Much Love for San Marco Regal
 

I don't know why it took me so long to find the right saddle, but after a Concor Light, Terry Fly, Koobi PRS Alpha & Xenon, Specialized Toupe and Alias, Fizik Arione and Aliante, I finally tried the San Marco Regal. I have 130mm sit bones and this thing is just PERFECT. Bought one off eBay after reading a thread that some pros still use it though the design is from 1934 (I'm no pro, I know - but they need to spend long hours in the saddle). Just wanted to say if you have been looking for a long time you might want to try this thing, I set it level from tip to tail with a carpenters level and the feel is unreal after a quick 24 miles today - no discomfort sitting or in the drops!!! 80 bucks off eBay.

Anyway sorry to post another saddle thread but just wanted to encourage people to not just try the super thin and light stuff. I wish I wouldn't have bought into the hype so much and just tried this thing from day 1. Hopefully this helps someone out there if they have been struggling as bad as I was!:thumb:

I've heard they are good, I guess I better try one. I have a Toupe currently on my bikes and, they tend to be good for about 62 miles, after which they harden up. I've tried the others on your list except the Concor Light. I have been thinking about the Regal and, recently even the Rolls.

I'm an old school saddle guy too...but the San Marco Rolls as my favorite. Both are great saddles.

They don't like anything they consider "retro". That 1934 reference probably sealed the deal for them. :lol:

Good! Let them ride the carbon stuff, it'll toughen 'em up. Save the good stuff for me and you.

I need another one for my other bike. Eighty bucks, huh?

I'm a borderline clyde, and not particularly tall at 5'10" and a Regal fits like the proverbial glove. I've tried a B17 too, but its just a bit chunky; although a B17N works well, albeit perhaps a bit too old school on a classic lugged race frame.

Found my Regal at an off kilter bike shop in Yellow Springs, OH. Of course, truth be told, everything tilts on a slightly different plane in YS. I had just ridden up from Cincinnati on the Little Miami Bike trail, and stopped in for a few minutes while awaiting arrival of the family. Saw the black beauty on the wall, quiried the owner, who promptly replied in a sarcastic tone "...offered it to somebody last week for $25, but he thought it was too expensive." Quickly pulled a 20 and a 5 out and asked if it might work today. He accepted, slipped the bills into his wallet, and smiled, saying "its yours." Claimed he bought if for personal use, and just didn't like it. I couldn't even find evidence it had ever been mounted. Some days are sweet like that.

If you want to go full class, Richard Sachs sells 'em in red, white and blue smooth leather, with titanium rails for $120; which is cheaper than just about anybody. Mine is just textured black leather with copper plated steel rails.

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...DSC01847-1.jpg

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...udd/Basso1.jpg

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...judd/Nago1.jpg

Regals are OK by me. :)

Like the OP, I finally tried a Regal after years of going through all sorts of saddles. I'm done - the regal is IT. I now have them on almost all my bikes - only need one more.

BTW - I snagged the last two white ones off of PBK about a month ago, for ~$60 each :D:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...6572/regal.jpg

It's a wide, slick saddle that distributes the load over a greater area to reduce psi and chafing.

I think both the Regal and the Rolls shapes are close to perfect as is possible - keeping in mind that they were intended for racing bikes when those were ridden with the handlebars higher than many people have them today. You can benefit from a bit wider saddle when riding like that.

Great explanation. By the way, does the Regal come with titanium rails? The Rolls does, albeit at a higher price.

I know they used to, the one I own is. Great saddle as well as the Rolls. I do however prefer my Aliante with my bikes that have more aggressive fits.

There is a steel rails and a ti rails version. The latter is more expensive.

I've loved the Regal ever since I started doing brevets in the early 90's. Wonderful saddle!!!

It is on my "to try" list. Seems like it may not be good for a lot of drop (i have about 4" of drop). Does it place a lot of pressure on the sitbones, or no?

13 cm of drop ad no discomfort at all.

