Summary

The Jones Carbon Flagship 2020 got an updated shape with a different nose/tail design and it bumped up the taper from 1mm to around 12.5mm giving it a little more slashy/surfy or whatever you want to call it kind of feel. It is still a very damp super aggressive ride though and it works best for the rider who likes to bomb and mainly sees good conditions.

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Riding Style Freeride
Riding Level Advanced - Expert
Fits Boot size (US) 8-10, 10-12
Manufactured in Dubai by SWS
Shape Tapered Directional
Camber Profile Hybrid Camber
Stance Setback over 20mm
Approx. Weight Feels Normal
Split No
Powder Good
Base Glide Great
Carving Good
Speed Excellent
Uneven Terrain Average
Switch Average
Jumps Good
Jibbing Poor
Pipe Good
On Snow Feel

Stable

Turn Initiation

Medium/Fast

Skidded Turns

Semi-Easy

Flex

Stiff

Buttering

Semi-Hard

Edge Hold

Hard Snow

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Jones Carbon Flagship On The Table and Written Review Review by The Good Ride

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

How This Review Happened:  We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.
Size: 161 and 164
Days: 6+
Conditions: Everything from some pretty hard somewhat uneven snow in Jackson to perfect soft Bachelor snow, some thick wet powder and then some pretty deep good powder on an early morning slackountry run with Drift Boards.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs),Grant (Size 11 6’ 160lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union FalcorNow DriveNow O-Drive, Jones Mercury

Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Compared This To:
Gentemstick Mantaray 156Korua Pencil,
Yes Pick Your LineBurton Flight Attendant, Gnu Mullair, Jones Flagship, Never Summer West Bound, Rossignol XV, Lib Tech BRD,

Set-Up: 22” Wide. 21 front -3 to 0 back. Set close to reference and close to all the way back.

Approximate Weight: Doesn’t feel like an ultralight kind of ride. Feels normal and of a similar weight to the

Sizing: The 158 felt small for both Peter and I. We both feel that we are more in between the 161 and 164 and you can see our specs above. Jones has some pretty diverse sizing options that can work from 8-10 boots and most weights in most of the regular sizes but as the sizes get bigger it fits those mid/wide boots.

Flex/Buttering: Not really happening past the rocker in the nose/tail unless you have some serious buttering strength. It is all about a very stiff flex that doesn’t have many peers these days. If this was 2002 it would have many peers but in 2020 it doesn’t.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: Despite the aggressive flex and ride that just likes bombing over anything else the Jones Carbon Flagship is strangely forgiving if you need to skid a turn if you lose control. I would never suggest this to an intermediate rider but they could handle it with extra skidded turns. I think this forgressive nature is what gives both the Flagship and Carbon Flagship soo much appeal with so many riders like us. We can do our best Jeremy Jones impression (well…mellow Jeremy….not in AK) but when we fuck up there is less chance of heading to the hospital from catching an edge. There is that same personality underfoot in all conditions except hard snow and it has a more tapered/surfy feel than before without feeling too washy on the back foot.

Edge Hold: There is strong edge hold in all but super icy conditions but it still doesn’t grab in softer thicker snow.

Turn Initiation: The Jones Carbon flagship is pretty fast edge to edge. It can go straight really well and does the narrow but long and drawn out S turn really well too but still reacts pretty quick if you need quick edge to edge transitions in tight spots. It’s not about the abrupt direction change but it slaloms through trees really well.

Turning Experience/Carving: like with the Flagship we all wish the Carbon Flagship had camber to the tail, or very close to it instead of just a little bit past the bindings. It carves well but it’s not quite in the same peer group as many boards with more camber.

Powder:  So at a 22.75″ stance width when set all the way back there is a 6.5″ difference between nose and tail making it 3.25″ back from the center of the board. That’s about average for most freeride boards but then you add the new taper of 12.5mm vs. 1mm on past models, the shovelnose, turned-up sides that really do roll well edge to edge in powder and the rocker in the nose you get a very competent powder board. Another thing that really helps in long traverses to or out of the off-piste line you are riding is the super-fast base. It just glides in powder like no other brand we tried in this price range. So riding the 161 which felt like a better fit for Peter and I in most situations we found it to be arguably a touch behind the 156 Hovercraft or 156 Ultracraft but felt like it was noticeably a less floaty ride than our beloved super-rockered 158 Jones Mind Expander. The 164 has a little more float but it felt kind of big for both of us. If this isn’t enough, feel free to listen to Peter and I ramble over lots of Scotch about this ride more in powder.

Speed: The Jones Carbon Flagship is a super bomber and it is the kind of board you want if you just want to mach down on a first chair groomer on a Monday morning. It is super damp and we all found ourselves going faster than we normally do and feeling totally fine about it. Rarely do you see a super-fast base and a super-stiff flex combined together as this ride has. On the 164 I felt invincible and even on the 161, I felt close to invincible.

