Spalding The Beast Glass Portable Basketball Hoop

This will be a two-part review ... the product, and the installation.It's the best portable system I've seen (and I've seen several). I'd give it a 10 on a scale of 1-10 for portable systems (most of the portable systems, including our old one, I would give a 2 or 3).But to help you compare it to a high school or college gym system, if a college hoop system with a glass backboard was a 10, I'd probably give this an 8. There is still some movement and vibration in play, but not much.I'd rate it better than most outdoor court backboards and better than many of the indoor courts (grade school and middle school) my son has played on that use metal or plexiglas backboards. Bottomline, it's not perfect, but if you need (and can afford) this portable system, I think you'll be pleased.Let me throw out a real plus for Amazon. We had problems with the freight company that delivered it. Won't bore you with the details, but Amazon made it right ... and I'd say went beyond what was necessary. I'm a fan of Amazon for sure.Now for the installation:First, it took me about 4 hours. If I were doing it again, it would probably take two or two and 1/2. I personally think the instructions are very good. And in my case, all the hardware was well packed in individual packages for each of the major installation steps. And it was all there. But there were no extra parts, so don't lose washers or bolts, etc..Let me give some setup hints that might be helpful that I haven't seen in other reviews.First, of course, read the instructions carefully. All warnings and important notes are there for a reason. I read the instructions online couple times before the shipment arrived, and still missed a few important details as I went through the setup. And make sure you look at the pictures carefully to ensure you have the right part alignment. Bottomline, read the instructions.The main pole assembly - this takes two people for sure. I used a ladder (some use the back end of a pick up truck to stand on. Bottomline, I stood up high, my son down low, and at my call, we raised it about 1 1/2 to 2 feet vertical (I lifted from up high, my son from down low), and then dropped it on the wood. Took us about four or five drops to get it fully seated. Much easier than I expected (about 5 minutes total). We did use WD-40, but not sure whether that mattered or not. As a caution, I reminded my son everytime, before each drop to keep his feet clear. Trust me, you would do some serious damage if you dropped the pole on someone's foot.When you install the main pole on the base, get nine inch socket extender. I happened to have 3-three inch extenders that I linked together, and it saved me a phenomenal amount of time tightening the nuts that hold the pole to the base. You need the extenders to have maneuver room.Believe it or not, with just the pole installed on the base, it doesn't tip over. That surprised me, but was good for installing the side braces.One little gotcha installing the wheel assembly ... on step 4 in the instructions, it shows a cutout of parts 14/15 and W7. Make sure you put bolt W7 through the hole in 14/15 before you install that part on the wheel axel. I didn't, and I had to undo it and reinstall. Just some wasted time.It's important to lean the pole on a sawhorse like they tell you. However, my sawhorse was actually to low, as I suspect most standard size sawhorses are. When you install the elevator tubes, make sure they are at least about six inches above the ground, as you'll need that when you install the backboard. Bottomline, the pictures show the pole leaning on a sawhorse with a lot of ground clearance. You need that ground clearance (and I didn't have it at first).I found installing the backboard to be my hardest step. Largely, because I didn't have a tall enough sawhorse so I didn't have eough ground clearance. I almost thought one time I was going to puncture the glass with one of the elevator tubes (fortunately I didn't). But you need two people for this at least. I'd recommend anchoring the lower elevator tubes to the backboard first, and then the upper (and freely moving) ones second. It may seem simple, but one of the tricky steps is trying to properly fit the plastic washer (part A4) betwen the elevator tube arm and the backboard frame. With my fumble fingers, it was a bit challenging with not much space to work.On the backboard assembly, I had to tighten the bolts just a little bit tighter than they recommended (they say flush, I had to go a turn or so further). You can play that one as your assembly dictates.Don't forget to fill the base about half way before you try to stand up the goal assembly (I did forget). Trust me, with an empty base, and the backboard installed, it will tip forward very easily. I almost lost it a couple times at this point. Would not have been cool to see it come crashing down.I found that it actually rolls pretty easily on asphalt or concrete. When you pull the gray front piece forward, it actually lowers the front wheels in place, letting it roll freely. It's real heavy (probably somewhere around 600 pounds when full of water/sand), but it rolls pretty well. But it will not roll at all on grass (didn't try it on dirt). It's simply too heavy and will sink in. I actually had to use some plywood ramps to get mine to it's final location.Installing the rim and fascia pieces was pretty straight forward (though again you need some coordinated fingers to get the rim bolts in the right place).All in all, I had a lot of fun putting it together, and my son is having a lot of fun practicing on it.Hope this helps a bit.

I researched several goals of various styles over the course of several weeks to try to get a good understanding of what was available and what would give me the most for my money.I was replacing a 20 year old fiberglass portable system (can't believe it lasted that long) for use by me and the family.If you truly love the game of basketball, and I do - you take a purist approach to wanting the best basketball experience you can have. With that in mind, I had a couple of things that were a higher priority to me and that is what I focused on.Backboard: There are various types of backboards available on the market. But I wanted something that was rigid and had the bounce and feel of a gym quality system. All backboards have their negatives to one degree or another, but 'real' glass or metal backboards give you the best experience. Just walk into a Sports Authority or Dick's Sporting goods and take one of the balls and bounce it off the various display backboards and you will see and feel the deadness (lack of bounce) of everything that is NOT glass. There is no comparison. The fact that this has a 60" glass backboard was also a huge selling point for me. College/Pro backboards measure in at 72". Without adequate real estate on a backboard you never really have the chance to learn the beauty of the bank shot and how to utilize the entire surface.Rigidness: One of the drawbacks of outside/portable systems is the flex or shaking of the goal/system when the ball hits the rim or backboard. This affects the shot or rebound and takes away from the game. While this system is massive, coming in at over 700lbs with a full base, there is some 'flex'. It is more prevalent when the ball strikes the front of the rim and less when it hits the backboard or base of the rim. Do NOT try to over-tighten the support braces and brackets to eliminate this. If you do, you are subjecting yourself to the possibility of the glass backboard system shattering (Pay attention to the installation manual and note when it tells you to only tighten to a certain point - this is specific to the backboard mounting). Overall - this system provides better rigidness than all other portable systems and even beats a lot of the in-ground systems as well.The item came in 3 large boxes that were bound together and their contents well packed. Remove all of the contents and lay them out in areas related to the content of the box.I read the installation horror stories on various reviews, but I have to tell you that the install was very straight forward and was easily done within a few hours with the help of my 14 year old son. The instruction manual is dead on and all of the bolts/nuts/washers are all color coded and labeled by number codes that are referenced in the manual. Only open the bolt/nut/washer set you need as you go. I would recommend reading through the manual before beginning the installation and taking a yellow highlighter and marking all of the notices/important notes as you go through so it ensures you see them when you get to that page. As mentioned above - there are specific notes when mounting the backboard that you DO NOT tighten beyond a certain point. Keep this in mind or you could be one of those that shatters the backboard.Other installation notes: I highly recommend that you use a 12" extension as recommended by other users, I had one but I could see where you could face some major frustrations without one.When connecting the 5" poles together - take the advice of others and lubricate (WD-40) the inside and outside of the connecting joint before trying to put these together. I was expecting this to be a major hurdle when we got here, but after spraying some WD-40 it was almost effortless getting these together using the method mentioned in the manual.Once the installation was completed, we had to move the goal 15-20 feet from the installation point to its final position on the court. Considering the size and limited turning ratio of the goal itself - it was pretty easy to maneuver and once the handle is positioned back against the goal - the front wheels are lifted and the system rests on a set rubber bumpers.Once we were set on position we cranked the goal to the 10' marker on the pole. However, when taking a measurement from the ground to the rim, there was about a 4-5 inch difference. I had to crank the goal past the 10' marker (which the manual recommends not going past the set range) to reach the 10' height. I don't know if this pre-installed sticker was misplaced at the factory but I didn't feel we were pushing the edge of the systems ability to get it to a true 10' mark.After several days of heavy use, I would say that this is a great system and highly recommended. It was out of my initial price range, but to get what I thought was the best portable system that would provide me with years of enjoyment - I went ahead and spent a little more. The fact that you are saving a couple hundred dollars on the price alone compared to sports retailers (and no tax) just adds to the value of this system.UPDATE (10/11/13)After several months of use, The Beast is still 100% recommended.We play on it daily and have had nothing but a great experience with it. I've even gone back and spot checked nuts and bolts and everything is just as snug as the day we put it together. The system in incredibly durable and has taken the abuse of thousands of basketballs hitting the glass from every angle and/or depth.This is a must have for anyone looking at portable or even non-portable systems.UPDATE 08/05/15:This goal is still going strong and has been subjected to the elements and hours (and hours) of basketball play. Still very pleased with the goal, but wanted to bring attention to an issue that I have come across as it relates to the hardware itself.The rim for this goal is decent, but probably my biggest complaint with the system myself. The rim is solid, but is loud when your shot hits the rim. Over time, the mounting bolts/nuts for the rim will come loose and create play between the rim and backboard. I have attempted to replace bolts/nuts with new hardware from Home Depot, but the problem still returned after several months of play. I would suggest using something like Loctite Threadlocker when assembling this part of the goal to help alleviate this sort of problem.I contacted Spalding support in hopes that there would be an compatible 'upgrade' option for a higher end rim that would help with the noise, but I was told the rim that came with it is the only one that is compatible with the system. That was a bit disappointing, but I can live with it.Outside of this small issue, the goal is still VERY highly recommended.