How many of the posters here wear padded riding shorts? I see this mentioned all the time in the road biking forums across the internet but was wondering if anyone riding a Hybrid believes they are necessary/a benefit?
Thanks in advance, Frank.

Cycling shorts with chamois work great for me, I don't care for padding. Usually though I end up with tight fitting underwear under baggy nylon shorts because that's what I'm already wearing.

Nothing to do with 'hybrid' or 'road' bike, or 'mtb' for that matter.

Everything to do with how long/far one rides, and the need to avoid chafing. That is what a chamois ('pad') is for: moisture management/prevention of chafing.

Short rides, under say 20kms? No need, really. Anything much longer, many cyclists (self included) prefer cycling shorts.

I have both padded and "lightly" padded bicycling shorts and I wear them as often as possible. Although on shorter rides under or around 10 miles I don't think they're actually necessary, I still where them whenever possible, which is almost always.

I have bought a pair off Amazon for about $12 after buying my mountain bike. I wore them like once and never wore them again. Most of the time I don't want to change clothes when I get to my destination and after awhile of riding my ass got less sore.

With rides on my hybrid ranging from 20 to 50 miles each time I hit the road, yes, always cycling shorts. If not, I'd not be riding those miles pain free.

I don't. I wear normal gym shorts the majority of the time. My commute is 7.5 miles one way and at most on weekends I might ride up to 14 miles but I don't go very fast and I've never had an issue. If I was doing a different style of riding and longer then yes, I would but for my short commute and speed, I haven't found it necessary. I just where what I find comfortable.

cycling specific clothing provides features & benefits that other athletic clothing does not. you can wear "mountain bike shorts" over them. or like my wife, use a 2 piece cycling short & skort combo. last weekend she decided against the cycling shorts & just wore her favorite new athletic tights with regular cotton underwear. by the end of our ride she was uncomfortable, but I was not. from what I've read, the linings are for moisture management not "cushioning"

don't know her exact model. something like this

they are like shorts but looser & more feminine


personally, I prefer thin lined "tri"shorts under MTB shorts (bought separately) (for jeans I buy 38" waist but for this cycling stuff I buy XXL)

I will add, I when I wear my gym shorts I don't wear regular cotton underwear. I wear Tommy John Sport boxer briefs under them so they are specific athletic shorts. I wouldn't wear just regular cotton underwear under my gym shorts. If you are going to wear gym shorts then get some sport brief's to wear under them. I've also ridden in some Nike running shorts with built in liner and not had an issue. The only thing with running shorts is get them in a long enough length. I don't care about cushioning, it is about moisture control as the above poster mentioned.

I tried running shorts once but they kept riding up due to the breeze. maybe that's OK for a triathlete, but a man my age & physic has no business showing so much thigh ...

I wear them every time I ride. I don't want to be chafing if I decide to ride longer. If I'm going to do a destination ride with friends for something like a beer and tacos run, I'll wear loose fitting gym shorts over my cycling shorts. The only time I don't wear them is if I'm just doing a quick shakedown ride after working on or adjusting something on the bike.

I do consecutive day 75 mile gravel rides with the right athletic shorts and athletic underwear in the heat [1]. Not bike specific. It depends on what works for you. For me... padded bike specific shorts caused a moisture problem and make things worse and i eventually stopped using them.

[1] it took some thought and trail and error but I now know what will work and what wont. The right underwear is the key, the athletic shorts on top are less a factor.

I don't wear bicycle shorts either. Most of my rides are limited by time to about an hour or maybe hour and a half. So I'm not during endurance-type rides where it may be more of a factor. That said, when we vacation to my folks' house in Utah, where we do bike excursions, we might be out for three hours and cover 50 miles. I still don't wear cycling shorts, but I will say that I wouldn't be comfortable doing that all day. But I don't do it all day, either, so it's mostly not relevant to me.

I think it's easy to want to buy a product in order to extend perceived capability, even if you don't actually use that capability. This is fairly common with vehicles, especially pickup trucks. You might buy a larger truck that can tow 10k pounds, you know, just in case. I think there's a parallel in the cycling world, both in terms of cycling equipment (parts, components, etc) and personal wear (clothing, etc). If you're not comfortable now and think padded shorts may help, that's certainly worth a try. But if you're not uncomfortable with your current clothing choices and your riding is somewhat consistent, regarding both the environment and time you're on the bike, then you might not benefit from different choices in clothing.

For those doing "typical recreational riding" who have posted in this thread, it looks like a somewhat even split between folks who do and who don't wear cycling-specific shorts.

Thanks all.
Frank.

I wear padded shorts unless riding to the store. And those times it feels so weird.

I do, it does make my saddle even more comfortable.

Approximately one month ago (before I ordered my new bike and getting back into cycling after leaving it as a teenager) I would have told you I'd not be caught dead in cycling shorts. Now, for anything longer than a few miles, I wear them. The place I live and ride most (my neighborhood) has poorly paved roads. Funny, when you consider how well-off some of the residents in this area are (not me, but many are). It's also a huge amount of people living in a small area so we destroy our roads regularly. Since the paving is not great, the bumpiness on my backside is pain inducing, and I didn't want to get the super-cushiony-thick-grandpa style seat on my FX S6. The cycling shorts (and liners when I want to wear them under normal looking shorts) totally make my rides comfortable.

Depends on the bike, saddle, how far I'm riding, the weather, etc.

My Pearl Izumi baggy shorts came with removable liner shorts, basically mesh fabric undies with moderate padding. Very comfortable. I've also tried Baleaf padded underwear but the padding is a bit too thick and dense for wearing under jeans or close fitting shorts.

AeroTech Pro shorts are very good, more like underwear with thin padding. The black and tan pad is barely thicker than a washcloth, a very low loft, low density microfiber pad that fits even under fairly snug fitting jeans or shorts. Perfect for sweaty weather rides.

My comfort hybrid/errand bike has a saddle with Lycra stretched over dense foam. It's very comfortable and breathes so padded shorts are unnecessary. But it's a little heavy and a bit too wide for bikes with a more aggressive riding position -- it's best for an upright bike. My trips are usually 20 miles or less, usually much shorter, so it's fine with anything I'm wearing.

My sportier hybrid has an old road racing saddle, very minimal and barely padded. It's okay for up to 10 miles but on longer rides it's been pretty uncomfortable after about 40 miles without padded shorts.

With my road bikes, pretty much always wear padded shorts or bibs. One of my road bikes has a minimally padded saddle, so I wear thicker pads with that bike. The other has a saddle with thicker padding and perineum relief cutout, so I wear thinner pads. Just depends on what I feel like riding that day.

Yeah, tighty padded shorts look goofy. Even after many years of wearing 'em and seeing 'em on fellow cyclists, they still look goofy. But they're practical. The single easiest way to go faster is to get more aero. Snug fitting clothing solves that problem. No need to pedal harder, do intervals or work out harder. Wear snug clothing, get lower on the bike, problem solved. Guaranteed 1-2 mph speed boost without any extra effort.

For the first time in 20 years, I rode today without bike shorts. I wore gym shorts, rode along nicely paved roads, and only went 12 miles. I expected to feel uncomfortable but didn't. I did feel cooler as the gym shorts allowed for a nice breeze in the nether regions.