Burton Free Thinker Snowboard Review

Hello and welcome to my Burton Free Thinker snowboard review.

In this review, I will take a look at the Free Thinker as an aggressive all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Free Thinker a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other aggressive all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Burton Free Thinker

Price: $639

Style: Aggressive All-Mountain-Freestyle

Flex Rating: Medium-Stiff

Flex Feel on Snow: Medium bordering on medium-stiff (6.5/10)

Rating Score: 93.2/100

Compared to other Men’s Aggressive All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards

Overview of the Free Thinker’s Specs

Check out the tables for the Free Thinker’s specs and available sizes.

Specs

Who is the Free Thinker Most Suited To?

The Free Thinker is best suited to either someone who likes to go big in the park for jumps (and would be really good in a pipe too) and want nice pop and something that can really stomp landings. But at the same time something that isn't so overpowering that you can't cruise on it, when you feel the need. 

Or you might be the kind of rider that likes to carve and bomb the groomers, ride switch, throw in some sidehits and spins and do the occasional park lap. 

It's not for playful freestyle riding and takes some effort to butter, but it's not oppressively demanding either - and it's certainly not for the powder. But outside of that, this board is one that can take on pretty much everything and is super fun doing it. 

The Free Thinker in More Detail

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: Centered

Width at Inserts: 264mm (10.39") 

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 180lbs

Rider Boot Size: US10 Adidas Tactical ADV

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M

Weight: 2680grams (5lb 14oz)

Weight per cm: 17.07 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.59 grams/cm*

*based on a sample size of around 200 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 models. The Free Thinker was a good bit lighter than the average board and you could feel it on snow too. 

Changes for 2023 model

On the face of it there appears to be no changes made to this board. Like, as in, on paper, it looks identical, apart from the graphic. But it seems to have changed personality quite a bit. It feels softer, lighter, snappier and more accessible to more riders.

Previously it was more burly, had less snap and was more of a beast to ride. Now, IMO, it has found a really nice balance of still being a high performance, aggressive board, but one that feels more natural and easier to ride. 

Powder

There was nothing on the day, but from all the slush and from the specs of the board, the Free Thinker wouldn't float very well in deep powder. 

It's a full camber, true twin, centered stance board. Not much going for it in terms of powder float. 

Carving & Turning

Carving: One of the best, if not the best, twin carvers going around. Really nice on a carve and just really fun to carve with this board. 

Ease of turns/Slashing: This was one of the biggest surprises with this board. Turn initiation was pretty easy and you could slash with this board too. Given the camber and flex, I wasn't expecting it to be this good and wasn't this good the last time I rode it.   

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Again, surprised how much better this was in terms of agility at slower speeds than the previous model. Not like up there with the most maneuverable at slow speeds or anything but really decent. 

Skidded Turns: Again this was an area that surprised me. Felt less catchy than the last time I rode it. That said, it's still not completely catch-free - some catchiness there if you get particularly lazy. But more forgiving of skidded turns than I remember it. 

Speed

Despite getting easier to ride slow, the Free Thinker didn't appear to lose anything at speed. If I had to choose I'd say the older model was a little more stable at speed, but not much in it. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: Did a good job of smashing through messy snow. What we had on the day was very soft, slushy stuff, so it didn't take much to smash through, but the board does have a good bit of power, despite being less burly than the previous models, so I imagine it would do pretty well at smashing through harder crud as well. 

Trees/Bumps: Whilst it's not lightning edge-to-edge at slower speeds, it's still decent and certainly capable of short/sharp turns. If there was powder in the trees, then it may not fear so well, as I feel this board would sink fairly easily in powder. 

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

The Freethinker starts at around 3:22

Jumps

In a word - perfection!

Pop: Loads of pop. And no surprise when I measured 11mm of camber. And there's a good bit of that pop that's pretty easy access too. And then when you wind it up, it gives back even more. 

Approach: Perfect balance of being stable on faster approaches but having the maneuverability and guile to make corrections or speed checks when necessary.

Landing: You can seriously stomp landings on this board. But when you get it a bit wrong it's not too punishing either. I could hit jumps all day long on this thing. 

Side-hits: Really fun. It's light, has enough easy access pop, with more on tap when you need it, and has decent maneuverability and forgiveness on landings. 

Small jumps/Big jumps: Everything really. Great for bigger jumps, but does just as well on small jumps. The perfectly balanced jump board, IMO. 

Switch

Felt really good riding switch. Which is no surprise being a true twin. But what was a little surprising, and an improvement on previous models, was transitioning into switch. It's not completely catch-free, but it's not as catchy as it was or than I expected it to be. 

Spins

Given how it rides switch, how light it is and how much pop it has, it goes without saying that this board was really good to spin. 

Jibbing

This is one of the weaker points of the board. But that said, it's still, IMO, an area where this board has improved. It's more maneuverable at slow speeds for setup - and that easy pop helps for popping onto rails etc. It doesn't feel super confidence inspiring when on the jib, but for experienced jibbers shouldn't be an issue. 

Butters

You've got to muscle this board to press the tip and tail. Gotta put some good weight behind it. This was an area where you do really feel the stiffer than average flex. When riding this board slow, you don't really notice it. But when buttering and when riding faster, you do start to feel that stiffer flex come in. So not an easy board to butter, but doable - and the nose and tail feel exactly the same. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

The Free Thinker reminded me a lot of the Burton Paramount of old. A little stiffer than that was, but not by too much. But that same poppy, snappy, lively, yet at the same time powerful personality. 

The Free Thinker feels a lot more accessible than it used to be - less stiff, less burly and easier to ride and more forgiving of poor technique (to an extent). But don't mistake that for it being dumbed down - it's still a powerful board, but now, IMO, strikes a better balance between power, snappiness, aggressiveness and ease of ride.