Originally Posted by
Archwhorides
I don't think that padding per se is necessary for a saddle to be comfortable. I have Selle Anatomica leather saddles on both my road and commuter bikes, and after a short break-in period for both, haven't needed to bother with padded shorts for rides shorter than 15 or 20 miles. If anything, a poorly padded saddle adds more pressure to the sensitive parts.
Well, I think it depends on the saddle. Certainly you don't want very much padding for long rises. I expect that can be made up for a bit by the how much give on something like the Selle Anatomica. I prefer a solid platform with a little bit firm padding.
Too much padding not only adds pressure to sensitive parts, it can also rub everywhere it shouldn't causing chaffing and sores. Saddles with a lot of padding also usually don't provide adequate support for the sit bones, which is most important thing for comfortable long rides. Even if they do, the excess padding does nothing but rub the wrong way,