Rossignol XV 2014-2022 Snowboard Review

The Rossignol XV 2020 has been one of our most recommendable freeride boards for those that see icy conditions but still want a good all-around directional board for when it’s good.

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: 163 but rode the 167 extensively in the past as well.
Days: 3
Conditions: Super late and rough spring conditions for the 2020 model but many days in all types of conditions for similar past models.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs) for this review but most of our crew have ridden or owned this board.
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles
Bindings: Union Atlas

Similar Boards (but not the same): Yes Pick Your Line,  Burton Flight Attendant, Gnu Mullair, Jones Flagship, Never Summer West Bound, Lib Tech BRD

Set-Up: 22” Wide. 18 front +3 back. Close to Reference.

Approximate Weight: Feels normal and doesn’t feel too heavy for a 163.

Sizing: So like we have said in the past it’s best to size up a bit with the XV. My favorite size was actually the 167 and so was most of our crews but often when I owned one I ended up sizing down a bit to get the 163 because it traveled better than the 167. Normally I would get a board like this in about a 159 ish but with the Rossignlol XV the 163 or 167 feels much better. I don’t think I would like the 159.

Flex/Buttering: The tail on the Rossignol XV is very soft and it butters off the tail super easy for a board like this. After the soft tail, it becomes more like a typical medium-stiff freeride board. I’m soo used to a stiffer tail than the nose but this opposite flex is counterintuitively fun. The pop is middle ground and it would be good to see a little more spring out of this board when it comes to an ollie but it’s pretty doable.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: The Rossignol XV is more for an advanced to expert rider. There is a good bit of early rise in the nose and even some in the tail that make it more forgiving than some of it’s more camber dominant peers but something about it feels pretty technical. A strong intermediate could get by with this but not ideal. It’s not a lot of camber underfoot but maybe the longer length factors into its somewhat catchy feel. It tracks well one footing and flat basing. It likes more of a back seat ride and feels more tapered than it is compared to some boards.

Edge Hold: Grips like a champ. The Rossignol XV has magnetraction bumps combined with hybrid camber so that makes it not only gripy but really stable and consistent in all conditions. It tracks really well in hard snow where a lot of hybrid rocker boards with the same grip feel loose between the feet. This edge hold can feel a little sticky in softer snow but it’s pretty easy to get used to for most riders but not all.

Turn Initiation: Really quick for this size and it turns much faster slaloming through the trees than you would think. It can roll edge to edge really quickly. It can also take hard continuous turns quickly for its size and turns like a smaller board.

Turning Experience/Carving: So the Rossi XV can circle carve and just carve all around. It could use a little more spring out of the turn but it is far from dead. It’s a pretty fun board to turn. In the past I always rode the XV slightly duck in the back foot but this time I rode it +3 as I read Xavier does. It was pretty fun. You still weighted the second half of the carve on the back foot but the pressure was on the stiffer side of the board and it really held better than when I used to ride it more duck. It still felt more tapered than it did in the past

Powder: In the past, with the same shape, the Rossignol XV floats well. The aggressive Magnetraction between the feet can grab a bit in wet snow but it’s doable.

Speed: So other than the softer tail the Rossignol XV can bomb pretty well. It’s long and pretty damp. The base doesn’t seem to have as much glide as some of its peers on same day comparisons when all boards were just waxed the night before. On harder snow, the difference isn’t as noticeable.

Uneven Terrain: The XV can power over bumps, thick chunder or big tracks in powder really well. It turns around bumps pretty well for its size too. The light frame tech in the board seems to help with dampening but even before they added that it was pretty damp. It’s also really good when you are on hard but slightly uneven snow. Many boards can get cranky there and pass that anger into your joints but the XV doesn’t.

So the Rossignol XV isn’t perfect but it’s hard to find a better hard snow freeride board that’s ready when the conditions get deep.

The Rossignol XV Magtek is a great, tapered, super tight turning, freeride snowboard for those that often see hard conditions but also live for powder.  It’s hard to believe that a board made for Xavier would be so good for the average Freerider like us but somehow it works for both.

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.

2015-2019 Rossignol XV Snowboard Review

Size: 167 and 163
Days:  20+ and we owned the 163 for 2 seasons.
Conditions: Really good Spring conditions with a little slush in the late afternoon and sometimes a bit hard in the morning. Some loose light Rockies snow pushed around exposing really hard snow and some perfectly soft but slightly tracked sierra snow.  At the top, there were some patches of light (for the Sierras) windblown snow that was about 6″ deep that felt like a powder day.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Jimbo (Size 11, 5’11” 160lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs), Kyle, Zobel (Size 11.5, 6’ 180lbs),
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV, Burton SLX, Burton Rover, Burton Imperial, Burton Ion, Nike Kaiju
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Falcor,  Burton Genesis, Burton Genesis X, Burton Cartel, Flux DM Flux SF, Union Factory, Union Force,
Set Up: Set back a good bit or close to reference stance.  18 front 0 back, 18 front -6 back anywhere from 22″ to 23″ wide.

Approx Weight: the 163 weighed about 6.6lbs but weight varies from board to board.  It felt light though for a 163 and so did the 167 for its size.

Sizing:  It’s the kind of board that rides a lot smaller than it’s size so don’t’ be intimidated. The 167 felt great for my specs (me James) and usually, I’m more comfortable with a smaller size.  The 163 worked well too but I actually preferred the167 and of the 2 and that would have surprisingly been a better daily driver.  It’s long but it doesn’t feel like you are maneuvering a board of that length. It rides smaller on groomers but floats its size in powder.

