truemagellen wrote:58mm may be common but it is not modern. Popularized by the E61 and likely determined by the E61's group mass calculations only.

There are some limitations to the 49mm basket size but they only relate to large double or triple dosing but 49 works great on the Strietman for a full shot volume.

I personally prefer 51-54 for best balance of crema/mouthfeel and output. 58mm is much more difficult to prep the puck and level due to the larger surface area.

There is more mass to the portafilter on58mm and this would lead to longer warm up stability times for the small Cremina which suggests to me they will keep it at 49mm or perhaps go to 54mm like on the Maximatic. Looking at the photos I see a proportions close to the Olympia Club 49mm group with a slightly taller group for more shot volume.

Everything you said here makes absolute sense. Thank you for the clarification. It would be nice to hear from Olympia if they will use a 49mm or 54mm portafilter and why? I'm being a bit selfish here but I like fairly large shots of espresso and I want to use an Asso Jack leveler with the portafilter. That thing is super easy and super cool. Makes tampers seem so 20th century. It's just not made in 49mm.

"But with a strong spring, one simply uses a two-handed technique."

As user you can see this way, of course. As a producer you simply can't introduce a product with such a "handicap".

davidhunternyc wrote:Everything you said here makes absolute sense. Thank you for the clarification. It would be nice to hear from Olympia if they will use a 49mm or 54mm portafilter and why? I'm being a bit selfish here but I want to use an Asso Jack leveler with the portafilter. That thing is super easy and super cool. Makes tampers seem so 20th century. It's just not made in 49mm.

Maybe not that brand... but many others available that perform the same...

Does anyone have an idea on price? North of $3.6k ?

Always wanted an Olympia Club but going to wait to see what Reiss comes up with.

oh my oh my.. this thread just literally threw a wrench in my decisions on a first lever. was measuring out my kitchen area to see where to put a Pro800, but wanted to hold off to see what the LC would be like... but still would've went with the Pro800. and then now i see this post. the dimension for this would be perfect in the spot i had to literally slide part of the Pro800 under the cabinet to make it fit.

just wondering if the lever will stick out that much like it's shown in the photo.

Additional information and pictures have been posted to the Lever Fever group on Facebook.
It looks like it will be the same pf size as the Cremina, with 6 bar spring, and 1.1bar steam pressure.

If the information is correct, it will also come it at 3,815 CHF... so >$4k at current exchange.

It looks nice though, and there it is likely that temp management will be better with the larger group. As with all things Olympia, it will be worth it to the people who love the build, the brand, the style and the history. Otherwise, you may get excellent performance from the upcoming Londinium compact for 25% of the price.

Near-perfect build and extreme longevity I doubt not.

Solution to the near-universal temperature management issues of home levers? Maybe not. Perhaps they've tested the direct group to boiler connection and installed heat proof gaskets to insulate the group and keep it at the proper temperature during use. The obvious design for the best temperature management is the good old thermocouple employed by the humble Sama/Ponte Vecchio Lusso and Club models. These are the only pressurized home levers where the groups don't easily overheat. I wonder why Olympia didn't go with a thermocouple Club instead.

The small diameter group is needed to keep brew pressure up without a spring so strong it would overwhelm the machine. Another of the Sama (and Caravel) innovations for the home are very small diameter baskets that faciliate higher brew pressures without excessive force.

peacecup wrote:Solution to the near-universal temperature management issues of home levers? Maybe not. Perhaps they've tested the direct group to boiler connection and installed heat proof gaskets to insulate the group and keep it at the proper temperature during use.

The recent Creminas already have such a gasket (about 3 - 4mm thick). Overheating is rather a issue when pulling successive shots: the incoming hot water keeps heating up the bell, which ends up to hot to act as a heat sink and bring down brew water to the target temperature

I would bet that the Cemina SL will be equipped with the same gasket, but the bigger group should allow to pull more shots before it gets too hot

peacecup wrote:
The small diameter group is needed to keep brew pressure up without a spring so strong it would overwhelm the machine. Another of the Sama (and Caravel) innovations for the home are very small diameter baskets that faciliate higher brew pressures without excessive force.

what you are saying makes sense. So perhaps they chose a 6bar spring because this generates the correct force given the 49mm basket? I haven't done the calculation but it sounds reasonable.