" Mergress " ??? any thoughts

travelwell72 · Post by **travelwell72** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:38 am

i've been wanting to buy a Progress for a while now but have recently stumbled onto the Mergress ..

anyone tried one ?

and to my knowledge , this Mergress is NOT a Merkur , correct ?

i think it's a modification done by a guy called Eric someone .

and only 1 online shop sells them , Lee's .
and the funny thing is , i saw his price at around $79 something and then read Eric's blog and he said that the Mergress has been flying out of Lee's door like there no was tomorrow.

the next day , i re-visited Lee's web site and the price was hiked up $10 ?? go figure.

ThePossum · Post by **ThePossum** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:19 am

Welcome to SMF travelwell.

Here is a link to a thread on B&B that explains a Mergress and shows some pix. The gentleman who does these razors goes by the name "Mer" He has a great reputation on most of the shave forums for making a quality product.

You may also want to check out the various Buy/Sell/Trade forums on the shave sites for a better deal on a Mergress.

TstebinsB · Post by **TstebinsB** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:39 am

Welcome to SMF!

In the last week or so, there were quite a few Mergress razors that went up for sale at B&B. I think it's because with the economy as it is, some people needed the cash. Most people never sell theirs. It really is a great razor. Is it worth a $10 hike in price on an already expensive razor? People can decide that on their own.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:55 am

travelwell72 wrote:and to my knowledge , this Mergress is NOT a Merkur , correct ?

False. It IS a Merkur, with appearance modifications. The shave will be exactly the same.

i think it's a modification done by a guy called Eric someone .

True. If you want a Merkur Progress razor that looks far better than the original, this seems to be one of the best choices.

travelwell72 · Post by **travelwell72** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:21 am

thanks guys , yeah after going to the links that Bryce gave me , i found all the answers that i needed .

it is indeed a very nice razor and i'll PM Eric about it.

thanks fellas

Creekview · Post by **Creekview** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:32 am

Although the Progress by itself is a nice razor, the "upgraded" Mergress is really first class. Other than when I travel, it is the only razor use.

razorcat · Post by **razorcat** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:33 pm

I have 2 Mergress razors, There great. I also have a Progerss with one of Cooncatbobs replacement knobs. That way you can replace the origanl knob that came with the razor and still have a progress if you ever want to put back on the origanl. I think now he is maybe offering them in a Nichel plating on them.

Eddie

travelwell72 · Post by **travelwell72** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:15 pm

yeah , i think you can pretty much order exactly how much you want to pimp out your progress with Eric ...

i'd love to see a fully pimped out progress ... who would have ever thought lol

n33470 · Post by **n33470** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:49 am

The real question though is whether the razor become better as a Mergress, rather than just a stock Progress? I know that hands-down the Mergress looks better, no question about that. However, does it perform better? I find it hard to believe that a $30 modification can make a $30 difference to the shaving effectiveness of an already great razor. For the price of a Mergress, I can get both a Progress and an HD, and have two great, but totally different razors.

Can someone explain how the modification effects the shave quality?

Occam · Post by **Occam** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:07 am

n33470 wrote:The real question though is whether the razor become better as a Mergress, rather than just a stock Progress? I know that hands-down the Mergress looks better, no question about that. However, does it perform better? I find it hard to believe that a $30 modification can make a $30 difference to the shaving effectiveness of an already great razor. For the price of a Mergress, I can get both a Progress and an HD, and have two great, but totally different razors.

Can someone explain how the modification effects the shave quality?

This is a good question and even though I have the socalled mergress I am now wanting a stock Progress as I believe Ill find it to be even better.

The handle of the Progress is slippery and the added weight of the mergress really doesn't help this at all.

n33470 · Post by **n33470** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:39 am

Occam wrote: The handle of the Progress is slippery and the added weight of the mergress really doesn't help this at all.

