I got a Sept preorder Flair 58 yesterday. First impressions, it was fairly easy to set up. I've only pulled one shot that was sour, because I was too impatient and didn't let the portafilter heat up fully.

I'm a little concerned about the worm screw used to lock in the brew unit. I thought I'd tightened it enough to keep the unit from moving, but it moved when I portafilter, so I started to tighten it more. The key a) might quickly round the screw since it moved without tightening further, and b) got stuck very easily in the worm screw. It did lock, but I'm worried about how long the screw will last.

Locking in the portafilter is also different enough to be annoying, since there aren't slots like a semiautomatic group and only the area where the portafilter locks in has a metal lip for the portafilter. Not to mention the different orientation of 6 to 4 o'clock vs 8 to 6 o'clock.

I'm glad I watched Flair's video on lever centering before I got mine.

I'm less annoyed by the update now, since one part of it is the puck screen, which I was planning on ordering from them anyway.

malling wrote:What about European customers, who bought at local reseller who also bought it at higher prices? Hopefully we can also get that benefit?

The price difference between former and current is $50 and the retrofit kit is $46 with puck screen and $36 without. If you see prices advertised $50 above launch price I would assume they are doing preorders because they couldn't have the inventory that hasn't been produced yet. No one, not Flair nor any of its partners, has the newly designed plunger. October is the forecast.

BruceWayne wrote:I'm a little concerned about the worm screw

It's a friction ball at the end of the screw and it's not meant to be over-torqued. Tt was designed to accommodate the needs of 58x owners that will be clicking-in and clicking-out daily. 58 owners have no reason to do this and can tighten the screw further as received to prevent any movement of the brew cylinder while locking in. Typically all one needs to do is rotate the screw until it stops, no tightening is required. Cylinder should remain fixed and not rotate when locking in the PF. As you watched in the video, you know you don't have to crank in the PF for it to seal up so perhaps go a little easy there if you're seeing movement. If the screw ever fails you, reach out for a free replacement.

BruceWayne wrote:I got a Sept preorder Flair 58 yesterday. First impressions, it was fairly easy to set up. I've only pulled one shot that was sour, because I was too impatient and didn't let the portafilter heat up fully.

I'm a little concerned about the worm screw used to lock in the brew unit. I thought I'd tightened it enough to keep the unit from moving, but it moved when I portafilter, so I started to tighten it more. The key a) might quickly round the screw since it moved without tightening further, and b) got stuck very easily in the worm screw. It did lock, but I'm worried about how long the screw will last.

Locking in the portafilter is also different enough to be annoying, since there aren't slots like a semiautomatic group and only the area where the portafilter locks in has a metal lip for the portafilter. Not to mention the different orientation of 6 to 4 o'clock vs 8 to 6 o'clock.

I'm glad I watched Flair's video on lever centering before I got mine.

I'm less annoyed by the update now, since one part of it is the puck screen, which I was planning on ordering from them anyway.

I think your post is a bit premature. Sounds like you jumped in a bit fast and tried to make espresso before you were ready. I've experienced none of the concerns that you have. I'm making really excellent espresso.

I already said the sour shot was entirely my fault.

As far as locking the portafilter, it's different from locking the portafilter on my E61. With an E61, you can put the portafilter under the group and feel that the ears have entered the slots in the group, then you turn to lock it. With the 58, the flanges are only covering the area that locks in the portafilter, so you put the portafilter in the right position and rotate it, and it catches and locks if you've done it correctly. I was just commenting that that is different from the feel of my E61, where you can feel that the portafilter is in exactly the right position to lock in. On the 58, you don't feel anything like that. It's just different.

The worm screw is another matter. I put the machine together, tightened the worm screw, tested pulling a shot (which I was impatient with), and thought everything was fine. Then I spent some time getting used to the different feel of locking in the portafilter, and the brew head unexpectedly moved when I unlocked after a few cycles of lock/unlock. Ok, I guess I didn't tighten it enough. Slight turn appeared to make it tight. Another slighter turn of the key to verify it was tight, since I was obviously wrong the first time, and the key rounded in the screw and got stuck. I was not expecting that. From what I can tell, it's very easy for the key to round inside the worm screw once the screw is fully tight.

Does the group have a rubber or a silicone head gasket? You can always change up the feel by changing the material and/or thickness of the gasket. I only run silicone gaskets these days.

I'm already getting used to locking in the portafilter. Taking a close look at the brew head, I can see where the flanges are, so that serves as a visual reference. There's nothing wrong. It's just different. Pulled a nice shot today.

Any recommendations for the portafilter basket? I'll be running an option 0 lagom p64 with the Flair 58 and I'm wondering if I should go with Flair's "high flow" portafilter basket? Anyone have experience with using an IMS basket or any other high end portafilter baskets?