RIDE

I bought my Ride from WLL, they were great to deal with. The vibration pump is not an issue for me. It’s nearly silent and I have no intent of plumbing it in.

I own a Ride and love it. I have no experience with the Bianca. I prefer the toggle switches Profitec uses to the turning knobs that Lelit uses. The Ride looks better than the Bianca imo. The vibration pump in the Ride is not an issue for me. One more factor that may sound silly: german vs Italian engineering. Anyone who knows cars will consider this.

Plumbing to waterline is the other major difference for the Drive. Either would be more than capable for your needs. Recently got the Ride from WLL, no issues. I've seen several mentions of the vibrtion pump on the Ride being very quiet which makes me wonder if this varies in different machines. Mine is far from quiet, not extremely loud but definitely loud if this matters to you.

Flawless so far that I can tell. Upgraded from a BDB so still getting used to it's capabilities. Very happy with the upgrade, easier to pull better shots and cappuccino taste better. Green tea latte is what I haven't been able to make as good thus far, the stronger steam power may be affecting the green tea powder. Having fun playing with the flow control.

I have a Profitec Ride on order and briefly considered the Micra. The dealbreaker was that the Micra requires an app to change settings like temperature or preinfusion. I work in software and the last thing I want is more fiddly tech to do basic things. (Yes, the Ride has tech too via a control panel, but it shouldn’t ever need updates to work or stop being supported)

If you have the money, go for it. Make sure to get a great grinder to pair along with it. If it helps, part of my reasoning to not go straight to a micra came down to not being able to plumb it into my current house (1950's home, needs repairs). My personal endgame is a fully plumbed in machine in a home I would intend to live in for 20+ years. That being said, I went with a profitec ride, which gave me a lot of great features and quality espresso without spending the $4K+. Best of luck with your decision. It is one that you will not regret. I read a comment on this sub a while back that mentioned how much of a quality of life upgrade it is and that could not have been more true. My wife and I enjoy the morning ritual of a great cup of coffee and now it's available at any time.

Look at the Profitec Ride. It should be within budget and Dual Boiler, not HX. I bought it last year and had been the best purchase I’ve made.

$2,500 will easily buy you a PID Dual Boiler Machine, just not an E61. Think: Lelit Elizabeth, Rancilio Silvia Pro X, Profitec Move. Honestly though, if you can pick up the machine budget a tiny bit, the Profitec Ride without flow control is only $100 more than the budget ($2,600). If your total budget is around $4,200-$4,300 (not sure what price you're buying ZP-1 for). You could also get the Philos ($1,400) instead of ZP-1 and go with the Ride with flow control ($2,900). Unfortunately you just missed the deal on the Philos where they threw in a 2nd set of burrs for free, and it does look like the price of the Philos is going up another $100 soon. You can buy both machines from Clive Coffee, very well respected in this sub.

That’s so weird! It’s gotta be that they just worded it poorly because that is sorta like the entire point of dual boiler machines! They make the workflow really easy to brew & steam simultaneously. The workflow for milk drinks is so much more of a headache on single boiler, you have to overheat to steam first, then purge & let it cool down to brew, or vice versa. Becomes a headache making more than 1 drink. I will say to watch some reviews on the Ride! I saw it on Clive Coffee and I trust just about every machine they carry but I have not done extensive research on it. It just appears to be a more budget friendly dual boiler E61. Especially compared to rotary pump flow control machines.