Interesting, I never had anything but spandex between the butt and the seat - what do you call chamois here? Goat like animal living in Alps? I bought bibs online today, it has some kind of a woman hygiene product piece that can be detached, is that what you mean?
My seat is pretty firm, it came with the Specialized Roubaix and I never had reason to change, I usually get used to things instead of upgrading

Matt, how was the traffic on the W&OD? I used to bike Purcelville to AOL and back every so often 5 years ago or so and it could get really bad with strollers and such. I like the trail - it's biggest advantage and disadvantage is the fact it was a train tracks once - all those easy hills up and down can get tiresome after a while.