Profitec RIDE

The RIDE is Profitec's E61 dual boiler and, in practice, the modernised continuation of the well-regarded Pro 600 — owners of the older machine refer to the RIDE as simply what the 600 is called now. It pairs the classic E61 group with two boilers, PID control, an OLED display, programmable pre-infusion and simultaneous boiler heating, at $2,499. Almost every post about it is someone's upgrade story: from a Breville Barista Pro, from a Bambino Plus, from years of Brevilles that kept failing, from a Profitec GO. The reaction is consistently delight, and the machine's looks do a lot of work — several owners chose it over Profitec's own alternative purely because they preferred how it sits on the counter, and were happy to pay the difference for something they liked looking at every morning.

The comparison that actually decides this purchase is against the MOVE, and owners who understand both are refreshingly blunt: these are largely the same machine. The pump, water tank, hot water spout, steam wand, settings and software are shared, and the RIDE's boilers are only slightly larger. What you are paying extra for is the E61 group — and that cuts both ways. In its favour, an E61 accepts a flow control paddle, which you can fit later, and for anyone brewing light roasts owners describe flow control as a genuine requirement rather than a luxury. Against it, an E61 takes longer to become temperature stable, adds a chunk of machine to keep clean and to burn yourself on, and needs periodic lubrication that the MOVE's ring group does not. The practical summary from owners is that if you brew milk drinks from medium to dark roasts, the MOVE is the better and cheaper machine; if you brew light and want to profile shots, the RIDE is the one to buy. Two ownership notes worth knowing: the steam is genuinely powerful and owners moving from a Bambino find the multi-hole tip takes real adjustment, with the single-hole option worth considering; and the RIDE ships without a spare portafilter, so buy the cheapest second one you can find purely to hold the blind disk for backflushing rather than swapping baskets every time.

At $2,499 the RIDE sits among the most cross-shopped machines in its class. Against the La Marzocco Linea Micra, which several owners considered, the deciding factor for some was that the Micra requires a phone app to change settings like temperature and pre-infusion — a dealbreaker for people who would rather their coffee machine not depend on software support continuing. The Micra's counter-arguments are a five-minute heat-up and steam owners describe as extraordinary. Against a Lelit Bianca, you are trading built-in flow control for Profitec's build and service reputation. And if you already own a Pro 600, owners are honest that the upgrade is thin: a newer display, programmable power scheduling that a smart plug replicates, and simultaneous boiler heating are the real differences, which is why several suggest hunting down a remaining Pro 600 instead if you can find one.