Uneven Terrain: So you pay a price for a board this damp at high speed. Once the groomers change you start to see the crankiness appear late morning. The Jones Carbon Flagship acts as you slept in late after a one night stand when you should have bailed before she woke up. Just part ways when you bust a perfect groomer nut and all will be cool but if you stay it’s gonna get weird. It’s not as bad as the older models but it still is far from anything you want for crowded all day resort riding.

So overall the new shape made this a fun board (well 2 boards) to ride and we had a good time on them in deep powder.

If this review helped, we’d appreciate if you:

 
Jones Carbon Flagship Past Reviews

The Jones Carbon Flagship is a lighter more aggressive version of the wood top Flagship. It’s pretty expensive super stiff, damp and bombs incredibly well.  But surprisingly enough it’s pretty forgiving and easy to skid a turn when you get off your game. We compared the 2019 Carbon Flagship against the 2019 Flagship and Yes Pick your line.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 161
Days:  3
Conditions:
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Bindings: Union Atlas
Set Up
: 22.5” on the reference stance 15 front -6 back

Approximate Weight: Feels about the same as the standard Flagship which is medium and this might even feel a touch heavier.

Flex: This is pretty much super stiff any way you twist it or flex it.  There is very little give and it reminds me of the super bomber freeride boards of the early ’00s.

Sizing:  The 161 works well for me but the 164 works pretty well too.  I personally like the easier turning 161 better but the 164 is more fun to bomb with.  I feel that 10 is kind of the top out the size with most boots if you really want to carve it up without booting out on the 164 and to a slightly lesser extent the 161.  As you get above 10 I think it’s more about the bigger sizes than the 164 and the wides are more the call.

On Snow Feel: So this is super mean and bomby but it can skid turns really well.  That’s what makes the Jones Carbon Flagship so appealing to the masses.  It’s stable but not locked in like the camber boards of old used to be.

Edge Hold: Grabs really hard and it’s just a little shy of being an icy snow specialist.  Conversely, the Jones Carbon Flagship doesn’t grab much or at all in the softer snow so it’s a nice side cut for all conditions most sane snowboarders want to ride in.

Turn Initiation: It’s pretty quick edge to edge and turns quickly.  Once the sidecut is engaged it doesn’t really turn a super tight radius.  It prefers long narrow S-Turns just shy of a straight line but it can turn any way you want it without it getting weird.

Turning Experience: The Jones Carbon Flagship is fun to turn.  It feels a little ultra damp or to some, dead when turning compared to the Flagship but it’s still a pretty fun board to turn.

Carving: Carves really well and although it doesn’t have as much as spring as some boards with more camber it’s pretty good.

Speed: The Jones Carbon Flagship really bombs and there wasn’t enough speed I could generate that made the board get sketchy.  The only sketch going on was in my brain.

Uneven Terrain: This hammers through semi-tracked powder even better than the regular flagship and it can turn pretty quick through moguls but it can get a bit cranky when it comes to slow speed micro-bumps from messy groomers you often see on busy days. I’d rather be on the Flagship in those situations.

Powder:  The Jones Carbon Flagship has the same exact specs as the Flagship that I rode in powder a lot so this floats super well.

Buttering: Even though the tip/tail flex a little easier on snow with that rocker it’s not easy at all.  Not as hard as it would be with full camber but it’s about as hard as rocker in the nose and tail can get.

Switch:  Doable for sure and you can even land switch in a little powder.

Jumps: It takes a lot of strength to pop this and it just doesn’t feel lively. The Jones Carbon Flagship feels like it wants to hit a natural jump at high speed without an ollie because you are going to fly no matter what. It’s not a board that is great for generating air with a slower speed ollie.

Jibbing: Fuck no!

Pipe: I liked riding this in the pipe and the 161 Jones Carbon Flagship did a good job driving from wall to wall.  Great for mostly directional pipe riding.

So, all in all, the Carbon flagship is for those that truly love to bomb over everything else and are willing to pay extra to get the super dampness it gives you.

The 2014 Jones Flagship is a great ride but the 2015 Carbon Flagship is a little lighter, snappier and a lot meaner.  Is it worth bumping up $300? For some yes but most will be almost as happy with the 2014 and especially so with the 2015 wood top Flagship with a new core.

The 2015 and 2016 Jones Carbon Flagship has a new and better core than before but the rest of the board is the same.  There is a little more pop and it’s got a little bit more of a livelier snappier ride. Over all though the ride is pretty similar and this is just a slight improvement on the armored Ferrari feel it has.  The 2014 and 2013 Jones Carbon Flagship are almost exactly the same. Overall the 2016-2013 Carbon Flagship has a very similar ride to it.

