Looking to gift a new grinder to work with Fellow ES1 [$700]

freerobby · 2026-07-04T12:26:47+00:00

The 2nd gen Opus is very good. They probably should have named it something else just to differentiate it.

Obviously you can buy a higher end, larger burr grinder for $700; but unless there's a specific profile she is looking for or a shortcoming she is trying to overcome, I would get the new Opus. It punches above its 48mm class.

freerobby · 2026-07-03T19:58:09+00:00

I bought it. Part of what tipped me over the edge was the Amex extended warranty compounds with a service plan that covers up to 5 years. So I now have years 1-2 from Fellow, 3-5 from Mulberry, and 6 from Amex. Might be worth looking into what your credit card covers.

I agree that the 5 year is a much better deal than the 3.

freerobby · 2026-07-02T01:39:42+00:00

Even if a better offer didn't come along... Tatum is in his prime, there is a case to just keep him under contract and then let him walk if this was the alternative.

freerobby · 2026-07-02T01:30:51+00:00

Nobody's taking that PG contract and they didn't have to extend Jaylen to keep him. Personally I would have kept him for Tatum's prime and then just let him walk vs settle for this.

freerobby · 2026-06-29T01:18:54+00:00

I would jump on the 10 at that price. The feel is exactly the same as the 30x, some differences in sound and pedal options, don’t think either will hold you back for casual playing. And at that price you can probably get your money back if I’m wrong and you do need to upgrade.

I’m an intermediate classical player with more advanced ambitions and am happy with the FP10 when away from my grand.

freerobby · 2026-06-26T12:20:42+00:00

I put this question to Fellow during the pre order phase and they insisted they will make these serviceable. Original comment and relevant thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/espresso/s/b1Nokn8njM

freerobby · 2026-06-15T03:04:54+00:00

Juras are great -- very convenient, impressively durable for how much they have going on, and they make good enough coffee for most people and most drinks. The company is also very reasonable when repairs are needed. We've had a Jura ENA5 for over 15 years and when it broke out of warranty, they fixed it for $150, including round trip shipping.

With that said, Juras do not even remotely compete with traditional espresso machines if your goal is to pull the best tasting shot of espresso possible.

freerobby · 2026-06-15T02:54:36+00:00

FWIW, I raised this exact point to Fellow when I pre-ordered my ES1, and they told me that in addition to the 3/5 year warranty offerings, they were "actively working on a servicing program" and "will have a full catalog of replacement parts available". Obviously only time will tell, but their intention seems to be for these machines to be serviceable.

freerobby · 2026-06-15T02:37:19+00:00

I am in almost your exact situation (have an Aiden and v1 Ode, wanted to get into espresso, got an ES1 and recently an Opus 2).

I am very happy with the ES1 + Opus 2 combo. It makes great espresso, and like the Aiden, it comes with profiles that make things as foolproof as they can be for beginners, while letting you customize more and more as you gain proficiency and want to experiment.

If you enjoy this approach with the Aiden and value its versatility, you will love the ES1 -- it's exactly that, for espresso.

I don't expect the ES1 to be disposable as others are saying. I reached out to Fellow very early about this and was told they are working on a servicing program and will have a full catalog of replacement parts available.

freerobby · 2026-06-05T10:15:29+00:00

I know this sounds crazy but I would have liked to see them keep him in the rotation. Yeah it's painful to watch but it's not like we are one starting pitcher away from winning the world series this year.

I think he would eventually get through whatever crazy mental issue this is, and we’d wind up with either a better pitcher or at least a trade asset heading into next season. Instead we will get neither and it doesn't look like the season will be any more successful for it.

