted this is a defect and not part of the design there must be a lot of dodgy Rocca's out there
Randomangle
Über Bum
I love the look of this razor, but all this business is just too much for me ... Feather remains the King. Huzzah! 
Dr Watson
James
As an ex-AS-D2 owner I can confirm there is certainly no contest between them at this point in timeFeather remains the King. Huzzah!
That said, the only thing they have in common is the fact they are both stainless steel razors, the design ethos is completely different... I'd say anyone that loves the Feather is likely to dislike the Rocca and vice versa. Perhaps if Muhle enjoyed the production budget of Feather then the Rocca would be a very different razor indeed 
(Andreas Muller is on record saying all of the difficulties with this razor are due to their self imposed stipulation the RRP must be no more than 100 Euros.)Speaking of the Feather, @Grishnak, if you're looking for a mild stainless razor and you like the Tech then definitely check out the AS-D2, it's basically a stainless steel Tech.
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Grishnak
Forum GOD!
I wonder what they saw there to tell them it was not up to standard.
I feel like base plate face down on a flat surface would show the warp along its length.
Grishnak
Forum GOD!
I think I should send some pics too.Ooh I do love a plot twist! I think there's four of us so far (five now including you) on this thread alone with the blade clamping issue spanning across both v2 and v3 razors.
If Muhle have admitted this is a defect and not part of the design there must be a lot of dodgy Rocca's out there
I would like the Rocca to work, rather than be put off of the Mühle brand.
Grishnak
Forum GOD!
Thank you.As an ex-AS-D2 owner I can confirm there is certainly no contest between them at this point in time
Speaking of the Feather, @Grishnak, if you're looking for a mild stainless razor and you like the Tech then definitely check out the AS-D2, it's basically a stainless steel Tech.
I’ll add it to the list of post blade testing possibilities.
Dr Watson
James
I'll PM you the name & email of the chap who's dealing with my query if you like.
halvor
a most elusive fish
Shaved with mine this morning. Lathered up with Wickham Super Smooth v2 (Oh Lord @Fox , loading this from a pot rather than pressing a dollop into the brush, which I did for the first try — heavenly lather!). I honestly can’t fault the razor. Looking at the handle when I shave, it looks as if the angle is rather steep, yet upon closer inspection I’d say there’s about even touch on the skin from top cap edge to base plate edge. It’s in fact smoother than most razors and feels like it could be thrown around the face risk and effort free. Go figure!
Grishnak
Forum GOD!
Thank you James, that would be great.
Dr Watson
James
Sounds exactly like my v2, which shaved like a dream! It was the first DE I could comfortably shave ATG with... How ironic
Missoni
Fellow Traveller
...yes you are right; just placed the head on a flat surface. It is not immediately obvious though; however on a flat surface it definitely shows the base plate bars are not true or level...