Recumbent rider here, and I wear both padded and unpadded shorts. The unpadded ones are used with underwear. I've found that what works best is lycra boxers. Even my coolmax briefs can occasionally chafe but I've never had a problem with the lycra boxers. There can be two layers of lycra between the 'boys' and my inner thigh; so they're free to rub together to save my skin from doing the same. Padding rarely causes problems, but once in a while a cheap pad can be worse than no pad; at which point the pad comes out.