I've got 3 Regals, 2 CrMo, 1 Ti.

This is one that has been on the list of saddles to try. I'll start looking for one on ebay right now. thanks for the reminder.

Has anyone ridden a lot with the regal and the flite?

I'm interested to see what people thought of both in a comparison of sorts.

Yesterday, i ordered a white Regal with titanium rails from an ebay seller (ital-tecno) for $115. His store only showed one available, but he always has a lot of stuff and might have more.

I hope I like it as much as everybody else seems to! I don't really have saddle issues, just looking for a little better shape for my build.

i picked up an old rolls for the build i did for my girlfriend and I rode it for a week or two and liked it. Curious to how i'd feel about it now compared to my new Bontrager Inform RL, considering for that I measured a 154 for my sit bones. Only issue I had with the Rolls was how bad it was when it got wet. Mind you I got it used and it's pretty old, but in okay shape.. $20 off craigslist i figured I'd give it a shot.

I have a Regal on my bike with about 4" of drop. I love the saddle. It is super comfortable. It's a sprinters saddle. I'm doing my first 100mi ride on Sat. I know my behind won't be hurting as much as my legs will.....:)

I have the Selle Italia Flite on my Merlin, and it may well be a major reason why I like the ride of my Regal-equipped Bridgestone better. The Regal is definitely a more comfortable saddle for me.

in what way? i have recently been riding a flite and am curious to try the regl. how do they compare? (also what flite were you using? a new style one or the older ones?)

I just ordered one as well... I've been having a horrendous time finding the right saddle over the past 4 years. The Arione is the only saddle that I've been able to tolerate, and the only one I've been able to ride any sort of distance on, but I can only ride it for a few weeks before it starts to disagree with me. I've tried the aliante, toupe, scratch, flite, SLR, etc - tweaked all of them over and over - and all have had their ups/downs, but they all caused a lot of pain when going over 40'ish miles (my regular rides over the years, several times a week, have been 2hr, 35-40mi, with longer weekend rides, so I don't feel I haven't given any of them enough time either). I've been on wide and narrow saddles and have determined that sit bone width is a crock for determining saddle comfort (more of a loose guideline, but not much more than that). If the regal doesn't do it for me, I'm selling my bike and spending the $$ on hookers and beer.

In which case you won't even miss the bike. :D

I have the gel Flite, came with the Merlin in '04.

All I can say is the Regal is more comfortable, especially on longer rides. Obviously it fits me better, and there is a definite "give" I can feel when I sit on it as opposed to the Flite which doesn't give and just asks "Is that all you got"?

Trying out a Regal right now. I'm planning on replacing my Rolls with the Regal if it works for me, which so far it is. Anyone looking to try a Rolls, steel rail (PM me if you are)?

the classic San Marco

The only thing I forgot to say is that I got the standard Regal TI and not the "Team" Regal. The latter is not a true leather top. The team version has some kind of cool graphics if you are into the "pro" look and the fake leather material probably is more durable, but I like the feel of real leather. The interesting thing about this saddle for me is that I've had problems with wide saddles chafing before and this one seems to taper slower from front to back (more gradual) but doesn't cause any chafing whatsoever. I wonder if the more gradual shape just provides better support of your soft tissues and lets you sit further forward? No idea, it just does the trick for me!

What's the size comparison between rolls and Regal? all the sites seem to sometimes list the regal as 131mm which i think is correct.. but some say 150mm and most sites say Rolls is 150mm always

i'm 130ish mm sit bones and do OK with a Fly Ti but want to try one or both of these. Rolls is way cheaper it seems

Buyer beware....note the comments on the Regal above. Both come with leather versions (very, very nice Italian leather) and ti rails. Those are compariably priced. Be careful comparing a ti rail version of one against a steel rail version of the other.

I'm looking at the real leather steel rail on both.. i'm just trying to figure out the structural differences.. not material. what are the shape differences?