Submitted by
ceraboy
a Weekend Warrior
from Bozeman, MT
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2009
Strengths: Very solid, lightweight, stiff frame. This bike has been great on single track. I have been using the bike for over 10 years and it has never let me down. I still prefer it over many of the newer bikes I have had the opportunity to test ride. I wish the company was still in business.
Weaknesses: The Manitou fork and cantilever brakes are a bit antiquated, but work still work ok.
Bottom Line:
It looks like I will have to upgrade this baby since I dont think I will ever find a true replacement.
Bike Setup: Aluminum/Purple color, all Shimano XTR components and hubs.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Paris, France
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2008
Strengths: TO be honest my bike is the old CR 550 model from '94, but its bloody solid, 14yrs old & still going strong!!! I've crashed into trees been, squashed by cars & taxi's & changed countries!!!!!!! I ride out evey Sunday between 40 & 50 Km so I work it hard!!
Weaknesses: A little on the heavy side!
Bottom Line:
OK, OK I've changed all the equipment, over the years I had to!!
A super ride just a shame that I can't put on disc brakes
Similar Products Used: Decathlon,Cannodale, Giant & Lapierre
Bike Setup: brake & gear levers XT,Group set front & rear XTR, wheels Mavic crosstrail, v-Brakes XT, Carbon handle bar & seat post
front suspension Beta Europa ( nobody ever heard of that I suppose?)
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Submitted by
Tom
a Weekend Warrior
from Pittsburgh, PA
Date Reviewed: March 4, 2005
Strengths: Looks sharp as hell!
Weaknesses: None that i can think of!
Bottom Line:
This bikes the shiznizzle! Bought it back in 94 or 95 when i worked at a bike shop. Was going to get a Klein but the Balance just looked too sharp to pass up. Paid a decent chunk, but it's still on the road today. Time to replace that oldskol Manitou with something new, but other than that still running strong. Too bad Balance isn't in business anymore. Oh well though! If you run across a used one in decent shape, pick it up. I've thrashed some nice PA trails on mine, and would to love to head out west with it someday.
Submitted by
Andrew Woolley
a Cross Country Rider
from Littleton, Colorado, USA
Date Reviewed: January 15, 2003
Strengths: Beautiful Frame. Excellent handleing. Durable and light.
Weaknesses: So old school. Company is out of business.
Bottom Line:
This bike is my baby. Eight years ago I bought it after saving for over a year (I was a freshmen in highschool) and I rode it for years. Last week I got back on for the first time in 5 years, and I fell in love again. It is a beautiful bike that climbs like, well, something that climbs well (a goat maybe? or a spider?) The long top tube spreads you out and makes it handle like a dream. It feels a lot like my road bike, geometry wise, which is cool. The only thing I regret is the difficulty faced in upgrading. Seeing as this bike has cantilvers and 7-speed shifter/brake units upgrading is a real hassle. And the fork needs upgrading, cuz it was lousy in 1995, and its worse now. Over all though, a fantastic bike and an absoultly unbeatable frame. Its very sad Balance stopped making bikes.
Bike Setup: Green to Aluminum fade 16.5 inch frame. Manitou Sport fork. Full Shimano STX special edition. This is the 1994 version.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Chuck
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2002
Strengths: I like the length and how light it is.
Weaknesses: No suspension standard.
Bottom Line:
I don't know that much about componants and such, I'm just a beginner, I've had my AL550 for about 4 years now, but only really started mountain biking last week. So far though, I think it's great, another guy said in his review that it climbs well, amen to that, my friends call me the Mountain Bike Nazi, because I'll get to the top 15 minutes before them. It's also durable, I've had some pretty hard crashes this last week and no damage to the bike. It works great, and with a few upgrades, it definantly will be an amazing bike!
Submitted by
Ted Teten
a Weekend Warrior
from Stillwater, OK, USA
Date Reviewed: November 10, 2000
Strengths: I love the longer than usual frame. I am 6'5" and the extra length in the frame is great. Also the long frame makes the bike a piece of cake to churn up the steepest hills.
