Hypothetical, but now I’m wondering if it is the same motor as the Zero.
I’m not trying to be negative, I’m genuinely tempted to buy one as my Ode 2 isn’t really living up to expectations now so a do-it-all grinder is appealing.
It’s just a lot of money so clearing up my concerns!
Ernie1 there are rumours this was possibly rushed out to compete with the growing number of well regarded competing SD flats, competition that didn’t really exist when the Niche Zero was launched.
I didn’t know that. The more interesting question might be, what is their basis for making such statements?
Ernie1 - I understand, and I’m the same. It’s a lot of money, and, personally (I said this before for other things) I wouldn’t rush to buy something without first seeing good feedback on.
I know it’s a Niche and I already have one. But this is a major change. It would be great to hear feedback and someone dissecting the product before I part with my hard earned cash.
Also rumours are evil. Unless someone has seen and used one, whatever is said is worth nothing. So, are the motors he same? Only very few people know. 😊
No solid basis at all I don’t think. It’s speculation based on the unexpected launch with practically zero hype (admittedly very weird even from a marketing perspective if nothing else) and the possible need to get it out to compete with the other releases from the likes of Timemore I suppose.
There’s obviously every chance that the Duo will go on to see the same success and praise as the Zero, and I hope it does but I guess it’s the internet, you’ll always get naysayers.
Let’s get some perspective here on what rushing a grinder out actually entails. Pretty much from minute 1 after the Niche launched, people were wishing they would release a flat burr version.
My Solo / DF64 is now 3 years old. This was being compared to the Niche - put in videos and touted as a potential ‘Niche Killer’ as a single dosing flat burr grinder back when it surfaced. That was 3 years ago.
I’m not sure realistically they have suddenly decided they need to get a foothold in the flat burr market and rush out a product. They’ve most likely been developing and refining it for years - just not doing it via kickstarter type projects which take a year or so to get to production
dutchy101 They’ve most likely been developing and refining it for years
My thoughts exactly. And as I said before, it’s unlikely Niche would release something they are unhappy with. Take the df64 for example. It’s 3 years old and owners are still doing mods to it. Going by Niche’s reputation (let’s not forget the Zero was in the design/prototype phase for years), it will be a finished product.
Still, it would be great if Niche sent units away for open and honest feedback and/or demonstrating the product in a much deeper level of detail.
I’m not saying they made it overnight, we’d seen the patent applications, but it could’ve launched with limited testing. Not saying it did, just that it’s possible.
It’s just really unusual for any product in this day and age, especially to a specialist market, just appear with absolutely no announcement prior to release. Even without competition it just doesn’t make any sales sense at all.
Some would say
Not having every new product rammed down your throat.
Take the sculptor as an example, it’s being heavily promoted ATM, the 78s hasn’t been tested yet it’s amazing,
The new world of social media has alot to answer for in reality.
We are guilty as consumers, the likes of Amazon and YouTube/Instagram give us instant gratification, and we want everything yesterday.
I think launching on April fools is brilliant, why pay/give freebies to influencers when it’s spread across every forum and Facebook/Instagram page anyway, and on a plus point those scalpers who bought niche zeros won’t have a clue about it .
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Ernie1 just appear with absolutely no announcement prior to release
If you think about it, it hasn’t been released yet. You can pre-order, but delivery is for July. You could argue that’s the announcement, and people are welcome to pre-order (or they can wait and buy when it’s readily available).
Fair points, as above, I’m hopeful. I’d been wanting a flat burr Niche for a long while.
MWJB yeah that’s pretty much it (average/sd), by no means novel but a straightforward way of looking at spread that is often neglected in favour of endless charts and tables.
Yeah like a lot of coffee jargon I don’t think it’s very consistently defined but I use geometry to exclusively mean the specific design of the different parts of the burr’s surface that come into contact with coffee - regardless of shape or size (well not quite regardless but you know what I mean…)
MediumRoastSteam You could argue that’s the announcement,
As you say here and Cuprajake above, isn’t it refreshing that the established, and reputed company that it is is releasing this like this? You know their reputation, you know what they do, here is another product from them, no nonsense, just click if you want to buy one! It would be great to have some info/reviews on it before ordering but maybe the confidence/reputation is there to not need it? Compared to the big hype going around of other totally unknown stuff costing this and more at the moment I like it
JahLaza - I’m sure it’s a great grinder. I suppose people have different approaches to making an informed choice. You can trust someone based on reputation, of course. A grinder is not something I depend upon. I’m happy to wait until there’s more information about it out there.
