I say this because both seem to have a steep/painful learning curve. When you first start all you think worry about is nicking/wrecking, but once you get that first bad nick/wreck out of the way then you can really start to progress. I think its more of a "well that wasnt so bad" or an "i lived through that and now i know not to do that again" type thing. after my first nick i started to progress much faster from the sideburns to shaving everything but my chin. The challenge of getting a smooth shave without nicks is what keeps me coming back to my straight.