2018 Rossignol One LF, 2016 & 2017 Rossignol One Magtek Review

The 2016-2018 Rossignol One Magtek has added rubber throughout the whole ride making it damper.  In 2018 Rossignol changed the name to bring more attention to the Light Frame tech but it’s still the same ride.

2015 Rossignol One Magtek Review

The Rossignol One Magtek is a board that in the past we found to be one of our favorite hard to icy condition all mountain boards. With the changes in 2015 it’s become more than that.

So the 2015 Rossignol Magtek has a few changes that I’ll briefly highlight.

1. They mellowed out the Magnetraction in the tip and tail area so it doesn’t grab in the softer snow like it use to.

2. The Tip/Tail are blunted.

Size: 159 and 156
Days: 6+ and more coming as I own this board
Conditions: Mainly just good snow with the ocassional afternoon spring conditions.
Riders: James, Peter, Jimbo, Mike,
Boots: Burton Imperial, Burton Hail, Burton Ion, Burton SLX, Nike Lunarendor,
Bindings: Burton Cartel, Burton Genesis, Burton Diode, Union Force, Salomon Defender, Union Travis Rice

Set Up: 22.5-23″ wide, Centered, 15 front -15 back, set back a bit 15 front-6 back

Approximate Weight: 6.6 lbs

On Snow Feel: Same great stable feeling under foot that makes for an easy ride in the flats, one footing off a chair or having to get across a really long flat cat track. It still feels like the One Magtek except the biggest thing is you don’t feel the Magnetraction as much in softer snow which is outstanding. Now its much more of a consistent all condition ride.

Turn Initiation: The 159 felt a little slower edge to edge but it was still fun. The 156 felt snappy and quick for all of us and super fast edge to edge. It’s a really fun board to turn. The 156 felt like the better fit for peter and I (size 8.5 & 9) where Mike and Jimbo (Size 10 & 10.5) liked the 159 better. That puts this board kind of in between Moderate and easy for turn initiation. For Jimbo and Mike the 159 could turn quick but it didn’t dart edge to edge like the 156 did for Peter and I. I think it was because the 156 fit our feet really well and we weigh more than Mike and Jimbo. So if you don’t skid your turns then you can get this to snap quickly edge to edge and it can be very nimble.

Flex: Nice firm flex between the feet but the tip and tail allow you to butter well even though the tail is stiffer. It gives you speed but the ability to slow down and butter when you want.

Edge Hold: Ok so this is the big change. They really mellowed out the MTX as it gets closer to the tip/tail. It’s almost un-noticeable when it reaches the bindings and can really only be seen by looking down the line of the side cut. There is still a pretty pronounced bump in the center. This is still going to handle Ice well but it won’t be as bottomless as it use to be when it had a more pronounced MTX side cut. I actually like it better the way it is now because it can still handle icy conditions and it provides a stable ride there where many hybrid rocker boards become loose but now it is fun to ride in softer conditions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recommended this board for people who ride in hard conditions but travel to good places. Now it will be even better when you travel..

Powder: Ok no powder here but we did have some soft to slushy days which give you an idea of how a board will handle in powder. So the slightly blunted nose doesn’t do too much more in powder but it seems to make it better. The biggest thing is the edges don’t get grabby and feel sluggish like they use to. There is a much better improvement here in the ride and all around feel in powder. I’d still like to see a -20 mm set back instead of -15 mm because it would give it just a little more easy surfy directional float.

Carving: Same carver as before that’s not perfect but really fun to lay into a hard carve. There is a nice balance of edge hold and camber to grip the snow and also really spring out of the turn

Speed: Nice and fast for bigger mountains like Mammoth that have long wide open runs (well on weekdays) that can expose a boards weaknesses at speed easily. The base seemed to have a good glide to it as well.

Uneven Terrain: I wouldn’t really like to ride the 159 in end of the day snow but on the 156 I’d be happy to take on a run that is steep and full of moguls. It’s a really good fit for my foot size and I can just snap that so quick edge to edge that it’s great from first chair to last. Also the board isn’t super stiff so it’s not unforgiving.

Switch: Centered up this is easy to ride switch and to me it feels like a directional twin. This isn’t perfect riding switch but it’s something that offers up very easy riding for those that want to learn to ride switch or for those like me that ride centered on a board like this on groomer days but love to set it back on powder days.

Jumps: The One Magtek isn’t among the ultra poppy class but it’s got pretty good spring off the tip and tail. I’d like to see the camber extended to more like 50% or see it rise up a little higher to give a little more spring.

Jibbing: Not an ideal jibber but I’d have no problem taking it through a beginner jib park. Just not much more than that.

Pipe: Outstanding pipe board and I often love taking the 156 out when I plan to ride pipe that day. It’s stable in the flats, forgiving with the rocker in the tip/tail, climbs pipe walls easily and grips very well. It’s the kind of board that make riders of all levels happy. I’d say that probably only the most technical accomplished riders would prefer something with more camber but I think most would like it here.

