Totally agree. My wife talked me into the pressure gauge and I have no idea how anyone can pull a great shot without it. And most of the fun is experimenting with different pressure profiles. And it’s pretty easy to preheat as @neanderthal said. I put my brew head on top of my open kettle so the steam heats it while the water starts to boil. The brew head itself is very thick and retains heat well. I saw a video that shows you do get a drop in temp over a pull which is usually 30-60 seconds for me. But also I’m at high altitude so while I have a different set of temperature issues to deal with I don’t know that I’m experiencing as dramatic a drop off.