I'm puzzled by something. I've been commuting by bike for about two years, and learned early on that a soft cushy saddle does not make for a comfortable ride over the long haul. So I got myself a hard saddle (a Brooks) and have been very pleased with how comfortable it is. My understanding was that a hard saddle transfers your weight directly via the sit-bones, whereas a soft saddle, by molding to one's butt, spreads weight across soft tissue causing numbness and all that.

Up until today I've always commuted in regular street clothes because my commute was only five miles, and again, my Brooks saddle has been very comfy when doing so. Recently, my office moved and so my commute is either a train ride plus ten miles of biking or about 23 miles on the bike each way. I rode home the whole way the other day in jeans and learned a) that I'm dumb, and b) street clothes have their limits. So I bought some bike shorts, good ones with a relatively thin pad. Today, I rode in them for the first time and at first it seemed super cushy but over time the pad became kind of annoying, and I thought hey! if soft bike seats are bad for long rides, why do bikers stuff soft pads in their shorts?! Doesn't it cause the same problem?

Has anybody pondered this? Because I'm thinking about cutting the pad out of my expensive bike shorts but, as previously stated, I'm dumb, so I'd appreciate some insight on this.