Hello and welcome to my Rossignol Diva snowboard review.
If you’re a lady that like’s to ride the whole mountain then the Diva is definitely worth checking out.
In this review I will be assessing the Diva on a number of different factors that I consider to be important to women’s all-mountain boards and, as is tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com, I will be giving them a rating out of 100.
What the Diva is Rated on:
The Diva will be rated on the following:
- Powder
- Carving
- Speed
- Uneven Terrain
- Switch
- Jumps
- Jibbing
- Pipe
O.k. let’s take a look at the details
Diva Specs at a Glance
Here are some general specs for the Diva – you may want to refer to these throughout the review.
| Recommended Price | $449 (USD) | Style | All-mountain |
| Flex | Medium (7 out of 10) – though probably feels a bit softer than this. | Feel | Stable |
| Ability Level | Advanced to Expert | Weight | Normal |
| Camber Profile | Hybrid Camber | Turn Initiation | Moderate |
| Edge-hold | Icy Snow | Shape | Directional Twin |
| Stance Setback | Setback by 12.5mm | Base | Sintered |
Size options
| Size (Length) | 144 | 148 | 152 |
| Waist Width (mm) | 240 | 242 | 244 |
| Weight Range (kgs) | 30-55kgs | 40-60kgs | 45-65kgs |
| Weight Range (lbs) | 66-121lbs | 88-132lbs | 99-143lbs |
The Diva’s Performance
After putting the Diva through my smart rating system the following points were allocated based on the ratings above.
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
| Powder: | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Carving: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Speed: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Uneven Terrain: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Switch: | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Jumps: | 3.0 | 6/10 |
| Jibbing: | 2.0 | 4/10 |
| Pipe: | 5.0 | 10/10 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 86.7/100 |
That score was enough to give the Diva the # 1 spot out of 26 women’s all-mountain boards that I looked at. Out of those 26 boards:
- The average score was 79.9
- The highest score was 90
- The lowest score was 66.3
- The Diva ranked 1st out of 26
Right, let’s look into more detail for some of the factors to see how the Diva scored its points.
Powder
The Diva performs really well in the powder.
This is mostly down to its camber profile and setback stance.
The camber profile features camber underfoot and rocker towards the tip and tail. These rocker sections help with float in powder.
A setback stance also helps with float in powder. The Diva’s setback is moderate at 12.5mm but enough to help with float in powder. More float would be achieved with a larger setback – however, this would mean sacrificing some switch riding ability. As this is an all mountain board it is trying to achieve a balance across all performance factors.
Powder score = 3.5/5
Carving
The Diva is an awesome carver – this is the Diva’s strongest area.
This is down to a couple of different things.
Firstly its hybrid camber profile helps. The camber section underfoot helps with edge-hold and stability.
The second thing is the Magne-Traction tech. The Magtek edges on the Diva help it to grip the snow giving it greater edge-hold and allows it to grip in hard and icy conditions also.
Finally the flex of the board also helps with carving and edge-hold – the 7 out of 10 flex will help the Diva with its carving.
Carving score = 4.5/5
Speed
The Diva also holds great speed and has great stability at speed so you can charge hard on this board.
The Diva’s speed and stability at speed is also down to a couple of different factors.
The Diva’s base is a sintered construction which is a fast base – provided you wax it regularly.
The edge-hold, as discussed above in the carving section, helps with stability at high speeds. In addition to that there are basalt and Kevlar fibres that run along the edges of the Diva to add to that stability.
Speed score = 4/5
Switch
The Diva scores well in switch. Again this is a balancing act.
The ideal stance for switch is a centred stance – the Diva has a subtle 12.5mm setback. If it had a centred stance it would have been worse in the powder – and if it had a larger setback stance its switch abilities would suffer. The Diva has achieved a nice balance between the two.
The other factor that helps with the Diva’s switch abilities is its directional twin shape. Sure, a true twin shape would be ideal for switch – but it would sacrifice in other areas. A directional shape would have hindered its ability in switch – so, again, the Diva has struck a nice balance for all-mountain riding.
Speed score = 3.5/5
Jibbing
Jibbing is the Diva’s lowest point. So if you’re not into jibs then the Diva might just be perfect for you because it doesn’t really perform that well here. That said you can still hit the occasional jib on it – you’ll just have to work a bit harder.
The reason for it’s less than average jibbing is partly due to its flex being a 7 out of 10 (the softer the flex the better for jibbing typically) and its camber section under foot (flat and rocker sections under foot are better for jibbing).
Jibbing score = 2/5
Pipe
If you like to ride the pipe then you’ll be in heaven with the Diva. It’s a pipe rider’s dream!
This is largely down to its speed, edge-hold and stability – all important factors for pipe riding – and the Diva has is spades!
Pipe score = 5/5
New for 2016 Model
Rossignol have added a new dampening technology into the 2016 model. Check out the video above to learn more. Other than that it’s the same great board as the 2015 model – except with a new graphic of course.
Final Analysis
The Diva is as good as it gets for women’s all mountain snowboards.
With a score of 86.7/100 it gets the 2nd highest score of any women’s all-mountain board that I have looked at.
It is definitely more suited to the more aggressive all mountain rider with a flex on the stiff side of medium and performs really well with anything that helps you to charge hard downhill.
That said, it can – as any good all-mountain should – hold its own with freestyle tasks and in the park.
If you are an all-mountain rider who likes to do a lot of jibbing then there are probably better options out there for you – but if you seldom or never jib then this is probably the perfect board for you (provided it’s a good fit length and width wise).
And if you like to also ride the pipe then it’s a no-brainer!
