# MC2 or equivalent - worth it?



## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Nemox Lux/Lelit Fred/Iberital MC2...

As someone who likes darker roasts, is it worth replacing my aging Compak K6 with one of these demand grinders? I feel I'm drinking a LOT of bad coffee dealing with the doser on my Compak and the high retention. I know they're limited grinders, but that would be mainly for lighter roasts, right?

I know the Mignon Manuale/Facile is a better choice, and folks are going to offer something awesome used, but I'm on a limited budget with limited methods of payment. And waiting another 6 months or so for my credit to have enough flex to get one is going to be a pain in the bum.

Quick edit: This is for an espresso machine, dark or medium roasts only, feeding a Classic PID at 8.5 Bar.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

I think you would be better off waiting and getting something a bigger step up from the ones mentioned above.

Do you have space for a S/H commercial grinder ?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

I don't believe that: dark roasts = cheaper grinder. Can you mod your existing grinder to reduce the retention?


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Yeah, I'm currently using such a used commercial beast (A nearly 20 year old Compak K6) . But as it's a less desirable hobbyist unit there's no kits or guides to make it a demand grinder. And frankly, having had it somewhat apart to clean as much of the 20 years of coffee oil gunk out of it, it doesn't look easy to modify, nor will I ever get the stink entirely out without spending enough on spares to buy said new MC2 (or more likely the Fred as BellaBarrista takes paypal credit)


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

DavecUK said:


> I don't believe that: dark roasts = cheaper grinder


 It's not that dark roasts = cheaper grinder, but darker roasts need a slightly less fine grind and are a bit more forgiving than lighter options in my experience. And there's quite a few happy reviews online of people who seem to think 38mm conicals can do what I need...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

allikat said:


> Nemox Lux/Lelit Fred/Iberital MC2...
> 
> As someone who likes darker roasts, is it worth replacing my aging Compak K6 with one of these demand grinders? I feel I'm drinking a LOT of bad coffee dealing with the doser on my Compak and the high retention. I know they're limited grinders, but that would be mainly for lighter roasts, right?
> 
> ...


 Mc 2 It's user experience is fairly terrible , it's noisy , the adjustment mec is awful and the burrs and tolerances will not be great . Light or dark roasted coffee is irrelevant you still want a grinder that grinds well and is useable. Lastly the mc2 will waste coffee through retention also.


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Good point, that plastic chute seems like a static magnet for grinds. The Fred has a metal chute, which should be better there?

Or are 38mm conicals just not really up to the job?


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## larkim (Sep 3, 2018)

Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I'm loving my MC2. I've not noticed any issues with retention, and as I'm not trying to win any competitions for best espresso and just create something I like to drink without any hassle, it really is doing the job very well indeed for me.

I've got no need to adjust the grind for many / different coffees as I'm pretty sold on one option only so I can't comment on how good or bad it is to live with if you are trying to adjust on a regular basis, and the noise doesn't worry me at all.

I've not got any noticeable static cling on the chute either.

Given you can pick one up brand new from Happy Donkey for about £130 and the ebay market for them seems to see them selling at £110-£120 often (especially if in good nick) then it's a pretty low risk to shell out for one and see what you think.

I use the MC2 exclusively for espresso with a 9bar Classic (no PID).


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

If you use one bean and never adjust the grind then you will notice retention a lot less, it's still there . 
the eBay market hold the price a lot better then on here there.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Of those you've listed I only have experience with the MC2 and say no, avoid. For all reasons already listed. I used it for medium to dark roasts and didn't have a good experience with the grind quality or retention. The burrs probably aren't too much of an issue, spin speed, alignment, stablility probably are. My Lido E had a different burr design but were probably about the same size and the coffee was miles better. You should be able to mod the Compak easily enough to deal with retention. The doser really shouldn't be causing any issues (sweeper mod can reduce retention there to 0).


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Thanks folks. I'll stick with the Compak for a while longer and keep swelling the available balance in my credit account until I can get a Facile or whatever it's called that week.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

allikat said:


> Thanks folks. I'll stick with the Compak for a while longer and keep swelling the available balance in my credit account until I can get a Facile or whatever it's called that week.


 A wise choice


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