I have both and maybe can shed some light. I live near Bellingham where these bikes were conceived and met both owners.
My Regulator CX is now 160/170 with vivid coil. I upgraded the dropper to 210 from 180. With all these upgrades, this bike is super dialed and on the same level as the crestline suspension feeling.
The Crestline s180 came as stock. The only change was the Axs dropper to 170 and 65mm rise handlebars. Super capable bike and the added battery is nice.
Now that I have a few months with them, I am now leaning towards the Regulator for these reasons:
1. The regulator allows the longer dropper which helps in steep terrain.
2. The lighter weight of the Regulator is nice to have and I get more playful with it.
3. The Regulator gives me the feeling that I am more connected to the bike and feels like more of “cycling”. It just feels more rewarding after the ride than the Crestline for some reason.
4. The Regulator requires me to be more intentional about my route and limit my ride to 2 hours.
I would be happy to own any of them and I am super blessed to get to ride both depending on my mood. If I were to keep one, I’d pick the Regulator.
If you’re near Bellingham, hit me up.
Sincerely, thanks so much for that info.
I'm leaning towards the regulator but am waiting on the CX-R version and my divorce to be finalized. Getting close.
Thanks again though, really.

