It may not work for everyone, but gel padding works for me. I commute 45 minutes each way and all three of my bikes have gel pads. My MTB based commuter has a gel seat with springs. My old roadie with its hard, original saddle gets two gel covers, and my new commuter gets one gel cover. I have ridden the new bike 3 hours at one stretch, and the other two I have pedalled up to 6 hours on occasion. I wear coaches shorts and have not had bruises or chafing. I also pad the handlebars, but that's another issue. When I got the new bike last January I tried a few rides without any padding, but my butt hurt, and my hands. The old roadie I tried without padding for a few rides, then added a gel seat, then added another. My hands weren't giving me problems back then. WHen I bought my mountain bike in 1997, I transfered the seat from my 1987 Schwinn cruiser, it was lightly padded with springs. When it fell apart a couple of years ago I bought something similar, but with thicker gel padding and comparable springs. Padded or not, sprung or not, wide or narrow, when it comes to bicycle seats, if it feels good...do it!