As fall approached, I found myself skating my rain board more often than any of my other boards. I began to resent it. It was fun, no doubt. Nimble, surfy, a kicktail and easy to hop off curbs, when necessary. But my commute changed recently. I skated more to and from work than I used to, sometimes miles more. On a small cruiser that rides as high as the 27″ Penny board (“Nickel”) with 70mm wheels, it was difficult. Stopping on cold, wet ground, pushing, and just maintaining control grew tougher. I knew I couldn’t continue to use a mini cruiser like the Penny deck for an everyday rain board. It would have to become a fun, weekend rainy day play thing. I’d need something new for my commute.
So I went back to the drawing board. I decided I needed a drop through board, preferably a double drop, but I’d take a top mount with a large drop. I needed it to be waterproof. I wanted it to be wide and low. I wanted reverse kingpin trucks for stability.
But this post won’t be about everything I did to create RainBoard 2.0. Instead, this is about the complete that became the base of that project: the Hard Cider from Beercan Boards. This is a top mount with a large drop, wide deck, stiff ride, finger holes, and did I mention it’s made from recycled aluminum? This definitely changes what you’d expect from a board.
The Beercan Boards Hard Cider deserves to be more than the base of RainBoard 2.0, it deserves a full review.
Table of Contents
What are Beercan Boards?
Beercan Boards aren’t necessarily made of beer cans. They are, however, made out of recycled aluminum, which means they very well may be made of beer cans. It’s an American company, based in Georgia.
I spent most of my childhood in rural areas, surrounded by trees. I’ve also maintained a healthy fanaticism with all things science, as well as humanities and, unfortunately, politics. The environment has always been very important to me. Honestly, part of the reason I have so many Landyachtz boards is because they plant a tree for every skateboard they sell. But Beercan Boards addresses the environment in a different way: reusing waste. Even a diamond was once nothing more than a lump of coal, and these boards were once discarded cans with remnants of that last drop of beer or soda. Now given new life as one of the greenest forms of transport: skateboards!
The company makes their boards with recycled aluminum and plastics. They even will recycle old or damaged boards you send them, and, for $50, give you a new board. Their trucks come from Bear (Landyachtz), and they make their wheels in-house. Their boards are hand-made per order, and take about a week to ship as a result. But what you get is something made in America, from recycled yet quality parts. It’s kind of wholesome, in an environmentalist way.
The Deck
You can crush an aluminum can in your hand, how sturdy could this deck be? Very. It’s my stiffest board. Many trucks are made of aluminum. Engine blocks are made of aluminum now. Aluminum can be very strong, yet light for metal. Though it’s still heavier than wood. For some aluminum board manufacturers, like ThreeSix Downhill, they counter this weight with holes throughout the board. Many holes. Beercan doesn’t do that. It’s just a thin aluminum sheet with strong rails.
There are holes in it, but it’s not for weight savings. They’re Beercan Boards’ unique finger hole grommets, which allow you to hold your board through the grommets, rather than the edge, as you would a wooden board. You’re going to need that. The board is heavy and thin metal. It’s basically the idea behind a sword or an axe. If you don’t use the finger holes to hold this board, it’s going to hurt after a while. The board’s not sharp, it’s just heavy and thin.
The weight is definitely my least favorite part of the deck, though it does add one benefit, which I’ll get to in a second. It can be a bit of a strain to carry for a while. My recommendation? Skate on it rather than carrying it as often as possible. But let’s face it, that’s not always going to be possible.
Even when you skate it, you notice that weight. This is a top mount with a considerable drop. That means your weight is low, and pivoting from the top of the trucks. It kind of feels like swinging back and forth on a swing as you carve. You can actually carve too deeply quite easily. I found this gave the board a feeling of unreliability. Lean too much and it’ll buck you off.
That weight isn’t always a problem though. In fact, in my testing, sliding is surprisingly confidence inspiring. The combination of low weight and stiff design make sliding an almost mechanical, easy process. Almost like a video game. Press R to slide. The wheels I used while testing this were all quite slideable, if that’s a word (it’s not), but I believe the weight and rigidity of the board also helped contribute to these stable, smooth slides.
