I’m currently using a 10yr+ Kitchenaid Artisan dual boiler machine (twin gaggia boilers, one for espresso, one for steam inside a fancy alloy outer) but it needs a full service including new seals/o-rings for both boilers, new steam wand seals/o-rings and new thermostats for each boiler, that comes to £110 ish, it may need other parts as well to get it back up to fully working order but finding spare parts for it is proving quite difficult, it still works but not quite as good as it should be as the steam is weak and the dual temp dials on the front don’t work which i’m hoping would be fixed by the new thermostats above and it suffers from moisture build up inside which the boiler service kits would fix. Whilst it has been used a fair bit (i estimate 14000+ coffees over 10 odd years) i wonder is it worth repairing and then finding out i need another part (quite a lot of replacement parts are no longer available) or should i consider something else, I’ve found a manufacture refurbished Sage Duo Temp with full manufacturer warranty for £210 so i am swaying over whether or not to buy a sage or attempt a costly repair that may not work.

I already use a sage smart grinder pro as the motor burnt out in my kitchenaid artisan grinder, there are no replacement motors available so i bought a cheap molenghi (sp?) grinder but that proved really crap at grinding fine enough for espresso so i bought the sage which is a brilliant grinder, so that leads me to consider the sage espresso machine.

Anyone use one?, they appear to get favourable reviews on the various forums and at £210 i’d be saving £140 on the full price of £350 ish.

Yes

Ok some more info. Its my first machine so no idea on any other make.
I also have the pro grinder and they make a good combination. Easy enough to use and as I have soft water I hardly have to change the filter and never done any descaling so its maintenance free.
Would I buy another? possibly not the Duo model but a better a specced one with more control over the Steam wand and a bigger diameter basket.
got mine from Lakeland with a two year guarantee.

Cheers bear-uk, Ideally i’d like the Sage Dual Boiler machine but i can’t justify spending £1200, actually i could justify £1200 but i fear my bank balance would be critically damaged for months. One of my concerns is over the 54mm basket but that seems a trivial concern as i imagine the sage with its pid would give me a better extraction than my current shonky kitchenaid…..and i have a rather nice motta 58mm tamper and stand so that would be redundant, think i’ll have another whisky and think on it, then perhaps another and make an impulsive drunken decision at some point in the next few hours.

😉

Maybe worth scouring ebay? Picking up this tomorrow 🙂

There’s no need for such wanton extravagance richpenny (how much?), take your fetishistic machine from my thoughts. 😉

£260 🙂

gtf out of here 😯 , how is that possible?.

TBH there’s nothing wrong with the smaller basket and it gives a great tasting coffee once set up for your choice of beans. Far superior to them Nespresso things.
A set of small scales,timer and a milk thermometer and hours of messing about 😀
18g of beans = 36g of coffee at around 30 seconds works for me.

Richpenny…
You bastard….

To be fair, the one I’m getting isn’t quite as shiny as that, does sound like it’s been well looked after though. Didn’t expect to win at that price, but at the end of the day it’s 14 years old. Always a bit of a gamble.

Somafunk, if you don’t mind the steep learning curve then I would recommend a cheap manual lever like a La Pavoni. Makes great coffee, looks great and is simple and easy to replace seals on:

Admittedly I struggle to move away from my Classic.
Just back together yesterday after a refresh and descale.
Soma – could be interested on yours if you move on.

Reninds me – must get the brand new MC-05 grinder listed for sale!