Weaknesses: The Manitou 3 fork that came with the bike sucks badly. I have had to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild the fork. The Elastomers break too easy and you deserve to have the elastomers for free if you can find them. I am finally fed up with the fork and am going to sell my road bike and get a new fork that requires less maintenance.
Bottom Line:
This bike is a hill-conquering machine. My friends will try to make it up a hill and not be able to; I just stand up, put the weight on the back tire and up I go. The long frame makes it very easy to balance your weight going up steep hills. I actually churn up the steep hills with the front wheel off the ground half the time. It is so easy to just go up. I recommend the bike to anybody who has money to put into the bike after he or she buys it. It will be a used bike and more than likely, need some work done on it. I love the bike that I have and wish that balance made more bikes. My only gripe is the cheap old manitou 3 suspension fork that I need to get replaced. Thats all for me, I have to go rebuild my suspension fork now.
Favorite Trail: The 12 miles of Hell Race in Lawton
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$450.00
Purchased At: from the classifieds
Similar Products Used: I had a Trek 820 and then upgraded to a balance. There is no compareson between the two, so I won't even try.
Bike Setup: I have a green-fade-to-chrome AL-550 with a manitou 3 (it sucks) suspension fork. I have shimano clipless shoes and a bright new yellow Itallia Flight Gel seat. I have the same stock components because they work just fine as long as I don't bash the rear derailer onto curbs while playing on campus. I replaced the chain with something shimano, and have bald tires. I also plan to add diskbrakes when I buy a new suspension fork
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Submitted by
Dale Bowerman
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix
Date Reviewed: September 28, 2000
Strengths: I hate to say it but it is very well balanced. The geometry is its strogest point
Weaknesses: No support. I don't believe the company is in existance any longer
Bottom Line:
I have had almost every mountain bike I have ever desired and none of them lived up to a Balance AL that I had 5 years ago which I sold because I thought it was too small because of low standover height (big mistake). The bike was the most (no pun intended) balanced bike I have owned, full susp or HT. I finally found another (a AL550) in the paper for 375 used. It was in my size (roughly 18.5) and I feared it would not ride like the smaller bike I had originally. Fortunatley it rides as well as the previous bike. It can float the front tire easily over fast burms(if I want it to) and I can hold the front down easily on steep technical. climbs. The cg of the bike can easily be adjusted by moving the seat foward or back by as little as a 0.5 inch depending on the type of ride I need. If someone finds one of these bikes in the used bike market it would definatley be worth the time to give it a trial ride.
This is a review of the Balance AL450.I bought the 450 back in May '96 as my first semi-serious foray into mountain biking. It's a completely rigid frame, no suspension anywhere (yes, it was a bumpy ride, but it certainly taught me how to handle a bike in rough conditions), with STX-RC front & back.It has been a fantastic bike for these past three years. It's been to Moab, on countless trails in the Rocky Mountains, and was used to haul me back and forth to work (20 miles a day, 3 days a week) from late April through September (I installed road slicks for these rides). I am 6'6 tall and weigh 250 pounds (ridiculously big bones, plus I lift weights 3 times a week; honest). Not once has the frame or any component thereof cracked or shown any signs of wear. I go through rims, spokes, and tires like nobody's business, thanks to my excessive size, but overall this bike is bomb-proof.The paint job? Purple fading into highly-polished aluminum (almost chrome-like). The chicks dig it.Unfortunately, I have to get a larger bike. Riding this one (20.5 frame; very aggressive geometry) is very hard on my back and puts too much of my weight forward, making it rough on my hands and forearms. If it wasn't for that one simple fact, I would drop some serious coin and trick this bike out - Marzocchi fork, XT-R all around; basically anything titanium and/or expensive.It's a durable, aggressive frame, and I recommend it highly. Too bad the company went out of business, while bike makers such as Trek and Specialized keep cranking out sub-par products for the same price I paid for one high-quality Balance.
