You may not have heard of Roxy snowboards unless you’re a girl. And that is pretty rare among snowboard companies. You see, Roxy is a snowboard line dedicated entirely to the ladies. While every company out there makes boards for women, they don’t dedicate an entire brand line to it. Rome, Burton, K2, all these big companies offer women’s boards. Roxy sets itself apart by offering nothing else. But does this rare specialization mean a legit go-to company for girls or is it just an overpriced gimmick trying to pull in buyers with cutesy graphics?

In order to figure that out, you’ll have to delve into the history of Roxy a little. As a fashion line from Quiksilver, Roxy has definitely made its name in sports apparel. Two years after its launch, Roxy started making gear for snow sports. In 2003, they started putting out snowboards, all very similarly styled to their clothing line. It was a surprise for many people in the industry to see a company devote itself entirely to one gender, but their style and manufacturing credits, more on that in a bit, earned them enough buyers to keep going. Now, they have become entrenched in the marketplace and offer a full line from entry boards to boards pros would shred on.

But first, back to that manufacturing thing. Roxy isn’t a cheap brand churned out by the warehouse-load. They are made by Mervin Manufacturing, the same guys who give us some of the incredible technology behind hyper-popular boards like the Lib Tech Banana and top-end GNU boards. And the Roxy snowboard is getting the full treatment with all the Magne Traction technology that other boards produced by Mervin are getting. Of course, Mervin Manufacturing is doing this because they are owned by Quiksilver, a deal made back in the 90’s.

It doesn’t hurt Roxy that their pro riders aren’t too shabby either. Torah Bright is the premier name you might recognize. Her new Bright Series is just one of the lines that Roxy is expanding into. Alongside Torah are riders Sarah Burke, a two times X-Games Gold Medalist and Kjersti Buaas, an Olympic snowboarder. These girls have shredded parks and pipes that would have most guys shaking in their snowboarding boots. Whether or not you still doubt if Roxy is legit, you can’t argue that the girls who ride them certainly are. And it is always vital to a company to have great riders, because the feedback they provide can help the company really take it to the next level.

But the bottom line with snowboards, any company or line, is that it is the rider who determines whether or not the board is any good. You can make the argument that almost any snowboard company is good so long as they make boards that fit their niche. Roxy’s niche is the lady boarder looking for a quality board, maybe one with some appealing graphics. If you like the look, you have to ride one. That’s the only way you can really know if the board works for you. A Roxy snowboard is just like any other snowboard, you can fall off it or you can fall in love with it. Sometimes it’s both.