The shorts under the jeans are amazing. I can ride all day with this setup.
I started getting into road biking right about when winter hit last year, and prior to that I just putted around on my old mountain bike (in big baggy jeans or sweat pants alot of the time)... so really I don't even know what its like to ride in just cycling shorts - or tights or anything... but I can say FOR SURE that having a pair of cycling shorts (or bibs) under the jeans/whatever kinda pants makes life so much better.