We know the numerous launch issues of the Vectis in intricate detail yet curiously Lance Hedrick’s review of the Vectis does not mention one of them
Vectis issues at launch:
1. 200 English forged Vectis groups of which only 111 could be used due to the presence of cold shut flaws. What did we do? We put all the UK group tooling in the bin and we went to Italy to get the lever group re-made with new tooling
2. we moved the mounting point for the sight glass on the boiler after 200 boilers had been cut and this meant using the plasma cutter on the boilers again to cut another hole. the boilers were not cleaned out a second time
3. the pressure switch we used was inadequate for the power and frequency of the switching of the 1300W heating element
4. the first batch of orbital guides were cast, not forged
5. we did not use packaging that was strong enough for the early Vectis shipments and as a result some arrived with bent drip tray frames
What did Lance Hedrick say were issues?
1.Lance said the steam wand lacked power. This statement is demonstrably false
2.Lance claimed the highest pressure reading he could obtain was 5-6 bar, reflecting a lack of understanding as to how to measure pressure correctly
Measuring the spring rating of the Vectis prototype no.2 at 9.0 bar. We reduced the spring pressure for production units to 8.5 bar as the machine was just starting to lift at the back
3. Lance says the Vectis is ready to pull shots in 15 minutes. The Vectis requires 20 minutes to heat up from cold (but not after a boiler refill)
4. Lance suggests that a 54mm group should have been used. This exposes Lance’s association with ACS who use a 54mm group. 54mm lost the race with 58mm decades ago. 58mm is the commercial standard
5. Lance omits mentioning the biggest innovation ever introduced on a direct fill lever machine: the Vectis filling valve
5. Lance fails to mention that the Vectis has the same fully serviceable commercial steam valve as all our other models
6. Lance fails to mention that the Vectis can be completely disassembled on your kitchen table
7. Lance complains of a lack of body. Body is a function of pre-infusion pressure in a lever espresso machine. All dipper designs preinfuse at boiler pressure, which is considered low pressure. To add body raise the lever part way up (after about 3 seconds of having the lever pulled right down to fill the brew chamber) until the piston is just exerting spring pressure on the brew water. On the Vectis this occurs when the top of the yoke is horizontal. When the first drip falls in the cup take your hand off the lever. Adjust the flow rate of the cofffee by altering the grind size. Target an average flow rate of 1g/s to get started (it will start off slow and accelerate as the shot progresses, hence an average, timed from the first drip falling in the cup/lever release), and you will have excellent espresso with exceptional flavour separation
The Vectis has sweetness, clarity, consistency, steam power, stainless steel panels, stainless steel piston, commercial steam valve, fill safe valve, 58mm group, and an extreme ease of servicing that an Olympia Cremina simply does not possess
All we learnt from Lance Hedrick is that if you build an exceptionally good product that redefines a market segment and is competitively priced you can expect a response from your competitors and their associates