 

Size 161 and 168

Days: 5+
Conditions: Firm but decent Rockies Snow. Softer clean Sierra Snow with some left over soft but pretty thick powder.
Riders: James, Peter, Kyle, Jimbo, Eli, Tim and Dylan
Boots: Burton IonBurton SLXBurton ImperialNike KaijuDC Judge
Bindings: Flux SF45,Now Drive and Now IPO
Set Up:  Set back a little bit about 23″ wide 18 front 0 back and a few other stances close to this.

The Jones Carbon Flagship addressed all the complaints of the Wood Top Flagship and also changed up the personality of the ride. It doesn’t feel any less aggressive than the Wood Top but just more lively and a little more easy to manage. Jones took the same carbon fiber weave that Nidecker uses on the Megalight to make the board significantly lighter and much more snappy.The board is now light, fast and mean.  Just because this shares the same Carbon Fiber as the Megalight it doesn’t mean it rides like it.  This is more aggressive than both but at the same time it feels much more lively than the Wood Top Flaghship.  It’s not for everyone but those that can handle it will love this board.

On Snow Feel: Same great ride as the wood top but the lighter livier feel makes the ride more enjoyable taking on high speed or carving assaults on the mountain.

Powder: What a fun powder board. We had a lot of time on it’s wood top brother in the deep stuff and the shape is exactly the same specs except for the top sheet. It has incredible float and really easy turn initiation for a board of this flex when it comes to negotiating steep chutes or tight trees. Again this feels livelier and more fun in all powder situations compared to the Wood version.  Powder can often thicken up or on weekends get really tracked or rutted out and in these situations the Carbon will perform better than the wood.  When the powder tracked but not rutted both Flagships can handle it like a champ.  If it’s thicker grippy powder that didn’t settle smoothly due to wind both will also dominate here.

Turn Initiation and Carving- Very similar to the Wood here but to us it felt easier to transition from edge to edge.  Maybe it’s the significantly reduced weight.makes you feel like the turn initiation is easier.  Engaging into a carve is the same fun feeling and you can lay it out as far as you can if the conditions are right. The Carbon Flagship shines with medium, wide and big carving turns but it’s also about the easiest board of this flex we came acrooss to negotiate tighter radius turn situations.

Speed: It’s flex feels about the same as the Wood top and we felt no difference in chatter between the two. The base for both is exceptionally fast. This is the perfect combo of base and build to make this board pick up speed, keep speed and handle chatter at super fast speeds.

Uneven Terrain: One notable thing is the Carbon Flagship handles reverse chatter better.  What do we mean by this.  When the conditions start to suck like a crowded Saturday afternoon does, the runs get rutted up and slow you down. You are fighting to maneuver the board between uneven snow and the beginnings of moguls and the board makes you feel like you are getting the same nasty chatter a noodle board would get at high speeds.  This is what can happen with the Flagship Wood Top and to a lesser extent the Flagship Carbon.  This is still a very aggressive board meant for good groomers and all kinds of powder but the second half of a Saturday is much more manageable than with the regular Flagship. So it’s better with bumpy snow but it’s still not great.

Weight- This is significantly lighter than the Wood Top Sheet board. Still it’s no fly weight but it went from heavy to light….. maybe borderline featherweight.  This still has a lot of strength in it for the way Jones rides so it’s not like the Megalight.  Their is enough weight reduced

Edge Hold: The mellow magnetraction side cut makes for borderline excellent edge hold.  You can handle a hundread yards or so at the top of a windy icy peak but we wouldn’t say it would be great for a dedicated ice board.  When you get past the ice into maybe thick powder like sierra cement it won’t have that overly grippy feel of regular magnetraction.

Flex: The flex is a step lower than the Wood Top and we felt it improved performance instead of hindered it. We definitely like the feel of the flex with the Carbon over the Wood. The 2015 Jones Carbon Flagship has the same flex but just a little more snap.

The rest of these categories aren’t really meant for the Jones so we’ll skip them.  The only thing worth mentioning is this board ollies pretty well (better than the wood version) and is great for any natural feature as long as you don’t want to land switch.  It’s a very directional ride.

All in all this is one of our favorite freeride boards and even where though many ratings are the same as the wood top the loss of weight along with the more dynamic feel of carbon makes this a better board to ride in every category we rate this.  It can be a bit aggressive like we joked about on the video review but it’s also more forgiving than you would think for something of this flex.

HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT THE 2013 JONES CARBON FLAGSHIP SPLITBOARD

 

 

 

 

 
Jones Carbon Flagship Specs

 
Jones Carbon Flagship Images

We try to get as many images of the Jones Carbon Flagship, but forgive us if they're not all there.

