# What ever happened to?



## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

What ever happened to Barracuda, Balance and Parkpre? They seemed to be up and coming makers in the early to mid 90s and now they seemed to have vanished. Balance even had "Bike of the Year" honors from one of the mags. Anyone know the stories behind them?


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## slowride (Jan 13, 2004)

Barracuda, I think, got sold to someone who then went out of business, kinda like Ibis. I remember hearing around 1999 that they got sold and the new owners were going to have some new models.

ParkPre is sort of still around, in Italy: parkpre

I don't have a clue about Balance. Maybe Mike King knows?


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

laffeaux said:


> What ever happened to Barracuda, Balance and Parkpre? They seemed to be up and coming makers in the early to mid 90s and now they seemed to have vanished. Balance even had "Bike of the Year" honors from one of the mags. Anyone know the stories behind them?


I saw a few Balance jerseys in my 96 MBActions...did they ever put out a good bike?

I always kind of thought Cudas, Balance, and Parkpre's were...uh...entry level?

Although the Dos XX Equis Team was a cool bike.


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## Guitar Ted (Jan 14, 2004)

*Back in the day.....*



Rumpfy said:


> I saw a few Balance jerseys in my 96 MBActions...did they ever put out a good bike?
> 
> I always kind of thought Cudas, Balance, and Parkpre's were...uh...entry level?
> 
> Although the Dos XX Equis Team was a cool bike.


 I worked for a shop that was a Park Pre and a Barracuda dealer, amongst other brands. Park Pre had some pretty cool hardtails back then, like the 925 team bike. I owned one of these, and it was my favorite bike from back then. I'd even ride one now, if I could find one! They had prestige steel tubes that measured .9mm-.5mm-.9mm wall thickness. Thus the "925" model name. They also had some pretty amazingly putrid paintjobs! Think 66 chevy trunk interior splatter. I know a guy in town who has one of the "Sledgehammer" models, full campy offroad! So, yeah, they did some cool stuff.
Barracuda was a great value for the buck spent and did some cool hardtails like the Dos Equis bikes you mention. One of my co-workers at the time had one of those- very nice aluminum frame. Yes both of these companies did high end stuff, check them out if you get the chance!


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

These were actually all high end race bikes with race teams. 

Balance and Park Pre both have world championship gold medals to their names. Johnny Mutolo won the Junior worlds in Italy, and Mike King won the DH worlds I think in 93.

Barracuda had Jimmy Kight riding for them and I think an XC guy.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

*johnny mutolo...*



Fillet-brazed said:


> These were actually all high end race bikes with race teams.
> 
> Balance and Park Pre both have world championship gold medals to their names. Johnny Mutolo won the Junior worlds in Italy, and Mike King won the DH worlds I think in 93.
> 
> Barracuda had Jimmy Kight riding for them and I think an XC guy.


what about mutolo's horrendous downhill crash in mammoth? did he recover?
park pre had a ti fframe, made by litespeed (like everybody else then) that looked sweet.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

I havent seen him since then. I think I heard he was ok. Pretty scary though.


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## Jeroen (Jan 12, 2004)

I had two Balance's. My first real MTB was a AL450 and my second was the AL750, which I still have and currently have build up as a singlespeed to play around a bit.

The last year Balance was in reall bizz was 1998 as far as I recall. The brand was the brainchild of former BMX rider Harry Leary. Mike King made the breakthrough for Balance, when he won some nice stuff around '93. 

Balance was owned by a Taiwan company. What ever did happen, I don't know.. but since 1998 they stopped making bikes under the 'Balance' brand. I believe the name was sold or so, since in 1999 the brand appeared in Europe, Germany to be specific. The bikes did not look a lot like the 'original's'.. and I believe that was all there was about it. They've become a member of those brands that never lived very long.


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## Shaun K (Mar 23, 2004)

Digging up an old thread...

I had a 1993 Team 925 for 3 years, and loved riding it. The problem at the time was that I didn't realize how nice a ride it was. It was my first steel bike; the guy at the shop had to convince me it was every bit as good as the Cannondale SM500 I had just sold. Rode it for 3 years, learned how to work on bikes, and generally had a good time with it. I wasn't into high-end stuff at the time, so steel frames from Fat, Ritchey, and Bontrager meant nothing to me yet. Ended up selling it to buy a Pro-Flex Animal (wtf was I thinking), then bought a '96 Super V 2000 when I had an employee discount at the shop.

While working there though, I rode a co-workers Fat Chance a few times and saw the light. Now I just wish I hadn't sold the bike. I still have the original ti-finish 1-1/8 quill stem though; I just need a frame to go with it. Anyone got a 19" Parkpre kicking around? 

The day after I bought it...LX Rapidfire, Porc/Smoke, Manitou 2.









A couple years later...EFC, thumbshifters, Nuke-Proof hubs (never did break those).











