Jones Mind Expander Review

Who is the Mind Expander Most Suited To?

The Mind Expander is best suited to anyone looking for a directional ride that floats really well in powder, but when there isn't powder around want a board that's pretty easy going to ride, but not super soft/playful or anything - and can still carve and handle moderate speeds. And it's got a really fun turning style on groomers. 

Since getting camber, this is a pretty well rounded ride in terms of now being better on a carve and better at speed. It's still not a monster carver or a bomber - it's more of a cruiser, but it's better in those areas. And gets a bit more pop. But it's nothing that's going to be super good for anything freestyle. 

Not for a beginner but fine for intermediate riders. Even lower-end intermediate's should be fine with this board. It's pretty accessible. 

Bindings angles: 15/-15 (Nate) and +12/-9 (Fraser)

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: Setback 20mm (0.75")

Width at Inserts: 282mm (11.1") at front insert and 262mm (10.32")

Testers: Nate and Fraser

Fraser Specs: Height: 6'1" | Weight: 180lbs | Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical Lexicon ADV | Bindings Used: Fix Yale (M) 

Nate Specs: Height: 6'0" | Weight: 180lbs | Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical ADV | Bindings Used: Burton Malavita (M) 

Weight: 3060grams (6lbs 12oz)

Weight per cm: 19.87 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. Certainly quite heavy on the scales (although taking into account it's wider than normal, it's not quite as heavy as it seems) - but on snow it felt really normal in terms of weight.  

Changes for the 2023 Model

The 2023 Mind Expander changes to a directional hybrid rocker profile. It used to be an all rocker board. That addition of camber underfoot has helped this to be a more well rounded board - and IMO a more fun board. 

Powder

Was nice to get some powder to test this board in. It wasn't anything epic, waist deep or anything like that, but enough to get a good feel for it. And it was really fun and easy in powder!

And no surprise, given the specs. It's got an aggressive taper, a really wide long nose and narrow short tail. Plus it's got rocker in the nose. Because it's got less rocker than its predecessor, not quite as good in powder as that, but still really freakin good! 

Carving

It's not something that's going to treat you to the most epic high speed carves, but it's decent now. That introduction of some camber in the profile has helped this board to be a much better carver than it's predecessor. 

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: Really easy to initiate turns on and slash turns when you want to. Maybe not quite as easy as it was in the past with that full-rocker profile but still something that's pretty effortless to turn and slash on. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Really nice and nimble, particularly for how wide it is. But then we did size down to the 154, to account for that extra width. 

Skidded Turns: Easy to skid turns. Didn't feel catchy - could confidently get a little lazy without too much fear of catching an edge. 

Speed

It's still not a major bomber and starts to get a little squirrelly when you get up to fast speeds, but can handle moderately fast speeds well - and is more stable at speed than it used to be. So that camber has helped there too. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud/Chunder: Can get a little bucked around but not too easily. But when it does, it's easy to make corrections. 

Trees/Bumps: Nice and nimble for trees/bumps and that shorter tail helps prevent you hitting hooking your tail on trees. 

Jumps

It's OK without being great. 

Pop: Really easy to access the pop, but not a huge amount more available when you wind it up. 

Approach: Gets a little wobbly when you open it out, but fine for slower approaches. Really easy to speed check/adjust when you need to though. 

Landing: Not super solid, but not bad. Can't land too tail heavy but otherwise it's relatively forgiving of errors. 

Side-hits: Fun for side hits. Easy access pop and nice and easy to maneuver on approach. 

Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best for smaller jumps, but fine for medium. 

Switch

It's easy to transition to/from switch but when there it feels a bitstrange. And no surprise given all that taper, and the short tail and directional everything.

Spins

Gotta put in the effort to whip that big nose around - and feels unbalanced when spinning. Setting up/landing switch isn't great either. So all round not great for spinning. 

Butters

It's easy to press. But the tip and tail feel very different to each other, so it's not ideal. 

Overall, the Mind Expander is a really fun mellow freeride board, that allows you to have fun on groomers without being too demanding, when there's no powder. 

And when you do get a powder day, it comes into its own and really shines. 

Really enjoyed this board with a bit of camber in the profile. Gave it more liveliness and punch.