MediumRoastSteam yes, I think it’s an interesting decision to go with the interchangeable burr sets. I’m not sure how that will play out- would you really want to be going through all that each time just for a different brew type? Maybe, might suit some, but dialling in then becomes more labour intensive as you try get it back to exactly wherever was woth the other burrs etc etc Maybe it’s the best balancing act rather than having two grinders in the kitchen. I too, am very interested to see/hear some feedback
JahLaza yes, I think it’s an interesting decision to go with the interchangeable burr sets
I only drink espresso, so for me it’s rather irrelevant. I suppose you could still use the espresso burrs to grind for filter if you don’t want to swap every time, same as the current Niche Zero? But I don’t know that. Hence why I think more detailed explanations, reviews and real world usage videos are welcome. 👍
You’re not going to please everyone
The zero got a pretty scathing review saying it was bad for filter, they address that by giving you a dedicated filter burr and people moan🤣
I have two grinder on the bench, it takes up more space, but I have his and hers
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Regarding the two burr sets: as far as I understand, workflow is what puts Niche Zero in a class of it’s own. Assuming most people will not find frequent swapping of burrs part of an easy workflow, providing two burr sets seems to me like a strange proposition. If I had the Duo, I would end up using one burr set with the second in storage, and I assume this would be the case for most. I would probably prefer to save the cost and have the second set sold separately as an option. The rest is speculation at this stage, but my guess is that it will be a good product and that it will be a success.
DavecUK A DC motor will draw whatever wattage it needs to, only limited by the resistance of the windings (which isn’t that high). It’s why the main control board in the Niche such (as it is) has a a self resetting cut out, if too much current is drawn in too short a time (protecting the motor windings). So it really doesn’t make any sense to talk about maximum motor power consumption in W.
I agree with all of the above, and understand the design. But this design begs the question of why a cut out would be necessary if a motor is spec’ed that’s powerful enough to grind coffee beans to espresso sizes with a given burr size.
And just to address the issue of different burrs of the same size requiring different amounts of power, burr geometry may play a role in how much power is needed for a given burr, but the burr size itself is probably the major factor. In addition, the number of third-party burrs is a pretty well known quantity, and basic engineering for this issue would probably include something like “The most power hungry burr in this size needs X watts, so let’s spec a motor that’s X+15% watts”, or something like that.
I’ll mention again that every other grinder manufacturer I can find seems to have no problem giving some sort of idea of how powerful the motor is. It’s sort of like MPG for cars – your actual mileage will differ from the stated MG depending on your driving habits, but the MPG ratings allow some sort of comparison between one car and another.
Reading this thread I’m glad I’m not a manufacturer or launching a product, tough crowd. And I bet it’s the same across other forums too although I haven’t checked. I’ve had my Zero since Aug 2018 and it was unlike any grinder I had known. The workflow, the instant adjust and repeatable accuracy, the solving of purging and wastage that adds up over time and pays for the grinder quicker than one might realise.
So I ordered a Duo straight away, yes I might be blowing a lot of money on a me-too but as far as I can see it has all the same workflow of the smaller sibling so I’m guessing no purging, no bellows, no vacuum, no wastage, all the daily ease we have gotten used to and forgotten how it used to be.
The two burr sets intrigues me, I’ve never tried dedicated filter burrs before and to me they are free (I know, nothing is free) having made the buying decision for the 83mm flat espresso burrs. I remember paying £380 in 2004 for my first grinder, a 58mm Macap. Paying £515 for my 64mm Mazzer Mini E which then spent a few years on the market at £625. Then £1080 for my Ceado E37s. Which went to £1300 or more it seems. And they were all badly flawed, enjoyable but badly flawed from a home user rather than commercial perspective. And I see crazily expensive grinders at £2k to £5k now with a cult following.
So if this new Duo has all the Niche attributes we got used to with high quality results from these burr sets, and if it keeps your grind settings when swapping burrs which would be amazing, then maybe Niche is going to disrupt the market again. I do hope so.
I haven’t heard any language of game changer this time around, just a bunch of moaning and negative speculation it seems, don’t be offended it just comes across this way rather than genuine excitement. Is it just me that’s excited about it, and intrigued why it launched in this unique anti-marketing fashion? It was all a bit Willy Wonka factory and locked gates, lots of laughs.
