The piston issue has now been sorted. The first design broke all the time. I know this because I'm now on my 4th. But since they redesigned the piston with a much thicker base, it hasn't been an issue. I use mine twice a day, every day, and since getting the new designed piston everything has been fine.
The creaking sound isn't coming from the frame. It's coming from the friction inside the piston. I changed from black bands on the piston to red ones, and not one creak since.
Coffee is an expensive hobby. People here buy hand grinders for beans that are more than your machine budget. If i had 15k i would just get a 5k manual grinder like timemore c3 or izpresso q air and 10k on flair neo flex. If i was tilted more towards black filter style coffee i would just get a hario v60, gooseneck kettle and a manual grinder
If you only do espresso consider looking at flair espresso machine or cafelat robot. They are manual press espresso machines. They make incredible espresso. Better than thousands of dollar machines. It just takes a bit of time to figure out the nuances of how to use them. But there is something super satisfying to the manual approach.
Flair Neo Flex is a good entry level device. It has a small diameter portafilter which needs to be accounted for when reading the discussion on the Internet. Makes you aware of your brewing parameters.
Rare? The Flair Neo is available on Amazon for 120 bucks with overnight delivery where I live. If you mean machines with boilers, there are definitely fewer lever than E61 options but lever machines are dead simple to maintain. I completely disassembled and re-sealed my vintage LaPavoni with basic hand tools and OEM gaskets purchased from Amazon.
Top Espresso Machines on Reddit
1
Breville
Bambino Plus
77% positive of 1,081 users
Fast heat-up, easy for beginners; inconsistent shots, annoying cleaning.
AndyGait