Ben,

For the record, I have a Progress and have been using is daily for the past 2 months. I do not have think the handle of the Progress is slippery. My hands are always wet when I shave due to the way I work my brush and rinse my hands after lathering for each pass. I do not think it's slippery at all. I'll admit that I was initially concerned about this when I was thinking about gettnig it, but the first time I used it, I knew this was non-issue for me.

--steve

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:47 am

I agree with Ben, and also find nothing objectionable to the original handle.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:06 am

n33470 wrote:Can someone explain how the modification effects the shave quality?

Other than adding weight, there's nothing it can do in my opinion. The only exception would be that when Eric works on a razor that's slightly defective he would likely do his best to fix the defect or perhaps even not sell it - but these are not razors known for coming out of the factory with a lot of problems.

(And I'm another who says the handle looks slippery but in actual use works just fine and doesn't slip. But I like the look of both the original and the modification.)

Creekview · Post by **Creekview** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:30 am

Since I only have the Mergress and not the Progress, I can't make a direct apples to apples comparison, but I do agree from a shave quality and handle slipperyness standpoint, there should not be any difference. I guess an argument could be made regarding the extra weight of the aftermarket knob, but for me I went with the Mergress for visual, durability, and "proper zeroing" reasons.

Regarding the perception that the Mergress/Progress handle is slippery. When I first received my Mergress it seemed very slippery compared to my HD and I almost gave up and sold it. I tried holding it differently and that helped, but it wasn't until I degreased the razor did the problem go away. Whether this is a systemic issue or not is another question, but mine definately had a light coating of something on the handle.

Paul

gagarin · Post by **gagarin** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:41 am

I shave in the shower, and my vintage gold Progress is a little more challenging to deal with with wet hands. It just requires a little more attention to grip - haven't dropped it yet.

The standard white knob looks great on the gold version.

A wonderful razor.

Regards,

Post by **ichabod** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:31 am

The Progress is probably my favourite DE razor, and the one I use the most. I never had an issue with its looks, but I do find the Mergress more appealing looks wise.

When cooncatbob made his adjusters I bought one, because it's a reversible modification, cost me less, and left the original adjuster intact.

My experience of the Bobgress - looks better but still not as appealing as the Mer version, feels slightly heavier but nothing that I'd say changes the shave, it shaves identically in fact.

I've never dropped any shaving equipment through having wet hands, as far as I remember. I drop more names than razors.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:12 pm

I've never dropped any razor but make it a point to shave with dry hands.

travelwell72 · Post by **travelwell72** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 5:26 am

oh come on fellas , doesn't the extra crystals on the mergress make for a better shave ?? lol

to be honest i couldn't help myself and i've already purchased a Mergress from Eric .

i certainly don't need it , as i rotate from a HD , slant and a Futur ( Futur being my favourite then the slant )

never used a progress before but wanted the blinged-out mergress to try out.

Coz basically all the merkurs seem to look the same or at least similar to me ?? so when you can add a little something different , it's gotta make the shave a little more interesting.

i do agree with all the comments that the mergress " Probably " won't make for a better shave but to honest , all 3 of my razors that i already have pretty much do an awesome job anyway.

So i basically bought the mergress coz we're all addicted to buying new razors

BTW i've just enrolled into shavers Anonymous , to help with my addiction .. lol

kaptain_zero · Post by **kaptain_zero** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 7:22 am

If the Futur is your current favorite, you may well find you like your Mergress quite well. It will have more of a heft than the HD and yet give you a more controllable grip than the Futur, at least that has been my experience.

Regards

Christian

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 7:44 am

I've never seen a Mergress before - thanks for the link - they are nice looking razors. More aesthetically pleasing than the Progress, IMO.

For those of you who use the Progress (or variations on the theme) or adjustables - Do you tinker with the adjustments during the shave between passes or just have a different setting for different blades. Having used nothing but a standard head razor for quite some time, I'm not sure what the benefit of playing with different blade settings does. Is it that much of a difference?

" Mergress " ??? any thoughts

" Mergress " ??? any thoughts

Re: " Mergress " ??? any thoughts