On Snow Feel:  This is a snappy quick aggressive but somewhat forgiving freeride board. It’s a hard snow groomer board as well as a solid powder board. The Rossignol XV Magtek is a stable between the feet in any kind of condition which makes the ride consistent and predictable. If you ride a little back foot heavy this board will for sure work well and be an easy board to cover long flat cat tracks and it’s easy to one foot off the chair for its size.

Powder: There is more than an inch or a 3cm setback.  Combine that with a taper and the ample rocker in the nose you have a lot of easy float going on. We didn’t really have a real powder day but we did have some Sierra Fluff wind loaded into about 6″ of powder like and a bit of wet to slushy Spring snow. There is a little bit of overgrip but it’s much better than the old magnatraction boards and it’s only really felt right between the feet.  It doesn’t really grab as much as I initially thought when we first rode it last year.  It’s also great for those that have a lot of windblown steep icy entry points before getting to the powder stashes.  You only feel a little bit of a grab in thick snow but not enough to be an issue.  It doesn’t affect the way it floats though.  In light fluffy powder, you might see in places like the Rockies and Utah you wouldn’t even notice. With a difference of just a little more than 7.5″ between nose and tail or 3.75″ back on board the Rossignol XV has a lot of directional float going on.  This is great for a freeride board like this but when you combine the taper in the tail as well as a good bit of rocker in the nose you have a pretty solid floater in powder.   Despite the larger sizing, the XV is quick so if you know how to turn you will find this really quick between the trees.

Turn Initiation: The Rossignol XV Magtek turns really quick edge to edge and the board turns much quicker than it’s size so don’t get hung up on sizing down because these boards run on the larger side.  It’s not terrible skidding your turns either.  It’s still more a snowboard for those that live to make good quick turns. There is a nice spring out of the turn and it’s really fun to roll over from edge to edge. You can see why Xavier likes this board because that guy puts himself into some scary steep places and If I was doing what he was doing….well….I’d be dead but I’d be in control more than any other board before I die. The Rossignol XV Magtek is the kind of snowboard that can zip in and out of trees or turn when it’s critical in narrow steep terrain. The 167 I rode felt like it could turn edge to edge almost the same as a 156 One Magtek I was riding at the time.  Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit but not as much as you would think. Let’s just say it rides small and quick for its size. As you size down the waist width doesn’t get shorter but both the 163 and 167 turns very quickly.

Turning Experience: Very fun board to turn but you need to keep more weight on the back foot to make sure the edge doesn’t wash out.  It’s very slashy too if you want to release the tail on some side hits.  It’s a very back foot heavy ride and appeals to people who come from a surfing background.

Carving: The real kicker with the Rossignol XV is the carve.  It’s a very unique very tight shorter radius carve. If you lay into it pretty hard it takes you back to surfing. I thought I was back in the ’90s when I use to surf all the time and I was on my 7.0 gun making a hard bottom turn into a rare double overhead almond eye barrel.  It did worry me a bit because the turning radius is so tight that Jimbo crashed into me once and almost crashed into me a few more times when he was filming me. He just wasn’t prepared for how tight the Rossignol XV would turn.  It’s really easy to turn back uphill or make a full circle carve.  So before you lay into a hard carve make sure there is no one behind you because most people aren’t used to what a small circle you can make with such a big board. There is some taper going on and it can make the board a little washy if you don’t get a lot of weight onto the back foot after you initiate the turn.  The MTX really helps grab a lot better than most tapered boards but you can still feel the tail act a little different than the nose.

Skidded Turns: There is a good bit of camber going on with the XV and combined with the aggressive magnatraction it isn’t the easiest to skid turns but it is far better than a full camber ride.  There is some catch to it but its very doable if you get off your game and need to skid through a few turns.

Speed: It’s very very fast and stable. The Rossignol XV Magtek is fine for a straight line and it’s faster than most boards out there. The Rossignol Krypto actually felt a little more stable but we are splitting hairs on various shades of excellent.

Uneven Terrain:  We didn’t really see the kind of bumpy terrain because both days we rode this were flat but it seems like it would hold up well through a mogul field on the way to a powder stash.  The Rossignol XV Magtek will also do really well for its flex in the harder uneven off-piste snow.

Edge Hold: In 2015 Rossignol changed up some of their boards MTX with a less aggressive but still very effective MTX.  From what I can tell the XV still has the same super aggressive MTX. If you like tapered surfy freeride snowboards but often see harder conditions then the Rossignol XV Magtek is your snowboard. It’s got great to excellent grip on really hard to icy snow but it also doesn’t grab too hard in thicker powder.  It’s not going to be a double ender carve hard off your front foot kind of board in harder snow and the tapered tail can wash out in harder patches if you do so.  It’s more the kind of board that you want to have more of a centered to set back surfy carve with a lot of pressure on the back foot. With that said it holds better than almost any other board with this much taper that I have ridden.

Flex: It’s medium/stiff and lively. The tail is softer than the nose so it wheelies pretty well and it’s easy to snap an ollie off the tail.

All in all the Rossignol XV Magtek is a really different fun snowboard that can make a lot of riders really happy. We often recommend this to anyone who sees harder snow but wants to be ready for when it gets super deep too.