Lost Mini Driver Re-Issue: The Board for Every Day That Isn't Epic

What Is the Lost Mini Driver Re-Issue?

The Mini Driver is Matt Biolos's answer to the shortboarder whose good board only works on good days. It's not a shrunk-down Driver 3.0, and it's not a beginner board. It's a separate model with its own history, built specifically to paddle into and perform on the average, less-than-perfect days that make up most of a surfer's year.

"ATV" is the right word for it. An all-terrain vehicle handles rough ground a sports car can't, without giving up control when the road smooths out. That's the promise here: the paddle power and forgiveness to catch everyday, less-than-perfect waves, without giving up the drive and hold of a real performance shortboard once the wave shows up. Matt Biolos designed it for surfers who already ride performance shortboards and want one board that handles a wider range of days — not a second board that performs like a compromise.

Where Did the Mini Driver Come From?

The Mini Driver has a real, specific origin — it wasn't built as a generic "groveler" for the catalog. In 2011, a then-17-year-old Kolohe Andino was headed to the Mentawai Islands and asked Biolos for something that could handle the trip: a short, fast board that could still perform in real waves.

Biolos started with an already wider-than-average round-pin Driver — the team's go-to comp shape at the time — cut a few inches off the nose, and reshaped the tip. The first Mini-Driver was sprayed highlighter yellow and built with five fin boxes. Kolohe rode his contest boards out of habit for most of the trip, until one afternoon at an unnamed, slabbing barrel he finally paddled out on it — riding wave after wave deep in the tube and boosting airs on the way out, until the board broke. Back on the boat, the reaction was immediate: make this a model. The Mini Driver went into production and became one of Lost's most trusted everyday shapes, ridden and requested by surfers including Mason Ho, and stayed in the lineup for years — until newer Lost releases took its spot on the wall and it slipped to custom-order-only. That's the gap this re-issue fills: the same shape, back in regular production, in both PU/poly and Lightspeed II construction.

Lost's own account of the re-issue is direct about what did and didn't change: the classic curves are re-created with no significant changes, the rails and foil tuned a bit, and the size scale updated for modern taste. Lost's own re-issue video backs that up with real riders, not just a marketing line — Ian Crane and Cole Houshmand are both shown on the re-issue, and Mason Ho — one of the surfers who kept the original in his own quiver — took it out in 5'6" and 5'8", testing it across every condition in Hawaii.

Who Is the Mini Driver Built For?

This is a second board for a surfer who already rides a performance shortboard, not a first board for someone learning to surf. If your normal board only feels right when the surf is firing, and you either grab something that doesn't perform or just don't paddle out on an average day, this is the board built to close that gap.

It also answers a second, quieter question: what changed if you rode the original Mini Driver years ago? Short answer — the shape didn't. What's new is Lightspeed II, a construction option alongside the PU/poly build Lost has always offered. More on that below.

One thing worth saying plainly: this isn't a board you'll outgrow. It's built for surfers who already have performance-shortboard experience, and the idea is to grow into a two-board quiver — your performance board for the good days, this one for every other day — not to trade this board in once your surfing improves.

What Makes It Paddle Into Average Days So Easily?

It comes down to where the foam sits and how the outline is shaped, not a gimmick. The Mini Driver runs a wider outline than a standard shortboard and a moderate entry rocker — a lower, flatter curve in the nose that lets more of the board sit on the water instead of pointing down into it, which adds paddle speed and makes waves easier to catch. Out the back, it has a rounded pin tail and a single-to-double concave bottom — a slight scoop that channels water under the board for lift and control through a turn.

The real trick is where the foam is distributed: centered through the middle third of the board, rather than spread the way a standard shortboard is built. That's what lets the Mini Driver be ridden shorter than a typical performance shortboard without losing the paddle power you'd expect from a longer board. It's why the board can go from small, punchy beach-break days all the way up to bigger, more powerful point and reef surf without feeling like two different boards.

If you're coming from a standard shortboard, the adjustment is more mechanical than a leap of faith: the wider outline and forgiving entry rocker put more of the board's volume under your chest and shoulders where paddling actually happens, so it catches waves earlier and holds you up more comfortably than the board you're used to, without changing how it turns once you're up.