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Jones Carbon Flagship User Reviews

Jones Carbon Flagship 2013-2020 Snowboard Review SKU UPC Model

Fast board with lots of control

Nov 28, 2017 by Mr MIke
Ability Level: Advanced • 
Riding Style: Freeride • 
Days You Ride A Year: 20 • 
Height, Weight And Boot Size (for Boards, Boots & Bindings): 5'10", 10.5 US Burton Imperial boots, Medium Burton Cartel bindings 

I love this board. I bought the 2015/16 Carbon Flagship and couldn't be happier.

Two seasons ago, when I bought the board, I was an advanced-intermediate and intimidated by the reviews, i.e. "It’s not for everyone but those that can handle it will love this board."

It's a stiff and speed-capable board. Sure, it’s not for beginners, but it’s a fair purchase for an intermediate who can already work their edges, can carve and who likes going fast. I’ve always used boards that were ahead of my skill level, because they pushed me to get better, instead of holding me back.

I found it to be a *very* easy board to ride, and not nearly as edgy as many of the other freeride carving boards I tried. It’s also relaxing to coast in the flats!

The float in powder is divine. Off piste and wide groomers with varied terrain are where I love taking this board.

My favorite surprise was learning that on groomers it’s easy to either carve an edge, or slide through a turn but still with a lot of control. This makes the board more versatile than advertised. It’s been a lot more fun than I expected when bombing groomers.

Downsides? Cost. You’d better be sure this matches your riding style. Near-zero fun on ice.

I want stiffer boots and bindings to go with this board, e.g. Union Falcor.

For all-mountain riding, I’d compliment the Flagship with something that’s better on rougher pistes, has deeper magnatraction for ice between moguls, and more flex for shorter turns.


Highly recommended freeride board

Mar 01, 2016 by Anon
Ability Level: Advanced • 
Riding Style: Freeride • 
Days You Ride A Year: 20-25 • 
Height, Weight And Boot Size (for Boards, Boots & Bindings): 178cm, 72kg, US 11 

Setup: rode the 164 with Burton Cartels and Burton Driver X boots. Conditions were a mix of spring corn lower down, the hardest of hard pack higher up and some consolidated powder off the groomers themselves.

Comments:
- Worth reading the sizing guide on the Jones website. They say the blunt nose means it actually rides like a board that\'s a few cm longer.
- The hype around it being \"expert only\" is probably a bit overdone. You do need to be able to turn properly and have good edge control, but you don\'t need to be an \"expert\". My weight is right at the bottom of the recommended range and I\'m no expert but I could ride the board comfortably in a variety of conditions and loved it.

What I like about this board:
- very stable at speed (which makes you feel more confident riding fast. I felt like I was riding about 20 kmh slower than I actually was)
- very fast base (noticeably better than the sintered 7200 on other Jones boards)
- very fast edge-to-edge (riding the 164)
- very responsive, even with only a medium-stiff binding. Looking forward to trying this with a stiffer binding.
- carves very well. You can really lay into a carve on this board
- floats very well in powder
- combination of setback, nose length and length of board mean you can ride on a wide stance without losing the float in pow (I ride 25\" / 63.5 cm stance)

What I don\'t like
- the waist width on the 162W is 26.3 but on the 164 is 25.4. It would be better to have a wide board with a slightly narrower waist (around 25.8 would be ideal). Is there really anyone that needs a 162 cm Carbon Flag that also needs 26.3 waist width?! Even the Ultracraft 160 is only 26 and according to Jones that rides 3-6 cm longer so is like a 163-166 non-powder board...

Overall - loved the Carbon Flagship. I\'ve also ridden the Mountain Twin Limited and the Ultracraft and this is by far my favorite Jones board. Recommended for freeriding and riding fast.


Awesome freeride board and doing speed runs

Jul 14, 2014 by Tim
Ability Level: Advanced • 
Riding Style: Freestyle/All mountain • 
Days You Ride A Year: 15 

I got this board in 2014. I was looking to expand my quiver and get a really good freeride board. James (owner) helped me pick this one out!

1. This board is FAST on the slopes!, no doubt about it. I rode a 125km/h (78mp/h) on this baby, but you need super groomed slopes. Once it gets choppy (you know when loads of people ride on the slopes) it's time to switch this board out for a good all mountain or go into the deep powder .

2. It's freaking awesome to go on and ride deep powder on it as well. This board gives you the feeling you just can't sink and it gives great stability while riding (also on the slopes).

3. One minor thing is the price, it's damn expensive but compared to the regular Flagship the Carbon Flagship does look so much cooler!

I know I'm gonna have fun on this baby next winter!


4.7 5.0 3 3 I love this board. I bought the 2015/16 Carbon Flagship and couldn't be happier. Two seasons ago, when I bought the board, I was an advanced-intermediate and intimidated by the Jones Carbon Flagship 2013-2020 Snowboard Review

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