[spam]

I picked up an Aviator 2.0 on an impulse because it was on really good sale at Scheels fully expecting to return it. After riding it though it became one of my favorite boards particularly in icy scenarios and on nice groomers. Really nice flex profile and a generous amount of effective edge. The Howler seems like it's just going to end up a free ride Aviator which on paper sounds like an awesome board. I'll probably wait for a later year with better graphics but this one is definitely on my list. Stats are very close to a Stranda Descender too which is another great board. The reference stance on Jones boards of 23 is a little silly but I never have any trouble just using using further in inserts. I never significantly set boards back either. If it's a powder day I'll just ride a powder board that is already set back on board by default.

Nice! Aviator looks so fun. I got a lucky bid on eBay and purchased a brand new Tweaker Pro at a serious discount. Hoping for it to be the more freestyle version of the aviator and dad board (it sizes a little smaller).

Unless reviews are glorious I'll probably end up skipping on the howler. The Stranda Descender really fills all my needs for a freeride board.

 

[easyrider16]

Agree with Red, the Aviator 2.0 is a great board. It's quickly displaced everything else as my daily driver on the Ice Coast. There's really not much it isn't good at, other than maybe deep powder. But even there it is not terrible, just not as good as a dedicated powder board. Unfortunately I'm slowly destroying mine by taking it into the trees. One caveat though - it's a pretty aggressive board, and you need to be a fairly strong rider to pick this over the Mountain Twin.

I'm curious about the substantive differences between Aviator 2.0 and Howler - is it just the shape? Looks to me like that's it, and the only difference there is the chunk taken out of the back of the tail. If that's the deal, I think I'm with Red in that once I fully destroy my Aviator 2.0 I'll look into this as a replacement.

 

[spam]

Agree with Red, the Aviator 2.0 is a great board. It's quickly displaced everything else as my daily driver on the Ice Coast. There's really not much it isn't good at, other than maybe deep powder. But even there it is not terrible, just not as good as a dedicated powder board. Unfortunately I'm slowly destroying mine by taking it into the trees. One caveat though - it's a pretty aggressive board, and you need to be a fairly strong rider to pick this over the Mountain Twin.

I'm curious about the substantive differences between Aviator 2.0 and Howler - is it just the shape? Looks to me like that's it, and the only difference there is the chunk taken out of the back of the tail. If that's the deal, I think I'm with Red in that once I fully destroy my Aviator 2.0 I'll look into this as a replacement.

I'd probably wait for reviews to be out. It does look like a freeride aviator in terms of shape and specs but there's a lot about its construction that we don't know yet. If it's what it appears to be though... it might really be the perfect board for what you're describing. This shape looks like it would do so much better in powder and trees than the aviator while sharing so much of its DNA, and Jones traction tech is so good for ice coast conditions

 

[TooNice]

Kind of interesting how to the Women's version top at 148cm but the Men's version starts at 158cm.

Just checked the Jones 25/26 Catalogue in Japanese and it seems like the Women's version also have a 151 model, while the Men's have a couple of unlisted size including the 152, 155 and 157W.

 

[spam]

Kind of interesting how to the Women's version top at 148cm but the Men's version starts at 158cm.

Just checked the Jones 25/26 Catalogue in Japanese and it seems like the Women's version also have a 151 model, while the Men's have a couple of unlisted size including the 152, 155 and 157W.

May be a stupid question but why can't women just switch to men sizes when needing something bigger?

 

[WigMar]

It’s cool to see more unisex sizing coming out.

 

[spam]

It’s cool to see more unisex sizing coming out.

Is there a difference with boards that are marketed at men vs women other than size and design? I'm all for unisex, just don't understand why they end up being 2 different products currently

 

[WigMar]

I have a suspicion it’s based largely on graphics and marketing.

 

[bseracka]

I have a suspicion it’s based largely on graphics and marketing.

Mostly. Width also plays into it as women’s feet on whole are smaller than men’s feet

 

[TooNice]

May be a stupid question but why can't women just switch to men sizes when needing something bigger?

They can, but on the website, there was a 10cm difference between the largest women's board and the smallest men's board. That was the point I was originally going to raise, but it turned out that the website simply left out a bunch of sizes they plan to make.

Other than that though, functionally, the waist width for women's board also tend to be more narrow for the same length (as a guy with small feet, this explains why over 80% of the boards I ride are women's board). The flex may be quite different too. A member here who had both the Jones Flagship 151cm and the Mothership (Women's Flagship) 152cm explained to me that there is a very big difference between the flex of the two and how much more nimble the Women's Flagship is for her despite being longer.

