My wife and I are getting into MTBing a bit more than we'd been in the past and most of our clothes we have are for road cycling. I have a few pair of "Century" shorts with the gel chamois in them and they're great for road biking but leave far to be desired when it comes to MTBing. I also have two pairs of "mountain biking" shorts which seem to protect a little more in the butt area.

Now, here's the stupid question. Is there actually a difference in the placement of the padding for road shorts vs. mountain biking shorts or is it just in my head? I've held them up and tried to compare them and don't notice much of a difference in pad placement.

My wife and I are both in need of mountain biking shorts.