poison wrote:I've been using e61's for 17 years or so, and I was looking at the Bianca, Micra, and ECM machines recently to upgrade. What did I end up with?

LR24. [...]Micra what?

Aaaaand we are back at the LR24. It seems all roads lead to Londinium for my final choice somehow haha

haha, I think it's inevitable! Look, any of the machines mentioned will brew excellent espresso, and it may be splitting hairs between them. But the LR provides the simplicity, longevity, and flexibility I want in the simplest package; I didn't want to deal with La Pavoni or Olympia overheating nonsense, and I do pull a lot of shots in a row sometimes. I also use a wide variety of beans, several per session sometimes (I'm a roaster), so I need the flexibility to adjust on the fly. There's some hate for Reiss, but as a small business owner operating more or less solo myself, I appreciate that when I message on IG, Reiss is responding, and the level of attention after purchasing is great. That the espresso is better than before, and I still haven't fully figured the machine out, and it makes the best microfoam with 0 effort, and no temp surfing like on the e61, and its dead silent, and....

I'm very happy.

Beautifully said!

It seems the general consensus is that 3K - 4k for a machine will get me to my end game machine, and then I can obsess over my grinder LOL. Whether thats Bianca, LR24, Micra etc, the majority of customers are more than satisfied.

I'm not sure if no clear winner makes the decision easier or more difficult, but at the very least reduces analysis paralysis knowing I can't really go wrong. With the simplicity/build quality on machines like the LM or LR24, is decades of service assuming proper maintenance unreasonable? Is the boiler life the main driver of machine lifespan?

I file these under "proper maintenance". I could have been more explicit

corffee_beanz wrote:Beautifully said!

It seems the general consensus is that 3K - 4k for a machine will get me to my end game machine, and then I can obsess over my grinder LOL. Whether thats Bianca, LR24, Micra etc, the majority of customers are more than satisfied.

I'm not sure if no clear winner makes the decision easier or more difficult, but at the very least reduces analysis paralysis knowing I can't really go wrong. With the simplicity/build quality on machines like the LM or LR24, is decades of service assuming proper maintenance unreasonable? Is the boiler life the main driver of machine lifespan?

On my e61 the first thing to go after 11 years was a small plastic quick release fitting, easy to fix. Then the heating element went in year 12, and while the water in the steam boiler was pretty gross, it wasn't scaled bad despite never descaling once, and that was an easy fix. The Fluid-o-tech pump was still plugging along, a pretty extraordinary life, so I had it replaced at the same time. I'd say boilers would be the last issue you would have, given they're just dumb, large pieces of metal. Heating elements and pumps will go first, and specific to levers, the group seals.

Machines like Bianca have lots of electronics inside, with screens. I don't think machines like that will necessarily last decades.

poison wrote: There's some hate for Reiss, but as a small business owner operating more or less solo myself, I appreciate that when I message on IG, Reiss is responding, and the level of attention after purchasing is great.

Don't let lingering grumpiness about Reiss disuade. It's old news and unfair. He does have a specific point of view and a short communication style. The unhappiness came from some brusque customer service in the early days of the company, which he's gone to great lengths to correct. Consistent great marks for years now. He replies in a day or less, even to second-hand purchasers like myself.

I actually got in touch with him just asking some general questions about the new seals and everything. Surprisingly, he suggested I wait for the new Vectis if I'm looking for the easiest machine to maintain. I say surprising giving the stark (expected) price difference between that and the LR24. Looking forward to initial reviews and impressions

The Vectis looks like a solid, Cremina-like, machine. I'm thinking of getting one for a summer cottage. But it comes with a few disadvantages (depending on use) compared with the Compressa or R24:

-pre-infusion limited to boiler pressure.
-thermal stability, while supposedly better than Cremina, won't be as good.
-adding water to direct-fill boiler requires waiting for cool down (the Compressa is be plumbed in, and the R24 has a water tank).

But, the Vectis looks like a great little machine, easy to maintain, not much to go wrong.

retireddude wrote:The Vectis looks like a solid, Cremina-like, machine.

To me the Vectis reads as an upgraded Export, which frankly would be amazing! I've owned 2 Exports and they are very capable machines but very modest in their construction and the tiny group is not really my favorite thing.

Direct fill is exactly the design simplicity that gives it and other direct fill machines their fundamental longevity. Valves and pumps and sensors are more things to breaks or leak, increasing a design's potential service needs