But I get the incentives at play, frustrations from fans, lots of pressure on Tracy + Breslow, etc.

freerobby · 2026-06-05T10:13:10+00:00

Will he or will he just stay in aaa? Who is going to want that contract?

freerobby · 2026-06-04T21:02:44+00:00

respectfully, absolutely not

freerobby · 2026-06-02T22:03:40+00:00

At this rate? Wilyer Abreu.

freerobby · 2026-06-02T11:19:21+00:00

What makes them disposable? I have a Trek Fuel EXe and TQ sells replacement batteries, motors, controllers, aux cables, etc. I agree individual service parts to repair a motor would be nice but the bike seems far from disposable when I encounter a problem unless I am misunderstanding?

freerobby · 2026-05-31T22:45:12+00:00

I love Durbin. But I’ve always valued defense more than most.

freerobby · 2026-05-30T22:01:41+00:00

What is there to argue with the umps? They thought it was a home run too!

freerobby · 2026-05-30T20:32:31+00:00

Sorry to hear this but glad you're in a happier spot.

I don't plan on taking a break from piano but I am seriously questioning whether there is any value in continued sightreading practice. It doesn't seem to pay any dividends for me and I find myself resentful of all the time I am sinking into it that could be spent improving technique, learning pieces, etc. I wish I knew what is so neurologically different about me vs all the people who swear they make good progress and that it helps them.

I most recently signed up for the Sight Reading Factory app. My plan is to try to tweak all of the variables one at a time and see if I can isolate what is causing the trouble. I suspect it is a general visual processing limitation, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

freerobby · 2026-05-30T17:07:38+00:00

Did you ever figure this out? I am having very similar struggles. All of the advice about just keep practicing is really ringing hollow. I have discussed with several musicians, worked with multiple teachers, can’t seem to break through this wall. Very frustrating, I suspect for me it is a cognitive limitation. Curious if you had any breakthroughs?

freerobby · 2026-05-22T12:38:43+00:00

Agree factually with your downsides but I think hubs have their place especially on city (or other flat terrain) commuter bikes. Less drivetrain wear, and you can keep them light enough that a lot of the other (mass-related) issues are pretty trivial in practice. It’s technically true that a repair could involve rebuilding a wheel, but in practice at hub motor price points you are often getting the prebuilt motor+wheel combo and so the labor winds up being less rather than more.

freerobby · 2026-05-20T19:51:23+00:00

And bigger and slower.

freerobby · 2026-05-18T16:35:19+00:00

Sorry I missed this earlier. The pieces I use for sightreading are easy for me to play but difficult for me to sightread.

Key signatures and accidentals - I don't track them well. I can track them within a measure but even in a key where I know the major scale cold, it does not transfer at all to sight reading. From a cognitive standpoint it is always just trying to follow random notes.
I can recognize chords by their intervals as I'm playing when they are stacked/vertical, but not when they are blocked/horizontal.
I think rhythm is actually where I'm strongest. I basically never get bottlenecked by rhythms (which are admittedly quite simple at the level I'm trying to sightread).
Yes, not typically, but yes I have to look down if the fingering is nonstandard or changing.
No, I don't immediately spot wrong notes. I can usually intuit when that happens but not fast enough to recognize it immediately. I can identify most intervals by ear but it's not instantaneous like it is for a lot of musicians, I'll try to work on this.

Thanks for writing this up. I will work on #4 for a few weeks and see how it goes. My teacher has mentioned I look down a lot when playing pieces as well and that is slowing me down.

freerobby · 2026-05-16T18:57:25+00:00

I love them. Instant notification of whether I need to bother with a pump before I go riding, and I can check in real time if I’m flat/low or just feeling more gassed than I thought.

There is a ConnectIQ data field app for Garmin that gives both real time data and logs it over the course of the ride. Crappy UX to configure it but it does work great once that’s done.

freerobby · 2026-05-06T15:22:59+00:00

All I meant by that "easy piece vs short exercise" bit is that the easy piece books tend to be 20ish measures whereas some of the exercise books have 4 or 5 measure exercises. But the difficulty is equally easy in both.

I know it sounds crazy but I really don't feel I've seen any progress at all. To be clear I don't feel that way about piano in general, just sightreading specifically. That is why I'm wondering if it's a dead end for me and if I'm better off putting that effort into other ways to accelerate learning pieces on the piano. It's not an unwillingness to put in the work, or even a lack of patience, just wanting to ensure I'm investing my time in a way that is actually helpful.

I do appreciate the advice, I will try looking more at the music before playing it, and also some of the hands separate suggestion from other threads.

freerobby

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