Guitar Ted said:


> I worked for a shop that was a Park Pre and a Barracuda dealer, amongst other brands. Park Pre had some pretty cool hardtails back then, like the 925 team bike. I owned one of these, and it was my favorite bike from back then. I'd even ride one now, if I could find one! They had prestige steel tubes that measured .9mm-.5mm-.9mm wall thickness. Thus the "925" model name. They also had some pretty amazingly putrid paintjobs! Think 66 chevy trunk interior splatter. I know a guy in town who has one of the "Sledgehammer" models, full campy offroad! So, yeah, they did some cool stuff.
> Barracuda was a great value for the buck spent and did some cool hardtails like the Dos Equis bikes you mention. One of my co-workers at the time had one of those- very nice aluminum frame. Yes both of these companies did high end stuff, check them out if you get the chance!


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## surlytman (Nov 9, 2005)

FWIW and time may have messed with the details. Barracuda was started by a dude whose dad was a successfull car dealer in Michigan? Daddy bankrolled it. They lived the high life in Colorado with a company party pad, sponsored lots of racers and in the end it wasnt working.................................somebody tell me if I am wrong. I camped with a another dealer that knew the crew and had been out there in the mid 90s, that was his story.


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

surlytman said:


> FWIW and time may have messed with the details. Barracuda was started by a dude whose dad was a successfull car dealer in Michigan? Daddy bankrolled it. They lived the high life in Colorado with a company party pad, sponsored lots of racers and in the end it wasnt working.................................somebody tell me if I am wrong. I camped with a another dealer that knew the crew and had been out there in the mid 90s, that was his story.


State's right and the daddy part too, but it was Steelcase, the furniture maker.


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

*Balance*

I had a Balance AL450 with STXRC and a Mag 21. It was silver and purple fade. Some POS stole it from the gym in 97 I think it was.

A freind of mine used to sell 'Cudas.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I had one of the balance full suspensions, the manitou frame clone with the RST rear shocks (not unfortunetly the nicer Proforx internals version that Mike king rode). Sold it to a local, might still be somewhere around town.


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## djspookman (May 25, 2004)

I have (and still ride) a 1994 Balance XR 750 steel framed (Tange Prestiege) bike. I used this as my race bike in high school (shop sponsored ride) and today its my singlespeed! I love the ride it gives. It handles my abuse pretty well and I've been happy with its performance!

dave


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## Debaser (Jan 12, 2004)

*Parkpre*

I've got a ParkPre Pro 825 frame in the garage, a'la 1995. I bought it and a brand spanking new Judy SL to race on it. I loved it, it was great. I was trying to build it up about a year ago, and was nearly there, when I scored a great deal on a frame for my wife, and all the parts went byebye.

** Found a picture, in nearly ready for riding condition.**


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## auntesther (Dec 2, 2004)

djspookman said:


> I have (and still ride) a 1994 Balance XR 750 steel framed (Tange Prestiege) bike. I used this as my race bike in high school (shop sponsored ride) and today its my singlespeed! I love the ride it gives. It handles my abuse pretty well and I've been happy with its performance!
> 
> dave


I have the same frame...bought it on closeout somewhere years ago for like 99 bucks. Great frame...I just recently built it back up to use. But rides very nice


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## apexspeed (Jul 6, 2004)

My old Balance AL550 which was my dual slalom bike when I was active and racing. It's now been rebuilt with many of my old, expensive and now worthless parts and is my wife's daily ride. She laughs when people on the trails comment on her bike and the parts on it. She knows its geek stuff, but can't tell the difference between a $200 Trek and what she's riding.


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## Jeroen (Jan 12, 2004)

My first MTB was an AL450 from '97. A year and 15.000km later I bought an AL750 frame which I build up reasembling some of the colors GT used in 95/96 which appealed to me... back than...  (how times can change!)










The AL750 in its last incarnation (5yrs back at least) :


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## TSG (Mar 1, 2006)

Barracuda was sold to Ross. They're still around, mostly in Britain.
Parkpre is still around, also mostly in europe.
I've heard that Balance folded completely.


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## djspookman (May 25, 2004)

auntesther said:


> I have the same frame...bought it on closeout somewhere years ago for like 99 bucks. Great frame...I just recently built it back up to use. But rides very nice


Is yours dark purple like mine?

see pic...


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## djspookman (May 25, 2004)

apexspeed said:


> My old Balance AL550 which was my dual slalom bike when I was active and racing. It's now been rebuilt with many of my old, expensive and now worthless parts and is my wife's daily ride. She laughs when people on the trails comment on her bike and the parts on it. She knows its geek stuff, but can't tell the difference between a $200 Trek and what she's riding.


nice Balance's man! I really like the one up top with the spinergys!!

dave


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## apexspeed (Jul 6, 2004)

djspookman said:


> nice Balance's man! I really like the one up top with the spinergys!!


 Thanks! Same bike; the top one is circa 1996 or '97 and the bottom one is the way my wife rides it today. Very nice frame for the price.