Still, it’s very heavy, and I don’t think the benefits outweigh (puns!) that issue.
The Trucks
Part of the reason I decided to get a complete rather than just buying the deck and adding everything else myself was the fact that the complete came with Bear trucks. I was thinking of getting Bear trucks or 43º Paris V3 trucks anyway. The Bear trucks would allow me to create a stable center, perfect for long cruises in the rain.
These are Bear 852 trucks. They’re stable, have a surfy feel, and can be flipped for stability. This turns the positive rake into negative rake, giving you more lean before a turn dives in. It’s means you have to commit to your turns, and reduces some of the wobbliness of a lot of positive rake. The Bear Trucks have a bushing seat design that lays flat against the bushing in either configuration. Some trucks, like my Paris V3’s, don’t sit as flat.
I flipped the hangers after my first time out with this deck. I was skating down a Manhattan street that, by the miracle of lights and the fact that skateboarding is faster than driving in this ridiculous city, I had a lot of clear road before me and behind me. You know what that means.
So, I’m swerving around a lot, testing the trucks and nimble nature. Dipping and weaving in tight turns. I flew too close to the sun on wings of wax. Being a goof does not make for a stable platform, but I’m Danielle, I can do anything! Including getting thrown off my board. I ran it off and was fine, but, yeah, not the most stable platform for that. It doesn’t help that the Bear trucks are so unreliable in their turning and lean structure. You’ve got to really commit to a turn to make them even remotely predictable, and the force pushing you back to center isn’t consistent.
After getting to work, I flipped the hangers. Is it far more stable now? Well, a little. I did find it added some more stability, less dive, more lean. That’s what I was going for. But it wasn’t a large drastic difference. Those bushing seats are still a mess.
Bear trucks are infamous for their deep bushing seats. In fact, some people outright hated this, and Bear updated them for this model. Still, they’re incredibly restrictive. Add some bushings with a lot of rebound, and the return to center on these would be almost jarring. With the softer bushings that come stock, it’s not quite jarring, but it’s not predictable. After some consideration, I wouldn’t recommend buying Bear 852 trucks for any application.
The Wheels
Beercan offers complete decks with Shark Wheels. I did not get one of those. The standard option were “Drag Slicks,” which… didn’t sound much more comforting. That sounded like something you’d hear offered, well, like Shark Wheels: made to sound cooler than they actually are. I figured, for the price of the deck and trucks, I was getting the wheels for literally less than nothing (the complete is cheaper than the deck and trucks alone). Plus, you can’t get Drag Slicks anywhere else, they’re Beercan’s own. So I gave them a shot.
I don’t know any details of these wheels. They’re not printed on the wheel, and these exact wheels aren’t on the website. But it’s an offset core with about 80a hardness, maybe 78a. The diameter is 70mm, and there’s about a 44mm contact patch. They’re soft and stone ground, with a beveled edge. Upon examination, I realized they were freeride wheels. After my first slide, I confirmed this.
Now, I only used these for a day or two on my Beercan board for testing. Then, it rained, and I built the beta version of RainBoard 2.0. That included Eastside rain wheels. I did, however, throw them on a different board, my Sector 9 Meridian. There I confirmed: they slide. Still, I put my Orangatang Morongas back on.
I can’t say anything about the longevity or wear patterns of these. I’ve only had them out a few times thanks to the cold and short days. Do they slide well after a lot of sliding or longer slides? Do they chunk? Wear super fast, or leave thick thane lines? Would I still like them if I spent more than a (cumulative) hour on them? I can’t say. But in the little I’ve played with them, they feel similar to other freeride wheels. Some grip, easy to slip, and gripping back up isn’t too tricky.
From what I can tell (so far), they’re not bad, and you wouldn’t regret getting them on your board. Especially since Beercan basically pays you to get them. I’m not sure yet if I would seek them out on my own though.