Submitted by
Mike Caunedo
a weekend warrior
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: January 11, 1999
Bottom Line:
Have had a Balance AL 750 for about three years and really enjoyed it. Light, stiff and not everyone had one. This summer found a growing crack at the bottom of the headtube. Have not been able to contact the company since. Anyone have any ideas or can help me????
Submitted by
T-MAN
a cross-country rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: January 8, 1999
Bottom Line:
I've had my BALANCE AL550 for about three years now and I love it. I've tried more expensive frames, but haven't found a stronger, lighter frame for the money. I am in the process of rebuilding my bike from the ground up with Shimano XT components, grip shift, a Manitu shock and the works, so I can destroy these awsome trails in Colorado!
Submitted by
D-Day
a cross-country rider
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: August 24, 1998
Bottom Line:
I've owned a 19 Balance AL550 for three years now. It's still my main frame; I can't say much about the parts a Balance AL550 came with, because I bought the frame by itself. However, I've built it up with Ringle stem, Kooka cranks, Precision Billet rear derailleur, a USE shockpost, White Industries/Bontrager wheels, and other stuff, and it only weighs slightly more than 23 pounds. I love it, and I will never buy another frame until this one breaks. It's too bad Balance is no longer in production (at least I don't think it is, I haven't seen any ads in magazines), because my next bike would be a Balance as well. I also own a KHS and I used to own a Diamondback; neither of these bikes fit me as well as the Balance.
Submitted by
Tigger
a cross-country rider
from London, England
Date Reviewed: August 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
I lost my Balance 450 yesterday. I'm peeved off! I loved it. Lovely bike to ride and now it's gone. Hope the morons that nicked it bought the drugs they needed. They don't import them into the UK anymore.. Still, on the plus side I am insured. I rate my bike for the two years that it was in my possession the highest mark - cos nothing ever went wrong with it - it still looked fantastic even when it got progressively more and more scratched - and every one commented on how groovy it was... (AAAAaaaaaaaagh! I want my bike back!)
Submitted by
PunkRockGirl
a weekend warrior
from Way Out Here
Date Reviewed: June 17, 1998
Bottom Line:
I have had my Balance AL550 for 4 years now :) unfortunately no suspension so it is pretty teeth chattering on the trails :( however, I am a busy girl and most of my riding is on the pavement to and from campus :( so the lack of suspension actually is a bonus :)! Actually I bought it for the colour (green and silver) and the overall look. Yes, I am a satisfied customer (or should I say poser???). Whatever. The bike looks cool and therefore so must I when I fall off it repeatedly when I eventually hit the trails...
I've got an AL550 and it kicks ass. It's got a Manitou Mach 5 shock, Shimano LX derailers and gripshift. I've also got a Klien with a Maitou Mach 5, gripshift, clipless pedals, LX derailers, and some bomb ass tires. Both of these bikes are very bomb ass and all other bikes suck except freestyle.
Submitted by
MOULAN Cyril
a cross-country rider
from HERVE-BELGIUM
Date Reviewed: April 29, 1998
Bottom Line:
I have a Balance too.I'm very happy to have this bike and no another one!!! My girlfriend is a member of the team BALANCE and she has the most beautiful bike I' ever seen!! The most beautiful bike for the most beautiful girl, natural isn't it??? She is a member of the national team... I write maybe a lot of mistakes but english isn't my first langage. Let's talk about MY bike:It's theAL550, (how do you say fourche in english?) so, it's a Rock Shox.The bike is blue. HE IS FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the reason why I would like to know where Josh had bought his bike... The ONLY little problem I have is not really a problem, I don't like my Rock Shox, I would like a RST, a BOMBER or ...a MANITOU (the best!!). I hope not to have shocked many of you...I'm sorry Josh. I don't know where do you live but I suppose that's in the Colorado...WHOOAW! Colorado by bike, the DREAM.(Can you send me your address; phone number;...I would like to visit the colorado by bike...see you soon...........
