I saw a 1-year video review for this leg press, where the listing says the brand is BalanceFrom but the photo says Signature Fitness. Whatever may be the case, $700 for a leg press would present phenomenal value for a homegym looking to add lower-body isolation machines.
Now, I already have my Frankenstein Force USA leg press/hack squat/preacher curl machine, but I do think it’s interesting that this $700 machine natively supports removing the wide bar, thus narrowing the width requirement. However, because the alternative bar is located above the carriage, some floor space will still need to be dedicated on either side of the machine to load weights. Whereas on my Force USA machine, the alternative bar is below the carriage, meaning it can be loaded from behind the machine, which can then be pushed up against a wall.
Still, for half the price, $700 gets rails that run smooth and only a few minor quality-of-life issues that the video review noted, such as limitations for tall people. No hack squat though, but that might be a fair trade off at this price point for a full-and-proper leg press, rather than a “leg sled”, the term used by Garage Gym Reviews.
Has anyone used one of these? Thoughts?
I did see that website, and while it does seem perfectly reasonable for a brand’s website, almost everything listed is out of stock. So I wasn’t sure whether it’s some sort of abandoned site.
The video review did say this product is a clone of an established product, so I imagine all the corners were cut in R&D and instead pays mostly for the manufacturing and shipping.
I’d imagine this is unlikely but do they have a floor model available at a local store? That’s a crazy price for a leg press. To your point, they could very well have cut corners on cloning this but it seems to at least feature a robust design.
I’m not aware of a floor model – I don’t really go to Walmart all that often – but I have to imagine that fit-and-finish might not be prioritized when producing a clone. Still, as an assembled hunk of steel, there may still be value in it.
That’s fair. It’s still a substantial purchase; I wonder if they’d let you have a look in person if you contacted them about it.