@Cuprajake I appreciate the extra points, thank you. Your last point is exactly my dilemma I think - I need to think through what I want to achieve and make a decision.

@Del_UK That is helpful to know the couple of jumps you took. The profiling options is something I think I might get into. I’ve enjoyed espresso when I’ve worked in Italy briefly but quite enjoy a larger drink when working at home.

@MediumRoastSteam I’ll keep that in mind, thank you for the comment on steaming and offer to chat. And the tip on writing in Italian 😁 I have an Osmio Zero so I probably wouldn’t use the machine for hot water. It sounds like you’re about to go for a wander down that street!

So a bit of preventive maintenance

The flow control valve on mine doesn’t close full, it’s tight

To found a small Allen key, and took it off, you the. Open the valve fully and remove the big top nut,

After this I took out the gauze and the e61 gicleur, this is a 7mm.

Both fittings were not tight which is good, thanks to @DavecUK for pointing out doing this

The flow control I then un screwed to add grease. There was very little if any on there 🙄

Pics

I’m hoping this is just newness of the valve needing to bed in and deburr itself

Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

Just to make it a little bit harder I could also mention the MaraX. Had it for over two years now and it is also a very good machine. On the MaraX you can also do flow profiling even though the range on the Bianca is little better. I rarely do multiple drinks but maybe the Elizabeth is better there, not sure though. Generally think Lelit is good bang for the buck and the Bianca is the best and most expensive, after that I think Elizabeth and MaraX are rather close both in price and quality.

btlaney we enjoyed our classic, I had done some minor mods - upgrade steam stat to a 155deg version, silvia steam wand and temperature surfing. Takes a while to steam and recover but it was manageable. Gaggia late art:

However bianca is a different beast, much more powerful and takes a bit of practice: