Jones Mind Expander

Jones Mind Expander 2020

The Jones Mind Expander is a weird one, at first it looks like just a powder board, but it actually rides completely differently to how I expected it to.

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Features of the Jones Mind Expander

• 3D Contour Base 3.0
  The base of the Mind Expander is spooned in the nose and the tail, which means that the edges are beveled up. The blue parts on the graphic below show the amount of spoon, there is lots more on the gigantic nose. The idea of the 3d base contours is to give the board better float in deep snow, as well as making it smooth turning edge to edge.
• Christenson Surf Rocker
  There is tons of rocker on the nose of the board, which starts just inside of the front inserts. The rocker on the tail of the board starts at the back of the rear inserts. All together the huge rocker in the nose (and spooned profile) is made to give the board crazy float in deep snow.
• Traction Tech
  It must be this season that they have stopped calling it Magne-Traction, and are calling it Traction Tech now. The idea of serrated edges on the board means that when you are turning the board, your weigh is focused on the serrations in the sidecut, rather than evenly over the whole board, which means that you get better edge hold when the snow is hardpacked and icy.
• Blunt Nose
  The idea of a blunt nose is made to give the the benefits of a longer nose, although this board has a giant nose, so I don’t really think that calling it a blunt nose applies at all.
• Progressive Sidecut
  On a board with a progressive sidecut, it means that the sidecut is designed to give you a smooth and easy turn initiation (starting a turn) and easy exit to turns keeping everything smooth.
• Directional Shape
  It is pretty obvious with this board, but the directional shape means that it is designed to ride much better in the regular direction than it does switch.
• 6/10 Flex Rating
• Flip Flop Base
  The base material alternated between boards to reduce waste, so for example some boards might have a white base with a black logo, while the next board might have a black base with a white logo.
• Sintered 9900 Base
  A hard and fast material, that soaks up wax really well and keeps you riding quickly.
• Wend Natural Wax
  It just means that the boards come waxed from the factory with Wend natural wax.
• Bamboo Surf Core
  The bamboo surf core has three densities of wood, with bamboo stringers that are in the pocket of the sidecut for better turning powder and edge response.
• Biax Fiberglass
  Two directions of fiberglass, that give a more cruisy and forgiving flex to the board, that is a bit less aggressive than triax.
• Factory Tuned
  The board has a factory detune on the tip and tail of the board, so you can ride it straight out of the plastic.
• Recycled ABS Sidewalls
  The ABS plastic used in the sidewalls is recycled.
• Oversized Recycled Edges
  The edges are bigger than normal to keep them strong, and made from recycled steel.
• Eco-Plastic Topsheet
  The topsheet is a Bio-plastic material, that is made from Castor beans. It is lightweight, resistant to chips and scratches and is made so that less snow sticks to it.

Sizes Available:

• 150cm
• 154cm
• 158cm

How the Jones Mind Expander rides

The Jones Mind Expander is a surprise ride.

I rode it with a 22.5inch stance, with the bindings

Size: 154cm
Stance: 22.5inch
Bindings: Flux TM
Angles: +15/-12
Boots: Salomon Launch Boa SJ

The snow was varied from fresh heavy spring snow, very hardpacked snow in the shape, to soft slush in the afternoon.

Flex & Camber Profile

Overall the Mind Expander felt like a mid flexing rocker board. It doesn’t take too much effort to flex the board, and it pushes back nicely (for a reverse camber board). Not being overly soft, it would still ride through chopped up heavy snow and slush without a problem.

I wasn’t able to ride it on a proper pow day, but I can imagine that the giant spooned nose and short tail would float easily. That being said, I can see why it isn’t just described as a pow board.

Shape

Obviously directional, the nose is much longer than the tail. Although it definitely isn’t designed for it, riding switch wasn’t a problem.

Speed

One of the major features of the Mind Expander is the base. It is a Sintered 9900 base, which means that I was able to easily catch up to anyone, and ended up weaving past everyone on slower cat tracks. Even when the sun had been out for a while and the snow was getting slushly and slowing down, the board was much faster than everyone else.

Although you will see the big nose bouncing around when you are riding fast, it is a more stable board than I expected.

Big, wide fast turns held well, and I would have expected a flat/rocker board to have a looser feeling than this did. I would assume that a lot of that is helped out by the Magne-Traction edges.

Overall

The Mind Expander was much more fun than I expected. Although it has the look of a specific pow board, it does really well all over the mountain. The big nose and directional look make you think that it is going to have want to make big and wide turns, but in reality it has a smaller sidecut, so quick and tight turns are very easy, it is a much more maneouvarble than it looks. The pretty big amount of spoon in the nose and the tail keep it from being catchy.

If you are someone who wants a board that could ride anywhere, turn quickly and take into deep snow, a board with a weird shape like this could be good.

Another board that is kind of similar is the Ride Warpig. Short, fat and wide, with a big nose – it is worth having a look at.

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