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## caboverpete (Apr 25, 2004)

I had a Balance FS Pro the last year they were around, my dad actually still uses on the local rails-to-trails around here. I'll have to get a pic soon.


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## roaddog (Aug 30, 2004)

Parkpre is around in some form. Looks like they are supplying bikes for a pro domestic road team in California for the upcoming season.


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## surlytman (Nov 9, 2005)

ssmike said:


> State's right and the daddy part too, but it was Steelcase, the furniture maker.


Thanks for the clarification. The story was told to me over many beers alongside a campfire in the Chequamegon.


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## schmed (Feb 22, 2004)

*Ressurrecting this old thread*

My old Balance AL750 is still going strong. That bike has been through a lot and is now my wife's mountain bike, my bike when I tow the burley trailer with the kids, and a bike that we lend out to people when they visit!

I stripped the purple fade and made it all polished based on an article in MBA. The next month's magazine had a retraction that basically said "don't strip the paint off your aluminum bike like we told you last month, cuz you'll have big problems" or something to that effect. My wife still laughs at that story and how stupid I was to do that. :eekster:

It's now sitting in my office as I'm loaning it to a co-worker for a triathlon!










I bought it from Seal Beach Cycles in SoCal. The shop owner was an Elvis fanatic and the build sheet (that I still have) has a form they filled out for each bike they built. On the "Built by_________" space, it says "Elvis", so I think I might have the only bike in the world built by Elvis.

The reason that I bought it is that he had a polished AL650 (?) hanging in the front of the shop when I went in to have my Univega worked on. I couldn't stop staring at that beautiful polished frame!

By the way, there's an AL750 on the Denver Craigslist bike section right now for sale.


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

I had a 1995 Balance AL450 - Mag21 with STXRC - until some bastard stole it.


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## penelec (Jul 21, 2006)

Schmed, where'd you get the decals? Does Balance -- in any form -- still exist to sell after-market stickers? (Anyone know Harry Leary's e-mail?)


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## penelec (Jul 21, 2006)

I worked at a BS in the early '90s and bought a Balance AL-550. Rode it rigid, raced it a bunch in Western NY and PA, and loved it. Then i got a Cannondale and used the Balance as a kid-bike (seat on the rack). Then something happened -- maybe a weight thing. I noticed i liked the feel of the Balance waaay better than my Cannondale (it was a Lefty-'quipped 800) so I went back to the Balance. I, too, stripped off the paint, and am waiting to see what happens...



















edit for some pix


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## azjeff (Jun 3, 2006)

I sold Barracuda and ParkPre bikes in the mid 90s. The ParkPres had some pretty cool parts including Pulstar hubs but they were overpriced for the spec and a bit heavy. Kinda the same with Barracuda. Nice spec and graphics but overpriced and underknown. The frames had the funny ovalized/teardrop shaped top and downtubes. The rep told me the whole reason for the ovalized tubes was not for handling and ride characteristics..it was to have bigger graphics. The later Barracuda stuff was all low end after it got sold to the same distributor that had the Jeep branded bikes. ParkPre stood for Park Precision as I recall.


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## Judd120 (Mar 13, 2012)

*My Balance AL-750*

Hi Everyone,

I found this thread while looking for a new Bottom Bracket for my Balance AL-750... can you believe the old Shimano UN51 has lasted since 1996... that's nearly 15 years of hard riding!!!

Anyway, I didn't realise that there were other people out there who have and still love this bike brand!! I picked up my AL-750 while living in Sweden back in 1996 and it is a joy! I've still got all the original parts, though I've changed the saddle, headset, pedals, brakes, tires and replaced the Xray shifters... check out the pics! I just love the Xray shifters and have recently got replacements off Ebay. There's nothing comparable today!

It's an amazing bike and regularly beats the heck out of modern MTBs on the straight... the Al-750 is so fast and looks so good!

Best wishes to you all! Comments are welcome!

Jude


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## KDXdog (Mar 15, 2007)

The love it so much the last post was 6 years ago...


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## Tedsky (Sep 6, 2016)

*Parkpre - unknown model, S/N F501A001, other marks on bottom bracket - 5S 07*



KDXdog said:


> The love it so much the last post was 6 years ago...


And now it's another 4 years since your post .

Anyone have any idea about this Parkpre's model name?
S/N - F501A001
Other - 5S 07

These are on underside of bottom bracket

Thanks for any help!
Ted


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## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

Barracuda had the best team vehicle. A school bus painted in team/Dos Equis colors with a huge pre runner front bumper. I remember hanging out there on the bus at the Big Bear National (93 I think) talking bikes with Tammy Jacques.


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## Tedsky (Sep 6, 2016)

Hey Azjeff,

Any clues about the Parkpre codes under the bottom bracket?
I just posted numbers found there on a Parkpre just acquired over the weekend,
Trying to ascertain the model and year, if possible.

S/N: F501A001
Other: 5S 07

Thanks in advance,
Ted


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