Has anyone tried the Cafelat convertible PF on their Strega?
http://www.cafelatstore.com/products/be ... ortafilter

Looks compelling:
-convertible PF; naked or spouted (convertible)
-stainless steel construction
-nicely priced

It's also offered with either a bakelite, or soft rubber handle.

I don't think I've seen a specific review of the Strega version yet. I did see mention somewhere that somebody liked it, but can't find that comment right now.

In general the new Cafelat PFs have gotten good reviews. If I didn't already have a naked PF I would have purchased one when they came out.

The more Cafelat items I have around me the more I seem to like them... I now have a nice tamp, tamp accessories, tampstand, pitcher, knockbox, and group seals too. I know I want some more group seals, a different sized pitcher and maybe a bottomless PF too???
(I love my Cafelat pitcher. Never had a pitcher that worked *with* me until this. Now I need a smaller one to replace the Espro.)

We really could use a review or at least someone to say it doesn't cause undue wear and tear on the group. Cafelat's engineering skills are trustworthy, but it would be nice to have a confirmation too.

Neat! Cafelat stuff does look to be high quality.. They also offer silicone grouphead gaskets--seems like all such gaskets should be silicone.

Cannon fodder did a review:
Cafelat XT Convertible Portafilter Review

I'm contemplating purchasing a Strega and see that availability of a naked PF is tricky--1st Line used to offer them, but no longer.
Stefano's does offer a cut-off PF that some have reported fitting their Strega.

BUT-

It seems nice to have a stainless steel PF that is designed to be naked...or not, and this system is also designed to fit the Strega. Cool that Cafelat is actually offering one for sale, since I understand the Strega PFs are a bit unique.

I have Stefano's compatible PF for the Strega and it works great. Not a complaint about it at all. So far it's been in use here about 1 year, and it's the only PF in use most of the time.
Were I to buy a CafeLat PF I'd get the full set with double spout so I could split a shot if I wanted to without changing the PF or baskets around, but most of the time I'd run it naked.

For the group seal I find that the Cafelat e61 group seal, the 8mm one, is a little too tall for my Strega. I have one of the older ones, and it seems from comments that the group might have changed a little bit to handle that 8mm seal a bit better.
BUT, I still use the Cafelat seals on my machine. I use coarse sandpaper (120-160grit) and sand it down to about 7.5mm and about 1mm off the outside. Yeah, it's probably not worth the effort, but I do like the silicone group seals. I need a few more, because I often break them when pulling them out - my fitting needs a little more work, but I'm impatient.

One great thing about the silicone seals is how well they cleanup and seal.

Just received the Cafelat PF for the Bezzera Strega. Got it with the Bakelite handle. My hunch is the rubber handle might be more appealing.

Beautiful piece, as others have written here and it actually locks into the group head with NOTICEABLY less effort than the stock Strega PFs. The ears are noticeably more contoured and this may explain its better fit. And the Strega stock filters have no problem snapping in and out of the Cafelat PF.

Highly recommended.....will next try out the removable spout.

DanoM wrote: We really could use a review or at least someone to say it doesn't cause undue wear and tear on the group. Cafelat's engineering skills are trustworthy, but it would be nice to have a confirmation too.

+1

I've been looking into the Cafelat pf recently. That's the only reason holding me back from pulling the trigger. The last thing I want to do is to cause unneccesary wear on the chrome-plated brass group on a vintage lever. None of the review has mentioned about this, and it has been raised a few times. Any long-term user out there has a comment?

I obviously can't say much about grouphead wear at this point for the Strega, except that the PF requires less effort to insert as compared to the stock PFs.