I'm new to biking and had no desire to go with the spandex but after reading posts was convinced I needed bike shorts. I'm a "very well qualified" Clyde (down from 427 but still at 349) and went with the 5X baggy type. I can't compare them to anything else except regular shorts and they are noticebly better than those. The pad and lack of seams really helps. I do notice that they can "bind up" around my knees and constrain leg movement but I just pull them up a little and they're fine. I'm sticking with these for now as I don't think any innocent passer-bys should be exposed to me in spandex!!!!