The Bearings
I don’t always have a section on bearings, but these were kind of awful. And it’s not just the fault of the bearings, but also that I had to include my own spacers. I’ve done this too frequently; I didn’t have a spare spacer to place here. There were some speed rings though, which typically come with the trucks, so at least I had those. I loosened the nuts a bit, and had something workable, but these will have to sit in my parts bin as a “I desperately need a bearing because this one seized up” backup bearing.
They’re not very good.
I’d place them around ABEC 5 or 3, worse than base-level Spaceballs, even, Landyachtz’ brand that I don’t like very much. Grab some cheap steel Zealous or splurge on Bones Reds with extended races, you’ll definitely be happier.
Designs and Craftsmanship
I bought this board on a whim. I had skated about a mile to a bar to meet up with friends and, upon getting there, was feeling really good. I always feel great after a skate. I checked the weather and saw rain all the next week. I was discussing my plans for RainBoard 2.0, and one of my friends enabled me. I just said, you know what, that’s my expense for this month! So I bought it there in the bar from my iPhone. It was a quick decision, but I hadn’t seen it anything from them in my local shop before, so I knew I could only get it online anyway.
A few days later I’m wondering why I haven’t received a shipment notification. I did order it in a bar that was a bit underground, what if there was something wrong with the signal? I worry too much, so I waited a few more days. A little after a week, I sent a message to support making sure my payment went through and they received the order. They had, she said, in fact they were finishing painting it that day and would be assembling it for shipment tomorrow.
Wait, painting? Assembling?
I checked their website, and, sure enough, they assemble, paint, and grip each one by hand per order. They even do custom designed grip tape. I had seen that they did custom jobs, but I thought that was only if you specified. Not the case. Every single board.
The deck does come in a wide variety of colors. I got black because of my plans for a rain board, and I liked the way it made the design of the grip tape kind of hidden except at the right angle (I blasted it with light from a side angle for these photos). I thought that would be cool.
So each one is made by hand, painted, assembled, and shipped for your order. Expect longer shipping times, but more customization than you’re probably used to with skateboards. Usually you just pick one or two of the available designs and in rare cases, you get wheel or truck options.
Overall
This is a very cool board. Heavy aluminum, however, does not make it a daily driver. I could see using a Beercan board specifically for weekend hill bombing, but I don’t think I’d pick the Hard Cider for that. Instead, I’d go for one of their drop through decks, likely the Oat Soda or Kegger. This is good for freeride, distances, and commuting, but the weight of it makes it a little awkward for commutes.
For what I need, an occasional use rain commuter, it’s great. But it’s definitely heavier than most of my other boards. It’s heavier than my 44″ Bamboo Pinner (9″ longer). It’s about the weight of my 40″ Sector 9 Meridian, a freeride/downhill board that’s 5 inches longer and includes 9-ply maple. However, because the Hard Cider only has two finger holes and you can’t hold it by the edge, it feels heavier than the longer deck. It’s also about one and a half to two pounds heavier than similar sized wooden boards.
As much as I like this board while riding it, carrying it up and down the stairs of train stations, in bars and restaurants, or just in buildings, is a bit of a pain. I kind of feel like I’m one of those people lugging around their awkwardly sized and weighted One Wheels or giant electric skateboards.
So, yes, this will become a regular in my lineup, because I made it into a rain board and it’s certainly fun. But I can’t see using it as my only board due to that weight. It’s worth noting that, I am a girl, and therefore likely not as strong than most skaters, who, let’s be honest, skew male pretty heavily. Still, I’ve been to a gym, I’ve done some weight lifting, I’ve gone bouldering, I can do at least one pull up, and I’m generally not a weakling. Unless you’re a lot stronger than me, you will notice this weight. It’s definitely more awkward to hold than any of my other boards. I can’t imagine it being someone’s everyday board if they have a wooden option with similar size and shape. However, if you need a good rain pusher, or you really want a heavy, stiff board for freeriding, I could recommend it. Those grommets mean you can hold a wet board without getting your hands messy.
I’ve definitely had a lot of fun on Beercan’s Hard Cider. While it’s admittedly not my favorite board, it’s certainly good for tackling rain and giving me confidence when the road is slick. It’s going to enable me to skate every day and have a blast doing it, and for that, it’s perfect despite its flaws.
