_bob_

Well, I contacted Breville Australia to ask for the specs of the shims they sent out to their customers for the grinder I have so I could try source some. I was 't even going to try the local agents who don't bother getting back on queries. Instead of giving me the specs, Breville sent me a set of shims which arrived two days ago. Since the I have been able to get a reasonable decent shot (imho, of course ). At least it didn't taste like wet, burnt toast. The grinder does clump quite a bit, but I can live with that for now. Today I'm attending a home barista course at Colombo Coffee & Tea here in Durbs so I hope to learn a few things ( and pick up some more beans).

I had that a couple years ago. So bad that just lifting my hand off the desk hurt like hell. Pain meds didn't help me either. Spent 6 months going to a physio twice a week to get it resolved. I can still feel a bit of stiffness from time to time, though.

Tell me about it. Specially when you see prices like £65 from Amazon

Seem them at R1300 from rackandcarry.co.za I see Easybike has the Thule listed at R2099

That's the firsst bike I ever fell off of, still have the scar too I want one

That's what I'm thinking. I've sent a mail to the address listed under SA importers for the Atera - let's see what happens. If there's no response, I'll probably hang on till I find someone who wants to get rid of their ProRide rack

Don't have an answer for you, but good timing on the question. I'm also looking for a roof rack. Those Atera ones are about half the price of the Thule, though I did read a comment somewhere that their lock is more a visual theft deterrent and easy to get past.

Well, my Silvia arrived, but sadly it seems I'll need to get another grinder. The Breville Smart Grinder I have just can't grind fine enough. I'm trying to source some shims for it, which would sort that out, but not hoping to get anywhere. Also tried the manual Hario grinder but it's finest step chokes the machine and one step off that is too coarse. That being said, I managed to pull one semi-decent shot which made a nice cappuccino. Went through 1/2 kg off coffee to get it so was quite a costly cuppa.

The prices I saw for the Oscar were around the US$1200 range, though there were a couple around the $1000 mark. Going by the exchange rate + adding in something for shipping and other costs and the agent portion, I was just guessing what it may come out to. I was wrong as I did manage to find a local agent and the price is actually R11 000 for the machine. R3 000 more than the Silvia, so I could have stretched it . I'm not going to cancel my order though. Instead I'l use the Silvia until I think it's time for an upgrade and depending on how seriously I get into the coffee making, I'll upgrade to something better. Thanks for the grinder tip. Will have a look.

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Looked at the Oscar on the web and going by the US$ pricing, I don't think I'd get plenty of change back from R 20 000 which is a bit out of my budget. So I've ordered the Silvia which should arrive this week. It seems to have some quirks but they seem to be well documented and shouldn't stop me from making a decent shot of espresso. As for the grinder, the one I have is the Breville BCG800. Could not find very much about it, just one review (positive) and a discussion on an Australian forum where it seems to be a hit and miss ( some say it doesn't grind fine enough). Hopefully mine is one of the hit ones and works just fine

Thanks. I'll most probably get a better one at some stage. Like you say, budget dictates, so may take a little longer to get something really good. In the meantime, I'll see what I can get from the ones I have. What would you look at as being better than the Rocky you got?

Thanks. I like a nice espresso, but I also won't say no to a cappucino. So split about 60-40 there. I have a Breville burr grinder and a Hario manual grinder from a previous attempt at making decent coffee at home using one of those cheaper machines with the presurrised filter baskets. I even modified the baskets to try get something decent out of the machine which didn't work too well, so I want to get a resonably decent machine this time around.

Hi all. I currently own two Nespresso machines - one at home and one at work. While the coffee is accceptable, I'd like to get something a little better for home (the work one will stay). I'm thinking the Rancilio SIlvia is what I'd like to get. Anyone own one that has had any hassles with it? How's the backup for these in SA, should anything go wrong? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

- Good luck with the fundraising

There's a cycling club in Toti - you can try get hold of them through their website - http://www.amanzimtoticycle.co.za/