midwestnowaves Senior Member Joined: 8 Aug 2012 Posts: 7 Location: Kansas City Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Aug 8, 2012, 10:02am Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
Thanks for the quick reply. As a non-handy person supporting a family of four it's a little scary going into this decision when there are entire threads on CoffeeGeek dedicated to Gaggia corrosion!
CMIN Senior Member Joined: 14 Jun 2012 Posts: 566 Location: South FL Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Crossland CC1 Grinder: Baratza Preciso
Posted Wed Aug 8, 2012, 10:08am Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
midwestnowaves Said:
Thanks for the quick reply. As a non-handy person supporting a family of four it's a little scary going into this decision when there are entire threads on CoffeeGeek dedicated to Gaggia corrosion!
Haven't see those threads but I have 3 friends with Classics, two at home and one in an office with no problems and I know one is at least 6 years old if not older. One did have one of the units replaced but nothing to do with the corrosion, just one of those "built on a monday" machines lol. We don't really have hard water, but I still use the fridge filtered water poured into a Brita filter container for the machines. I've descaled and barely noticed any deposits doing it that way.
Posted Wed Aug 8, 2012, 12:44pm Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
CMIN Said:
Haven't see those threads but I have 3 friends with Classics, two at home and one in an office with no problems and I know one is at least 6 years old if not older. One did have one of the units replaced but nothing to do with the corrosion, just one of those "built on a monday" machines lol. We don't really have hard water, but I still use the fridge filtered water poured into a Brita filter container for the machines. I've descaled and barely noticed any deposits doing it that way.
I've had my Classic for 5 years, and bought it secondhand, and somewhat used, off of eBay. I've used it approximately daily for a couple of shots, and descaled occasionally - probably not as often as it should/could be done. I've had no issues with it with regard to corrosion, despite previously living in a very hard water area (Oxford, UK, where the water runs through chalk hills before hitting the aquifers).
midwestnowaves Senior Member Joined: 8 Aug 2012 Posts: 7 Location: Kansas City Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Aug 8, 2012, 1:15pm Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
That's good to know. The reason I was leaning toward the Classic (as well as the price point) was ease of use vs the Silvia - as a dad with two young kids and too many jobs I don't have time to mess around with temperature surfing as some have said is needed on the Silvia. The only reasons I was considering the Silvia were the brass boiler and better steam, though I see you can mod the Gaggia wand and get decent steam.
Thanks for your perspective. I'll probably bite the bullet and get the Classic now. Which grinder would be better out of the Gaggia MDF, Baratza Virtuoso or Breville Smart Grinder (with shim kit for finer grind)? Looks like the Breville is easy to use but again, I'm concerned about durability with the grinder.
Posted Thu Aug 9, 2012, 7:40am Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
You do get benefits from temperature surfing on the Classic as well, but I believe it's a little less finickity than the Silvia when you do it. Both can be fitted with a PID kit to eliminate that factor, but the cost of a new Silvia with a PID kit is more than a number of higher level machines, or machines with PID control designed in (e.g. CC1).
midwestnowaves Senior Member Joined: 8 Aug 2012 Posts: 7 Location: Kansas City Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Aug 10, 2012, 7:56am Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
Thanks for the additional info. I'd like to retrofit the Classic with a Silvia V2 wand. Can someone point me in the direction of instructions to do this (video or print)?
SJM Senior Member Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 1,508 Location: CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Aug 10, 2012, 9:25am Subject: Re: Why I Love My Gaggia Classic - A Perfect Choice for Beginners
midwestnowaves Said:
Thanks for the additional info. I'd like to retrofit the Classic with a Silvia V2 wand. Can someone point me in the direction of instructions to do this (video or print)?
it is an exchange of the nuts. Remove the Gaggia wand and remove the nut from it. I did not have to cut of bend the Gaggia wand. Remove the rubber insulation from the Rancilio wand and the nut comes off, and replace with Gaggia and replace it. It really is that easy.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 