The Next Level Razor by Razorock
- Thread starter Str8Mug
- Start date
DesertIguana
Legendary Member
Have you used it? Or someday in future?
Str8Mug
Forum GOD!
I’m writing this about 2 hours removed from my shave with the Razorock Next Level 112+ razor. I had a full 24 hours worth of stubble to work with since yesterday evenings shave. I won’t bore anyone with each specific pass or detail as this is just a prelimanary shave just to get a feel for the razor and finding what works best for my style of shaving.
Build quality on the razor is impeccable from top to bottom. Fitment & precision is precise from how the top cap & base plate meld into one seamlessly. The blade is fitted perfectly between all four corner posts without a wiggle left to right, fore and aft. Blade reveal is minimal but, is consistent on both sides without any deviation nor flexing or warping of the blades edge. In hand, the Next Level looks the part of a well crafted and premium feeling razor with its 316/316L alloy construction. In hand it feels substantial with its longish handle which does put more of the weight bias down through the handle as opposed to being biased towards the top. Not a bad thing as one can adjust with grip and choke up on the handle to mitigate that extra length and weight bias discrepancy. Knurling is typical Razorock type quality which is simply excellent. This won’t slip out of one’s hands and if it does, you’re doing something wrong or just simply dropped it.
I went with the standard 3 pass shave exercise for this outing and as some of the pics in my previous post reveal, this was a fresh new Feather blade. Used some WSP Formula T Vetiver soap for the face protection with the APShaveCo brush applying the suds evenly. Finished it off with some Myrsol Metilsol splash for a nice finishing touch. The 3 passes were smooth, comfortable and pleasant. I removed the whiskers almost completely leaving me with a nice DFS finish with only the slightest of irritation on both sides of the jawline as I was buffing going over a couple spots with some extra strokes to pick up some stragglers that were still hanging around after the 3 passes. I will admit that as a whole, the shave was a bit underwhelming in its totality as I was expecting something a bit more. Maybe I assumed that with the superb brilliance of the RR Recurve with the excellent results it has posted and was expecting something along the lines of perhaps not equal to the Recurve but, somewhere close. Probably was unfair to dial up my expectations as the Next Level is a different kind of shaver compared to the Recurve as it has a more traditional concept & design. The shave is quite mild and blade feel is nowhere near in the same hemisphere as the Recurve as it’s basically a difference of night & day. Where as I have a lot more angle of adjustment with the Recurve and the sweet spot can be attained by riding the cap or safety bar and anywhere in between, the range with the Next Level is quite limited with that minuscule blade reveal but, the quite large guard span even though Razorock notes the Next Level 112+ as having positive blade exposure it still leaves me with a void of needing a bit more blade feel.
I feel that I possibly could have geared myself up for something that wasn’t intended to be an efficient & performance leading tool. Like I’ve stated before, I’ve never sampled a WR2 and if the NL 112+ was geared after it as has been reported, in this gap range for me it was somewhat lackluster and not as effective at removing my whiskers as I’m accustomed to. However, it is very, very smooth and quite easy on the skin. I definitely will do some experimenting with angles and perhaps some handle swaps which might help in changing the feel & dynamics of the shave while in action.
I’ll put in a few more shaves and see how it goes. Maybe I can find that magic with it in the next couple of shaves.
Build quality on the razor is impeccable from top to bottom. Fitment & precision is precise from how the top cap & base plate meld into one seamlessly. The blade is fitted perfectly between all four corner posts without a wiggle left to right, fore and aft. Blade reveal is minimal but, is consistent on both sides without any deviation nor flexing or warping of the blades edge. In hand, the Next Level looks the part of a well crafted and premium feeling razor with its 316/316L alloy construction. In hand it feels substantial with its longish handle which does put more of the weight bias down through the handle as opposed to being biased towards the top. Not a bad thing as one can adjust with grip and choke up on the handle to mitigate that extra length and weight bias discrepancy. Knurling is typical Razorock type quality which is simply excellent. This won’t slip out of one’s hands and if it does, you’re doing something wrong or just simply dropped it.
I went with the standard 3 pass shave exercise for this outing and as some of the pics in my previous post reveal, this was a fresh new Feather blade. Used some WSP Formula T Vetiver soap for the face protection with the APShaveCo brush applying the suds evenly. Finished it off with some Myrsol Metilsol splash for a nice finishing touch. The 3 passes were smooth, comfortable and pleasant. I removed the whiskers almost completely leaving me with a nice DFS finish with only the slightest of irritation on both sides of the jawline as I was buffing going over a couple spots with some extra strokes to pick up some stragglers that were still hanging around after the 3 passes. I will admit that as a whole, the shave was a bit underwhelming in its totality as I was expecting something a bit more. Maybe I assumed that with the superb brilliance of the RR Recurve with the excellent results it has posted and was expecting something along the lines of perhaps not equal to the Recurve but, somewhere close. Probably was unfair to dial up my expectations as the Next Level is a different kind of shaver compared to the Recurve as it has a more traditional concept & design. The shave is quite mild and blade feel is nowhere near in the same hemisphere as the Recurve as it’s basically a difference of night & day. Where as I have a lot more angle of adjustment with the Recurve and the sweet spot can be attained by riding the cap or safety bar and anywhere in between, the range with the Next Level is quite limited with that minuscule blade reveal but, the quite large guard span even though Razorock notes the Next Level 112+ as having positive blade exposure it still leaves me with a void of needing a bit more blade feel.