However, this is also manufacturer and even model dependant. For instance between Nitro Beast and Nitro Beauty I am not sure if any difference I feel is placebo. Both boards are too stiff for me to do more than the most basic butter tricks because I find them so stiff. Yet the Nitro Victoria Pro, which the manufacturer put at the same flex as Beast and Beauty is considerably softer in my opinion. Then there is the Nitro Team Pro, which they basically made it unisex (also the same flex rating as Beauty and Beast but ever slightly softer).

Fun fact: Until this season when they widened the board to be more inline with men's board, the Nitro Beast was, for some reason, ever slightly (by 0.1cm) more narrow than the Nitro Beauty.

Yeah, as a guy with small feet I pay very close attention to those things. My ideal board tend to be slightly longer stiff-ish women's board which normally translates to something that is on the stiffer side of medium on men's board - but as noted above, I often need to test the board because flex rating can be widely inconsistent.

 

[spam]

They can, but on the website, there was a 10cm difference between the largest women's board and the smallest men's board. That was the point I was originally going to raise, but it turned out that the website simply left out a bunch of sizes they plan to make.

Other than that though, functionally, the waist width for women's board also tend to be more narrow for the same length (as a guy with small feet, this explains why over 80% of the boards I ride are women's board). The flex may be quite different too. A member here who had both the Jones Flagship 151cm and the Mothership (Women's Flagship) 152cm explained to me that there is a very big difference between the flex of the two and how much more nimble the Women's Flagship is for her despite being longer.

However, this is also manufacturer and even model dependant. For instance between Nitro Beast and Nitro Beauty I am not sure if any difference I feel is placebo. Both boards are too stiff for me to do more than the most basic butter tricks because I find them so stiff. Yet the Nitro Victoria Pro, which the manufacturer put at the same flex as Beast and Beauty is considerably softer in my opinion. Then there is the Nitro Team Pro, which they basically made it unisex (also the same flex rating as Beauty and Beast but ever slightly softer).

Fun fact: Until this season when they widened the board to be more inline with men's board, the Nitro Beast was, for some reason, ever slightly (by 0.1cm) more narrow than the Nitro Beauty.

Yeah, as a guy with small feet I pay very close attention to those things. My ideal board tend to be slightly longer stiff-ish women's board which normally translates to something that is on the stiffer side of medium on men's board - but as noted above, I often need to test the board because flex rating can be widely inconsistent.

Thanks for clarifying 👍

 

[ladesaulniers]

Jones Howler Announcement

 

[s_pepperoni]

Took a lap on one over the weekend on the 158 and was impressed. Not really a Jones guy but a buddy is pretty obsessed with them so I've ridden quite a few. This one is my favorite to date. Couple takeaways coming from my main boards (Deep Fake & Indoor Survival)—this thing light as hell, nimble, and has lots of energy and snap to it. Sometimes I get a little hesitant to ollie fences and signs with the Deep Fake (compared to my Indoor Survival) , but this thing just eggs you on to pop up, over and around things. The insane amount of camber is probably part of it, and It does feel a bit softer than the specs suggest. It's softer than the Aviator 2.0 for certain. Seems like it would be a really good board for doing some of everything.

 

[Marius79]

Took a lap on one over the weekend on the 158 and was impressed. Not really a Jones guy but a buddy is pretty obsessed with them so I've ridden quite a few. This one is my favorite to date. Couple takeaways coming from my main boards (Deep Fake & Indoor Survival)—this thing light as hell, nimble, and has lots of energy and snap to it. Sometimes I get a little hesitant to ollie fences and signs with the Deep Fake (compared to my Indoor Survival) , but this thing just eggs you on to pop up, over and around things. The insane amount of camber is probably part of it, and It does feel a bit softer than the specs suggest. It's softer than the Aviator 2.0 for certain. Seems like it would be a really good board for doing some of everything.

Did you get to ride the Howler in any piwder,? If so how was the float? I also have an indoor survival which I love. Would you say the howler does anything better/more fun than indoor survival?
Does the howler feel the same stiffness as the Indoor survival?

 

[ladesaulniers]

 

[RedGrimGrumbles]

I wish the graphics on the mens Howler were the same as the graphics on the Women's Howler that look great.

 

[Revvi]

I wish the graphics on the mens Howler were the same as the graphics on the Women's Howler that look great.

Looks a lot like the Ride Pig and Berserker boards from a couple years ago…

 

[RedGrimGrumbles]

Looks a lot like the Ride Pig and Berserker boards from a couple years ago…

Ya for sure. I really like Jones boards and have always liked there graphics. I feel they've been dropping the ball a little bit artistically the last couple of seasons though. That is totally subjective though.

 

[spam]

I think they said this year is a limited edition so hopefully they update the graphics when this becomes part of the line up

 

[RedGrimGrumbles]

I think they said this year is a limited edition so hopefully they update the graphics when this becomes part of the line up

I think the coral color is the limited edition. But the similar style with green base seems like it is committed to be the 25-26 model.