2024 K2 Mindbender 89Ti W

The first Mindbender Ti collection, introduced in the pre-pandemic 19/20 season, adopted the Titanal Y-Beam construction developed for the women’s Mindbender 88 Ti Alliance for the entire Mindbender Ti clan, men’s models included.  Last year’s re-design focused on re-shaping the Y-Beam from end to end, adding more metal just behind the forward contact point for more secure turn initiation, running edge-to-edge underfoot and substantially expanding the width of the Ti laminate at the end of the Y-Beam’s “handle,” so the edge won’t wash out under sustained pressure. In the 2023 men’s (a.k.a. unisex) Mindbender 89Ti, our testers awarded the new model substantially higher scores than its predecessor, boosting it near the top of our Finesse ranks. As more data was collected this past winter, its boffo scores slipped in our standings towards the back of the pack. It’s not unreasonable to conclude that the woman’s model cloned from its bones would suffer the same fate if only more women testers were inclined to try it in the first place. K2 claims that its changes to the Y-Beam configuration were intended to make the Mindbenders more accessible to lower skill skiers, but the more palpable effect is how the new Titanal Y-Beam appeals to the other end of the skills spectrum.