Jones Lone Wolf Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews and this is our unfiltered opinion. 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 it rides and who it is for

How This Review Happened: We borrowed this for an extended demo and sent it back.
Size: 168
Days: 4+
Conditions: Pretty rough wet late spring powder, wet early spring powder and pretty good early spring powder with the help of our Drift Boards.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-190lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV, Northwave Decades
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles, F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata

Similar Boards (but not the same): Rossignol XV, Prior Fissle, Lib Tech Lost Retro Ripper

Set-Up: 21.5” Wide. 24 front +3 back & 21 Front -3 back . Close to Reference and Set all the way back.

Approximate Weight:
Feels on the lighter side of normal for a board this length.
(We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores there is no consistency in a boards weight)

Sizing

Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards. You can of course go bigger or smaller but these work best for not turning the board slower than it should be and not having the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag.
162: 8-9
168: 8-9
174- 9-10

Shape/Camber/On Snow Feel/Ability Level

There is some taper here with the Jones Lone Wolf but not a ton but despite the more centered stance on sidecut it places you pretty far back from center of the board. The camber is pretty mellow and begins to rocker up after the bindings. Where the rocker begins, so does the spoon tech and it really makes for an easy turning ride in softer snow to deep powder. It also doesn’t change the way the camber feels underfoot and it feels the same long stable ride underfoot in all conditions. Speaking of its length, it feels long but with such a short effective edge for its length it does feel a little shorter than some other 168’s out there. It’s also pretty forgiving for this size. It takes more work at this length but it is very doable. Especially if you compare this to the old full camber days.

Flex/Pop/Buttering

The nose is long and medium soft. Between the bindings the Jones Lone Wolf is medium stiff and the tail is about the same. It does butter/wheelie up easy on the tail though and that might be because swallow tails are a little easier to leverage. The pop, as Peter says, is explosive and I would mostly agree. It really has a good spring to it for how little camber there is.

Speed

The base of the Jones Lone Wolf is incredibly fast and it just glides so easy. This just kills it on a long traverse as long as there aren’t a lot of Whoops. Yes the nose has a little clown shoe effect going on but it doesn’t really pass down between the feet. It stays mostly in the nose and is pretty damp. In groomers it isn’t quite the bomber but in powder it is faster for sure.

Uneven Terrain

The Jones Lone Wolf has a long length which isn’t fun in a bump line or doing a snake run but it can turn through messy snow like a champ. Of all the boards we tested in wet, messy late spring snow this just jammed through it. In harder micro bumpy snow its a little chattery but for sure managable without sending up too much chatter into your joints and fatiguing you.

Edge Hold

Very competent grip that does well in snowment and doesn’t grab in wet snow. The Jones Lone Wolf has a nice stable feel there too.

Turn Initiation

So fast edge to edge in softer snow to powder. In harder snow when the Jones Lone Wolf is mainly riding between the camber with the tip/tail off the snow it isn’t as fast but it still has a snappy quick turn to it. We had a lot of fun making lots of quick turns with it. Especially Peter.

Turning Experience/Carving

Once you get pas the initial quick turn it doesn’t accelerate into a circle carve. This is good though because it would probably feel hooky and weird. The Jones Lone Wolf still has a great turn to it for such a mellow camber between the feet.

Powder

The Jones Lone Wolf is not like most of the trendy shorter/wider surf inspired shapes out there. It seems like they are going for more of a Step Up to more Gun like kind of ride. The swallow tail isn’t cut out too much which we actually like. On those medium powder days with hard snow below it doesn’t sink as easy and scrape that hard snow like more exaggerated swallow tails can do. You can get- 6.25” back from center of board on the 23.6“ reference stance and -7.375” all the way back with about a  22.8 ” stance width. That is really far back compared to most freeride boards. Combine that with the huge rockered spoon nose and moderately tapered swallow tail you have a shit ton of directional float. It shows that long, narrow is still super fun in this time of shorter/wider Groveler surf style rides.

Conclusion

So this is a hard board to travel with for most and it isn’t quite the every mans daily driver but for those that want a hard carving powder needle this could be a great call. If you ride like Peter, this could be a great addition to your quiver.

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