JohnB. wrote:With your average spring lever costing $2700-$4000 new I wouldn't call them cheap. Each will have a Giemme level controller, refill solenoid, vacuum valve, over pressure valve, thermostat on some, water level senders, sight glass seals, pump if not plumbed in, ect. Along with the need to grease or replace seals any of those other parts can fail just as they do on pump machines.

Browsing this site can give strange impressions as to the "average" lever being used at home, I guess. Sure, there are machines in those price brackets, but the three most common spring levers I see in HB profiles are the Elektra MCAL ($1500 new, readily available used for much less), the Bezzera Strega ($1900 for the tank/pump model), and the Londinium I (around $2660, depending on exchange rates). If you expand your horizon to include vintage manual levers things get much cheaper; my favorite Caravel cost less than $300 and my Caferina less than $500. Both were in excellent condition when I bought them.

As to the average level of mechanical complexity, I think John is overstating that as well. My Caferina has one switch, two elements, a simple OPV, a steam valve, and the lever group itself. The Caravels are even simpler (one element, no steam wand assembly), and the MCAL is just a bit more complicated (PSTAT & vac valve). Any of these can be easily serviced with hand tools, and spare parts are increasingly available even for the Caravels. The Strega has more mechanical complexity, but it is still significantly less complicated than the pump machines that are "in its class," meaning those that give you extensive control over all stages of the pressure profile, such as a Vesuvius, a GS/3 with the strada mod, or a Slayer.

When I bought my first lever, a Caravel, I was using it side-by-side with a Breville Dual Boiler. The BDB gives you lots of control over temperature, lets your program variable pre-infusion times, and generally stands up well against most of the top pump machines when you do blinded taste comparisons. Within a week of owning a Caravel I could get better shots using that tiny machine than I could after a year of experimentation and practice with the BDB. That's a pretty gentle learning curve, I think. So if the OP chooses the right lever and follows the advice given on these boards regarding best practices for using it, I expect he'll get great shots much faster than he expects. With, of course, the necessary caveat that the grinder choice is more important than the machine choice, so if he skimps on that all bets are off.

donn wrote:Well, it's desirable if it's fun.

Excellent point, Donn! In my book, the fun factor trumps just about everything so thanks for the reminder.

[creative nickname] wrote:Elektra MCAL ($1200 new, readily available used for much less)

Could they have gone up a few hundred since you last looked? Seems so to me, but maybe you have a cheaper source.

I got mine on sale, if I remember correctly, but you are right that prices have risen a bit since 2013. I've updated the post above to avoid confusion.

Hi Mike,

I'm brand new to levers too, just having put in a new L1 within the month. Before that, I spent around 7 years or so using an Elektra A3, which is a commercial HX machine. What became very obvious to me right away with the lever is that it's not quite as forgiving of stupid moves as the pump machine was. If you aren't paying attention and let a spring lever slip at the wrong time, it will fly up *really* hard, and can damage the machine. If someone's face is in the way, things will get broken. Seems obvious not to let the thing go until it's ready, but if I were 10 years old, I'd probably have hurt myself by now. Or, if you grind way too fine and tamp way too hard, you could jam the machine. Unlike a pump machine, there's no escape valve to release pressure, so your lever will sit there under a lot of pressure. Take the portafilter out right then, and you get boiling hot water and coffee spewed 180 degrees across yourself and the entire kitchen. Even if you do it right, there can still be a little residual pressure after a shot, so if you are impatient and in a rush, you can still get some spray.

Having said that, based on my own experience with two machines that were equally higher-end, one a pump and the other a lever, I find that when it comes to making good coffee, levers are much easier. Sure, the Elektra never threatened to spew scalding hot water on me, or hit me in the head with a spring-loaded stick, but it took out it's aggression on the coffee instead. More accurately, it took it out on my amateur barista skills in terms of giving me crappy shots. The lever, with pre-infusion, declining pressure, etc, is completely more forgiving in that regard, and it will happily give me a good shot in spite of my own shortcomings.

Regards,

Earik

There's a nice Riviera spring lever on the buy/sell forum.
PC