Pretty sure the Streitman will be staying, should be fun to play with the Argos though and there is definitely only enough room on the coffee island for one of them.
First dibs on the CT1 if you sell it? (Potential travel machine 😀)
Odyssey Argos
Amberale Actually we had a few days of 27 to 32C temperatures, then it dropped back to around 23, gradually going up to 29C on Thursday though.
Yes we do have it easy up here in the North, sunny most days during winter and around 21. But summer can be a tad hot!
It was quite interesting how much the coffees I made on Friday and Saturday were affected from the dialed in grinder settings. The water flew through the pucks.
dutchy101 I noticed my extractions were also faster…on a grinder that had been dialled in.
23 days later
Latest photos including two powder coated versions that were on display at Host Milan recently. Note the black powder coasted version has the steam wand on the left and the white version has it on the right.
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tompoland I think the forthcoming Londinium Vectis has some tough competition from Argos. I know which lever I would rather have.
The Argos is certainly the best “bang for bucks” lever option, assuming the quality is up there with the others.
It’s not just the price advantage that appeals to me though, it’s the versatility that I find tantalising: add a pressure gauge if you like (or not), add the digital Bluetooth transducer (or not), switch from direct to 9 bar spring or to a 6 bar spring (yes please).
The options are quite extraordinary and I don’t know of any lever machine that has that range of features/options for any price, let alone under US$1,000.
Temperature stability is going to be the most interesting feature for me. The Strietman is not as temperate stable as I would like. It requires some temperature “surfing” and whilst it comes up to full heat in under ten minutes, there are significant fluctuations within the first 30 minutes and even after that there is a four degree variance at any given point in time. I can live with that but if I had the choice, I’d prefer not to. If the Argos can deliver better temperature stability in addition to all of the options I’ve listed above, that would be a simply amazing “icing on the cake”.
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DavecUK I’m beginning to think that Londinium is a bit like owning a Harley. Both have a cult like following and evoke a feeling of pride but based on price/features/quality/service comparison, purchasing either of them would be hard to justify.
That’s not to say that a feeling is without value. It’s a matter of the buyer’s priorities.
I’ve been looking for an excellent coffee Discord. Do you belong to one that you’d recommend?
Totally agree. That’s why I bought one!
For anyone interested, here’s Ross’s update to backers today:
Odyssey Espresso Argos Update: July 12, 2022
Hello all! I have done a horrible job with updates over the past month but I assure you that significant progress is still being made. We have finished hiring all of our Assembly Technicians/ Manager for this initial run of parts and plan to hire more in the future to keep up with demand.
We decided to do a quick last minute trip to World of Coffee Milan. This was a fun experience where we had a small booth with the powdercoated units on display. It was a great opportunity to connect with other lever machine manufacturers as well as suppliers for Italian made products.
While hardware is being finalized and procured, I am working on figuring out the best way to keep track of assembly and quality control tracking for when we start assembly. This will allow us to track which technician has performed each assembly task for each machine in the event of any defects or malfunctions.
Hardware
When sourcing on/ off switches we made a significant change from 2 toggle switches to a single on/off rocker switch next to the plug and a custom temperature knob with an integrated push switch into the knob. We like this design as it cleans up the back of the machine while integrating all temperature related control on a single knob. Users will be able to set the brew temperature from 85C-95C then push the knob in to turn up steam temp which will be indicated by a 3rd LED on the top.
Previously exposed screws on the top of the machine have now been moved to mount the boiler to the top plate from the underside. This will clean up the overall look.
Powdercoated parts have arrived and were on display at World of Coffee Milan. We are working on getting product photos for those options to add to the site. Anyone interested in changing from a stainless steel finish to the black or while color will be able to purchase the “Machine Color Add-On” from the site. This will go live when the photos are released and on the site as well, ideally by next week.
An additional person has been brought on temporarily to help finish up drawings for production.
You can check out the updated checklist here.
4 months later
Email update from Ross this morning included this:
“I expect to start shipping first thing next year once certification has passed.”
So his original estimate of “shipping in April” was pretty close after all. I mean, to be fair, we forgot to ask him which year 😅 🤷 🙃
Still, it’s getting closer.
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Production is a very different thing from prototyping, and I would imagine his running into lots of things he needed to modify and change. So it’s not really unexpected that the Argos is going to be quite late. I would think he doesn’t want a Vectis moment.
tompoland
Shipping dates were always aspirational.
However, I’m not waiting on this unit to be able to make coffee, I have other stuff.
I am backing it because I think it is a good move for home espresso gear.
We still have no idea how well the production unit will work but I am happy to believe that it will make espresso at least as good as an LP or a Cremina,with better temperature stability( and plumbablility eventually)and I hope that it will kick off a number of other small machines.
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Poor bu**er doesn’t even have all his production parts yet so there may be problems or the parts may all turn up perfect.
Lets hope for the latter.
As for the Vectis, good luck to them I say.
Lets get all these small machines out there and enjoy them.
Francesco’s site shows the magnificent cornucopia of machines we enjoyed in the sixties, lets relive that.
😎