What Sizes Does the Mini Driver Re-Issue Come In?

Lost builds the Mini Driver Re-Issue in 14 lengths, from 5'4" to 6'6", in both PU/poly and Lightspeed II construction. Here's the full official range, straight from Lost's own specs:

Hawaiian South Shore stocks a selection of these on hand in Lightspeed II — see below for what's currently in the shop. Anything else on this chart, in either construction, we can order for you.

Grab your Mini Driver Lightspeed II

Lightspeed II — S-Glass + Innegra, no carbonFive-fin box · tri/quad convertible5'10"–6'6"

Mini Driver Lightspeed II

5'10", 6'2", 6'4", 6'6" — tri/quad convertible

Shop Mini Driver Lightspeed II

What Size Should I Get?

We don't recommend a size by weight alone — there are too many variables, from how you ride to the waves you surf most. The volume numbers above are the real starting point: if you're a heavier rider or want extra paddle power, size up within the range rather than guessing.

Because the outline is wider and the volume is built into a shorter length, most riders end up on a Mini Driver a bit shorter than their standard shortboard, not longer or the same — the exact amount depends on your weight, your ability, and the waves you surf most. Send us your height, weight, current board, and the waves you ride most, and we'll help you pick the right length.

What's Different About the Lightspeed II Build?

The shape didn't change in this re-issue — and Lost still builds it in PU/poly, same as always, alongside a newer option. Same curves, same rocker line, same outline Biolos shaped back in 2011. What's new is the Lightspeed line moving from the original carbon-based Lightspeed build to Lightspeed II — this section covers that specific change, not the whole construction lineup.

For the full breakdown of how Lightspeed II is built, read HSS's complete Lightspeed II construction guide. The short version for this board: the shape you'd recognize from 2011, in a build that didn't exist back then.

Tri or Quad — How Do the Fins Work?

Every Mini Driver runs a five-fin box, so you choose between a tri or a quad setup — a style choice, not a spec upgrade. This hasn't changed since the original: quad loosens the board up and adds drive in smaller, weaker surf, while tri holds and drives harder off the bottom or in more powerful, hollower waves.

Neither setup is a length or rake recommendation — that's a personal call best made in person. Come by and we'll help you decide based on how you surf and where you surf most.

What Waves Does It Handle Best?

Small, punchy beach-break days up through head-high and bigger point and reef surf — that range is the whole point of the board. It's built for the surfer who typically rides a performance shortboard but wants one board that handles more of the days on the calendar, not just the good ones.

That range comes from the design mechanism covered above — the wider outline, forgiving rocker, and centered foam that let it catch and hold speed on smaller days, paired with a rounded pin tail and concave that keep it composed when the surf has real push.

Mini Driver vs. Driver 3.0 — Which One Do You Need?

These are two different tools from the same shaper, not a bigger or smaller version of each other. The Driver 3.0 is Lost's tour-team squash tail, refined with Griffin Colapinto, built for a rider who already has full performance-shortboard paddle power and wants maximum tour-level response. The Mini Driver is the everyday answer — same Biolos "Driver" rocker lineage, but shaped specifically to paddle into and perform on the days a squash-tail performance board struggles with.

The real question isn't which board is better. It's what your average session actually looks like. If you want to read more on how the mainline Driver has evolved, HSS's own Driver 2.0 vs. 3.0 breakdown covers that lineage — a separate board, a separate page, worth reading if that's the comparison you're actually after.

How Do I Fix a Ding on a Lightspeed II Board?

Use epoxy-only repair materials. Lightspeed II is an EPS foam core with epoxy resin, built with S-Glass and Innegra composite instead of carbon fiber. Standard polyester resin — the kind in most basic ding repair kits — reacts badly with EPS foam and can make the damage worse. Always check the label and make sure it says epoxy.

For a small surface scratch, an epoxy-specific ding repair kit will do the job. For anything deeper, bring it to a shop that handles epoxy and EPS boards, or bring it by Hawaiian South Shore and we'll point you to the right repair.

Frequently Asked Questions