Happy new year all. I have come to the point where I want to upgrade from my DIY PID Gaggia Classic to something a bit better. I have been looking at the Sage Dual Boiler then spotted the reviews on the Lelit espresso machines done by Dave. Grinder wise I am running a modified RR45, probably going to get a Nice later in the year. For water I use Ashbeck from Tesco. I mainly drink flat white or americano, only a couple a day, but more at the weekend. Current front runners are the Lelit Elizabeth and the Sage DB, any others I should be looking for? Cheers Jon

@"JonC"#p2945 The Lelit will last you into the next century, whereas Sage have demonstrated reliability problems continually. They are very hard to get parts for and once outside of warranty, a liability. Not to say with practice you cannot make a reasonable cuppa but caveat emptor

@"JonC"#p2945 - hello there! I think they are both cracking machines. I have he Elizabeth, and I really rate it and enjoy. I don’t think the SageDB would be any different, and it has a better pre-infusion mechanism than the Elizabeth. The downside of the Sage is durability. They don’t have a great reputation, and it’s pretty much a buy-it-again product rather than fix it, which is a shame. Spare parts are not easily sourced either. So when I was in the same boat as you trying to make that call, I went with the Lelit for the reasons above.

Hands down Lelit Elizabeth compared to Sage. Water ?

@"LMSC"#p2956 > @"JonC"#p2945 For water I use Ashbeck from Tesco. I’d go for Lelit, I own a Mara, not seen an Elizebeth but I’ve seen a sage and the build quality is not the same.

@"LMSC"#p2956 No thanks, just heading out for Sunday lunch down the pub so will have a pint of Larkins Trad ;) Joking aside, that's a bit of a concern, going to start with Ashbeck or possibly a Peak Water treatment jug. I do need to read up on options, BWT jug looks like another option.

@"JonC"#p2964 I think the Peak might be one to stay away from.

As is ashbeck Volvic is prob the best @"Rob1"#171 iirc I fell into ashbeck being good. I make my own.

Apparently Waitrose essential (lockhills) is the best of bottled, which is what I use with my Minima. Then Volvic.

I have the Sage and it can definitely make good coffee. I bought it 4 years ago as there was an interest free credit deal with Dawsons e Cookshop and at the time I couldn't afford anything else. I am concerned about the long term reliability, but after 4 years of being used once/ twice a day it is absolutely fine. All I have done is regular back flushing and cleaned/ descaled when the machine asks me to. I have always used Waitrose Lockhills water. I only steam infrequently as I mainly drink espresso/ short blacks. I have been considering selling the Sage to get something like an Elizabeth, but having kept an eye on Ebay I won't get very much for it, so I'm probably better off running it until it dies or the repair bill is more than the machine is worth.

@"Dumnorix"#p2986 I do wonder if the people that have problems are high usage users. I know its a bit subjective but is it noisy? It would be handy if I can switch to a quieter machine, I cannot currently get away with making a coffee before going to work, my wife would kill me :(

Hi all and upgrade time

Dumnorix

God only knows what it did to the boiler in the cases when it actually happened- probably a bit like a car blowing a head gasket.

alex68

JonC I used to have Sage DB but eventually upgraded to Lelit Bianca and since then /2years/ very happy with the choice .

JonC

Thanks for all the info. I have decided to scratch the grinder itch first and get on the list for a Niche. My RR45 is bad for retention, changing beans or grind wastes loads of beans. I did some mods to help with static so at least thats not an issue, and converted it to small / single dose. Looks like Niche have the UK black available in Feb, so fingers crossed. Will order probably get the Elizabeth in March for my birthday.

Cheers

Jon

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