I feel that I possibly could have geared myself up for something that wasn’t intended to be an efficient & performance leading tool. Like I’ve stated before, I’ve never sampled a WR2 and if the NL 112+ was geared after it as has been reported, in this gap range for me it was somewhat lackluster and not as effective at removing my whiskers as I’m accustomed to. However, it is very, very smooth and quite easy on the skin. I definitely will do some experimenting with angles and perhaps some handle swaps which might help in changing the feel & dynamics of the shave while in action.
I’ll put in a few more shaves and see how it goes. Maybe I can find that magic with it in the next couple of shaves.
Str8Mug
Forum GOD!
A copy & paste from another forum write up couple hours back. Stubble is practically full on as I post this...
An update. A little over 8 hours into the shave and I have some light stubble all around especially along both jaw lines & left and right of the Adams Apple. As I suspected and knew once the razor touched my skin, it was not going to be a deep clearing of the whiskers. Not saying it’s bad or that the shave was a failure. What I’m saying is that I got roughly 6-8 hours of whisker free skin before the stubble decided to show itself again. For some that works, for others it doesn’t. I fall in the latter group. For reference, my Mamba .70 gives me a longer lasting shave. We’ll see if the results improve with more shaves. I’m skeptical though at the moment.
An update. A little over 8 hours into the shave and I have some light stubble all around especially along both jaw lines & left and right of the Adams Apple. As I suspected and knew once the razor touched my skin, it was not going to be a deep clearing of the whiskers. Not saying it’s bad or that the shave was a failure. What I’m saying is that I got roughly 6-8 hours of whisker free skin before the stubble decided to show itself again. For some that works, for others it doesn’t. I fall in the latter group. For reference, my Mamba .70 gives me a longer lasting shave. We’ll see if the results improve with more shaves. I’m skeptical though at the moment.
Str8Mug
Forum GOD!
Geared or perhaps similar in the same design ethos. Didn’t say it was identical nor a replica/clone. Perhaps inspired by may be a better descriptor. That's the report. I can neither verify nor discount those claims as I've stated previously, I have no experience with a WR2.
In fairness though, the Personna BBS-0 & BBS-1 were the supposed inspiration for the WR2. Everyone is a copy cat. Every argument holds water on the topic of inspiration, replica, designed after or any description one would like to employ. There are no original designs, except for the Razorock Recurve. Everything else is simply a photocopy of the original. Some better and some worse than others.
The BBS-1 was made by Wolfman in collaboration with LASSC. The Personna BBS-0 was a new one to me, had to Google that one!
Str8Mug
Forum GOD!
Right. Cheers....
SpeedyPC
The Dark Lord of Wet Shaving
+1 ditto’s, our Aussie wet shaver I know from P&C who loves the original BBS-1 and the WR2, and he still shaves both of them every time.
DesertIguana
Legendary Member
Got a Email from RR akaThe Italian Barber today, the NEW RELEASE - Next Level is back in stock.
Str8Mug
Forum GOD!
Just a quick update on my time so far with the Next Level 112+ while using a Feather. 2 more shaves in, this one included and if there has been any improvement on how this razor works, it’s marginal to be quite honest. My duration of shaves have only increased by maybe an hour, 7-8 hours total if I’m being generous. I mean, for quite a few I think that is acceptable as one can get through an 8 hour work day and it would be enough. Personally, I’m used to 10+ hours of smooth face feeling from the far majority of razors that I own and they deliver that longevity consistently and I expect that type of result nearly every time. Am I expecting too much? Maybe but, I simply have grown accustomed to that result day in and day out. I’d have to consider that in all probability I’m the one that’s at fault here with expecting a higher minimum of shave performance standards that this particular razor wasn’t designed for, at least in this gap range. Perhaps more so with higher gap releases in the future that my specific shave criteria could be met? Don’t know as only time will tell if Razorock decides to up the ante in the gap & blade exposure wars. I still haven’t swapped out the handle as of this shave but, on the next one which will probably happen tomorrow morning, I’ll get a different handle in there and more likely than not, I’ll put in a fresh KAI blade in there to see if that gives a bump in blade feel& overall shave efficiency. Other than the shave longevity issue & the mild nature of the NL 112+, it is a supremely smooth razor and I really can’t see one saying that this version is overly aggressive or blade forward. If they do, there’s something wrong in their specific shave scenario. More to follow.
Johnny Bravo
Love Guru to the stars.
Whenever I am doing homework on a razor that I'm interested in, these are the reviews I pay attention too.
I always skip past the gushing and look for the slightly less than positive, I then look for common themes and even though they are never my driving factor one way or another at least I go in or out with my eyes open so to speak.
I always skip past the gushing and look for the slightly less than positive, I then look for common themes and even though they are never my driving factor one way or another at least I go in or out with my eyes open so to speak.