I went with the Grohe Tempesta because there is a knob to adjust the tension, rather than just a friction grip, to keep the shower holder on the slide bar. The Tempesta Trio has three settings, rain, jet and massage. I'm happy with it.

We should finally be able to use our new shower this weekend (shower glass is being installed tomorrow). The question of whether I will like the handshower has been on my mind. We too put in the Grohe Movario (it's the only head in the shower) and I am SO happy to hear that ncamy loves it! Now I'm hopeful that I will love mine, too. My concerns had been about the bracket and also about the water pressure, but it's good to hear that somebody else is very happy with this product. Thanks for the post, ncamy!

Susan, let me know how the Grohe Movario goes. It sounds like I want to stick with one of the Grohe brands if I just have a slide bar.

My contractor's supplier deals with Kohler. I went to another showroom to try out all the items without any sales pressure and I wasn't too thrilled with the Kohler slidebar because the hand-held showerhead that he suggested was so heavy that the slide bar handle could not support the weight. It did not slide, but flipped so the showerhead was facing the floor. There was a Grohe Movario right next to it so I tried that on the Kohler slide bar & it worked perfectly, no flipping, no slipping. The salesperson there also said there is a screw to tighten the Kohler slide bar handle so that it doesn't flip. After trying both showerheads on the slide bar, I put the lighter Grohe Movario on my list. I always use a hand-held and I liked that the Movario had 5 settings and was lighter than the Kohler. Looks good too. I'm wondering if I should use a slide bar other than the Kohler because I don't want a problem in the future.

Just wanted to give an update on my Grohe Movario now that I've actually been using it for a while. I LOVE it. It works GREAT. Love, love, love it. I was worried about not having enough water pressure, but that has not been an issue whatsoever. This thing has great pressure and I have no trouble at all rinsing my hair with it. It has a few different settings, too...normal, rain, champagne, massage, etc. I plan to put the same exact thing in my son's bathroom when I do that remodel. The only problem I have with this showerhead is that it makes me want to spend more time in the shower than I used to because I enjoy showering so much! It was well worth the money. By the way, did I mention how much I love this product?? LOL. And no, I do not work for Grohe or own stock, LOL.

To those of you that purchased the Grohe Movario - did you buy Grohe Gromix 3445800 Integrated Thermostat Valve? I almost cried when I saw the price. I'm rethinking the change in plans to the Movario from the Delta Lahara.

Depending on the laws where you live, you may be able to simply use a pressure balance valve:
For example, Grohe 35 015 000 Universal Pressure Balance Rough-In ValveGrohe List: $145.00 on sale=$87.00
From Plumber Surplus

I did not like the "look" of all those knobs and dials so we went with just the pressure balance valve and did 2, one on each end of the shower. I didn't need the fancy "save my temp setting" that you get with the thermostatic valve and we are pleased with the set up-plus just one thing to turn on for each end of the shower.

You still need to buy the trim, etc but the rough in valve is pretty cheap to balance out the price of the rest. The shower bar/system is $380 from them and then you still need the "elbow" where the hose comes out of the wall. They do "negotiate" prices over the phone and I was happy with their service. You still have a ton of trims (The part that turns the water on and off) to choose from and instead of 2 different handles, you only need one. Hope this helps some!

We also installed the Movario in our stall and love it! We also put in a Grohe adjustable rainshower head. Between the two of them and the redone bathroom it's like a spa.

For the valve, we used the thermostatic 34 123 valve (about $180, plus $100 for trim), then two volume valves- one for the hand shower and one for the rain shower. Gave us full control over volume for both plus the temp control.

Nice thing about the Movario is the rotatable head that lets you change the angle of the spray in combination with all the other adjustability of the bar for height and angles.

Still loving my Movario! I have a 1/2" Grohe thermostatic valve, not sure of the model number, though. It was purchased through the local plumbing supply place that my contractor deals with. I looked at my selection sheet for all the plumbing fixtures and it quotes a price of $212.00 for the valve only. This amount counted toward the $1500 plumbing allowance I had in my contract. Contractors get a discount at this place and I'm sure mine didn't pay the full $212.00, even though that's what was deducted from my plumbing allowance. I'm sure you could buy this online much cheaper.

We went with Hansgrohe Unica and I love it....When I first saw it on the internet, I thought the "plastic/rubber" hose would be cheap. On the contrary that's what sold me on the Hansgrohe. When I went to a showroom, I realized that the metallic hoses clanked on the tile and I didn't want to be "goosed" by a piece of metal. The Hansgrohe rubber (or whatever it is) is quiet, warm, unobtrusive and sleek looking. Ours is a little over a year old and looks perfect.

I appreciate the reviews of the Grohe Movario. I'm just starting to plan my shower and know that I want to be able to turn on the water from outside the shower. I gather the diverter valve is what allows you to do this? I think I want only two shower heads...one standard wall-mounted head plus a sliding bar on the adjoining wall to hit my back. Benguin, you're operating two showerheads; maybe you can tell me if the Grohe valve allows you to operate one at a time (summer) or both at once (winter...warmth on the back).

Thanks!

Wishenwell, we didn't see a need for a diverter. We've got the hot and cold supplies going to the thermostatic valve, then there are two outputs from there- one goes to a volume control for the rainshower, and one goes to a volume control for the Movario handheld.

With that arrangement, we can independently run both showerheads, plus have independent volume control over each. The only thing we can't do is independently set different temperatures, which isn't much of a loss.

The diverter systems get pretty complicated if you need to plumb anything other than "one or the other". The other benefit of having the two volume valves, was that it came out less expensive. :-)

Hope that helps.

Probably a profoundly stupid question I could find the answer to on my own but I haven't found it yet -- I like the Movario handheld/bar system, but can it be paired with Danze controls? Or do the thermostatic/volume/diverter all need to be Grohe as well?

Glad I found this thread. We're going with the Grohe Movario based on the designer's selection. Whew. It'll be the one of two shower heads and the only one that is handheld.

nevermind, no longer need my question answered. Different one: my plumbing supply guy had me order the 24" bar instead of the 36". Bad idea? DH is 5'3", I am 5', presumably someday normal-sized people will use the shower too...

I'm under five foot and my DH is just under 6. I didn't think about the length of the bar, I bought the handheld shower we wanted and the bar came with it. The one we ended up with, a Moen is 30 inches long, I like the length because asthetically it's in balance and centered with where the other fixtures are placed. I'd let that be your deciding factor.

One advantage we've had with the longer bar is that you can adjust it for adults or kids very easily. Originally, in our master bath, we didn't even consider this but the kids love it for showering, and at a much lower height than for the adults.

If you are using the Movario, the additional swivel feature on the head means you can set it like a body spray or to spray up on your back as well. The longer bar lets you set it at just the right height to hit the small of your back perfectly.

So I really want a slide bar but also the new cool Magnetix by Moen so that it easily snaps back into place AND since I am finicky I also prefer the water source to come from the base of the bar so that there is not an extra connection on the wall for the hose elbow...anyone know of such an ensemble or close to it please? I don't ask for much, I know :)

Check out the Kohler hyrdrorail system. It allows for both a fixed and handheld with one connection to the wall.