So all in all the Rossignol One Magtek made some nice improvements to the ride while also keeping all the good qualities it had before.

2014 to 2011 Rossignol One Magtek Review

Sizes- 156 and 159
Days: 50+ This is a board we often own or ride a lot.
Conditions: Almost everything.  Powder, Ice and everything in between.
Riders: James, Peter, Eli, Lee, Mary, Kyle and many more.
Boots: Boots: Burton Ion, Burton SLX, Burton Imperial, Nike Kaiju, DC Judge, Nike Zoom Ites, Burton Ambush, Salomon Synapse and many others.
Bindings: Burton Cartel, Burton Cartel Limited,  Burton Malavita, Burton Diode, Union Force, Flux DMCC, Flux SF45, Burton Genesis, Union SL, Union Contact Pro and many more

Stance Widths- 21″-23.5″ and probably a few others.  Centered and Set Back.
Stance Angles: 15 front -15 back, 12 front-12 back 18 front -9 back and many more.  We have ridden her every way you want to.

The Rossignol One Magtek is one of those boards that should probably get more recognition that it does. We found this to be fun for all that rode it. It’s one of those boards that can act aggressive but at the same time not punish you for it. It’s hard to be aggressive and forgiving at the same time so this is a compliment for sure.  For me the editor it was one of my favorite boards when the conditions are harder and from intermediate to expert rider can appreciate this type of feel.

On Snow Feel: If you live to ride groomers then the Rossignol One Magtek is just about the same flat basing and one footing/skating as a camber board but without the camber catch.  It’s got the kind of ride that makes for an excellent mountain board. The One Magtek is an amazing pipe board too.

Powder: This is a directional twin with a little bit of a set back so it’s not going to blow your powder mind but the pretty solid rocker after the bindings makes for a good float for a board of this shape. In under a foot the One Mag will perform fine and especially so if it’s light in fluffy.  If you ride in light airy pow places like Utah and Colorado this is fine in even really deep powder.   When in thick deep pow over a foot the One Magtek starts to become a little more work. Almost all of us would rather be on the Rossignol Taipan in these conditions because of the slightly different shape, lack of magnetraction and the slightly extra set back make it a much easier float/ride in deep pow.

Turn Initiation and Carving– The One Magtek seems to be a pretty stiff board flexing edge to edge. It’s not difficult to turn but it does take a slight bit of work. We still found it very easy to make quick tight turns and even more fun to make bigger wide turns. When it comes to carving the One Magtek had the ability to carve on snow that you would normally wash out on. The camber holds without washing out. There are better carving boards but not many can lay into a carve in almost every condition so it gets a higher rating than it should.

Speed: Very Stable and Damp and borderline excellent when it comes to speed. The more we ride this board the more we could say it’s excellent. The base isn’t super high end tech and it’s not as fast as many of the bases we have experienced but it is right up there with the average board out there. If this had a faster base this might have an excellent rating.

Uneven Terrain: Not the best but it’s ok when dealing with slowing down to handle poor choppy conditions or negotiating bumpy snow.

Approximate Weight– Pretty light but not a feather weight. Still its well built and not much to feel on your foot when riding the chair.

Edge Hold: The One Magtek is one of our favorite hard to icy condition rides out there and this is why it almost always is a favorite every year. The only time complaints can be made on the One Magtek is when the snow is very soft and thick like it gets in the west coast of the US with it’s wet/thick/deep coastal snow. It’s a common problem with many aggressive magnetraction side cuts. They can be a little too grippy but not catchy. It’s like it doesn’t want to let go of the edge it’s on so it’s harder to transition to the other edge. This is mainly a problem in thick deep powder but not as much on mellow groomers. The One Magtek is an absolute dream on firmer to icy snow so the steak knife edge doesn’t come with out a price.

Flex: Pretty stiff between the feet but the tip and tail don’t feel as stiff which is probably because of the rocker. You can still butter a bit but it’s not like the Taipan when it comes to flex at the tip and tail. The torsional stiffness is up there and great at holding an edge.

Switch: We found this to be easy switch but it does have a slightly different feel than regular. This directional twin shape is more on the directional side.

Jibbing– Not the best jib board for most of us here. We didn’t hit any rails or jibs but the stiffness of the one mag is too much to enjoy the jib park fully. If you filed down the edges you could slide around but it’s not for big technical jibs.

Pipe: The Onemagtek just screams pipe. One day we had this out on the hill it was really hard pack and the pipe was not easy to ride in. The Onemagtek was the only board out of all three we were riding that could easily climb the pipe wall. It just felt like a confidence booster with all three of us who tried it.

Jumps: It’s has some pop but it’s not at the top of the pop class. You can still generate a lot of air from this board. Launching off of kickers of small to pretty damn big will work with this board as well. It’s pretty forgiving when it comes to landing too. It’s not the kind of find your own air kind of board but it can give you a little extra snap on a larger feature.

All in all I find myself recommending this as one of the top choices for hard to icy conditions riders and it’s also a great all mountain board.