ALfromtheLAND wrote:Excellent review!
I have one of these ordered as of a couple weeks ago. I'll be sure to post a pic of the production model

Looking to hear your experience too when you get yours and what new innovation Option-O will come up with for the production unit!

eastpresso wrote:Thanks a lot for the detailed review. Just to confirm - the Helor stance motor is using the "advanced" 187c mazzer burrs and not the"professional" Italmill burrs? Any differences to the Helor 102 you can think of? I remember reading some comments about the burr fit/alignment in a different thread about the Helor 102.

Yes, I can confirm the one I am testing has the 187C Mazzer burrs. Someone in the other thread contacted the company and it was mentioned that the Stance Motor package will come standard with the Mazzer burrs.

As as far as the difference, it's heaps better in short! One I think it's the burrs that makes the difference - I also had the Italmill burrs supplied together with the Stance Motor, I swapped it in for a few shots and promptly swap it back - I definitely like the flavors better with the Mazzer burrs (more balanced and less bright sharpness - maybe it could've been improved by tweaking the parameters but I did not push far enough) - who would've thought. Second, motorizing the Stance brings it to another level in term of ergonomics. The 102 was quite impressive, but the Stance is super easy to use with motor and I don't remember being as stoked with the Helor 102 as I had with Stance (and that was even before I got spoiled with the Monolith).

As for the alignment, I don't have tools to properly quantify (otherwise you can bet I would've done the measurement ). It does seems to be as good as the Monolith - the results (both taste and consistency) can't be possible with a sloppy alignment/build.

Thanks for the great review! This sounds like another great single dosing option and I really like the way it looks.

If speed is the main consideration, I won't really recommend any of these single dosing grinders as speed demon they are not. For example, the Monolith Flat takes about 20sec+ to grind but really it's the end results that matter. For home users, I find that those extra seconds are worth the effort (you get less waste, ability to switch beans on the fly, more consistent results).

I hear ya. Speed is not the issue, just curious how they compare; thanks for the explanation!
On another note, the website list delivery is 45 days out. Any insight into their capacity to meet this timeline?

Thanks for the first look Sam.
Looks like a really promising grinder.

How does the grind locking mechanism work? How does the adjustment ring turn by hand, but not slip when in operation?

Apologies is this was covered in the original stance thread.

mkrissel wrote:I hear ya. Speed is not the issue, just curious how they compare; thanks for the explanation!
On another note, the website list delivery is 45 days out. Any insight into their capacity to meet this timeline?

No worries! I wish I could answer the question about production/delivery - but no, I have no idea...

Suvartet wrote:How does the grind locking mechanism work? How does the adjustment ring turn by hand, but not slip when in operation?

It's magic! Haha, just kidding. There seems to be springs on the inside and the spring tension is adjustable. I had it quite loose and yet the adjustment ring does not slip during grind (so it may be slightly more than a spring-tensioned system). Turning the adjustment ring moves the outer burr carrier vertically. So based on these I am guessing it's a threaded system with springs but I don't know exactly how the springs maintained the setting. Maybe I can disassemble it and have a look.

Update: Disassembling the adjustment ring fully turns out to be a bit more involved. But after looking at it and mucking around with the ring, I am pretty sure it's spring loaded and it worked balancing the spring rating (tight enough to hold the grind setting and loose enough to adjust).

mkrissel wrote:I hear ya. Speed is not the issue, just curious how they compare; thanks for the explanation!
On another note, the website list delivery is 45 days out. Any insight into their capacity to meet this timeline?

I've been on their site for a couple of weeks and the 45 days has not changed, so realistically it's probably optimistic. However the grinder looks like it will be worth the wait.

Spent a lovely time at Sam's yesterday with DJF drinking lovely coffee from his Aurora and ground on both the Helor and MonCon.
I don't pretend to have as good a palate as Sam but the Helor, to me, is just as good as the excellent MonCon. A great looking and performing grinder.

jmc wrote:I don't pretend to have as good a palate as Sam

Neither do I!

samuellaw178 wrote: Update: Disassembling the adjustment ring fully turns out to be a bit more involved. But after looking at it and mucking around with the ring, I am pretty sure it's spring loaded and it worked balancing the spring rating (tight enough to hold the grind setting and loose enough to adjust).

Thanks for investigating!

Thank you so much, Sam. Amazing reivew. Very detailed!

I have just placed the order on their website and hoping they will include the portafilter fork.