Shave #4: Carbon Cx-Atlas ++ vs. Yates 921-EH
On my previous shaves, I've been mentally comparing the Carbon razors to my current favorite DE, the Yates 921-EH. Today, I decided to actually compare them side-by-side. My best shave so far from the Carbon razors was with the Cx-Atlas ++, so I used that. Both razors were loaded with new Personna X-Series platinum coated blades.
On the first pass on my head (WTG), both razors felt smooth and knocked down two days' growth easily. On my second pass (ATG), I was able to shave faster with the Yates. The Carbon took me more time and more strokes to clean everything up. I own the Yates and have used it much, much more than the Carbon, so this wasn't a big surprise. The end result was pretty similar, but the Yates side was a bit closer. After I finished shaving my head, I switched sides and took a few strokes to see if either razor could pick up anything that the other left behind. The Yates did pick up some stubble that the Carbon missed. The Carbon seems to work better at a shallow angle (riding the cap), and I bet that the missed stubble was from me missing the angle.
On my face, again the razors both felt good WTG. On subsequent passes XTG and ATG, the Yates felt smoother and more comfortable to me. The Carbon felt less forgiving of different angles of attack. I was reminded of some comments that atxwatch made about blade clamping and chatter. For example:
(04-24-2023, 05:15 PM)atxwatch Wrote: For this razor to work for me, the clamp point would need to be much closer to the blade edge. That is really what is causing the issues for me. But that would be a totally different design. And there is no getting around that the CX is probably the most beautiful razor on the market right now.
Looking more closely at the razors, the blade sits fairly flat in the Carbon head. I don't know if that relative lack of curvature affects the rigidity of the blade. But that blade angle does seem to make the razor more sensitive to the angle of attack on my skin. It felt a bit rough if the angle was too steep. At the end of the face shave, the Yates side was slightly closer.
With more time, I'm sure that I could get accustomed to the Carbon and get better shaves with it. And I know that it has worked well out of the box for a lot of people in this passaround. Both of these Carbon razors are amazing tools that are beautifully machined, and I'm very grateful that I've been able to test them.