I wear bibs and 5 years ago i found that i got sore after 40 miles. i had the stock saddle and read that harder saddles are actually more comfortable. The LBS recommended a Bontrager Paradigm RL and it was a huge improvement. When i bought a new bike, I ordered it with a Paradigm RXXXL which has the same profile and has less padding. When i sold my old bike i sold it with the stock saddle and kept the RL. I have since put it on my CX bike.

Last February I was on vacation in Arizona and rented a bike, similar to mine, that had a Paradigm Race saddle. It was much softer and after 12 miles i stated to get sore.

3 saddles, all the same profile and the firmer they got the more comfortable the were.

Test one ... stop using those creams.

I think the padded shorts are just part of the whole "fred" package. Its more about looking the part than it is functionality. People like wearing uniforms. It makes them feel like they belong to something. I have done 40, 50, 60 mile rides on both my road bike and on my mountain bike in cargo shorts without any issue. I've never once put on a shred of lycra, spandex, a cycling jersey, or those wrap around sunglasses everyone has either. If the seat hurts your ass, you need to make sure its set up properly, and if so try a different seat. I have a selle italia flite flow on my road bike and a selle italia max flite gel flow on my mountain bike. Both are super comfy.

Well you know it all, then! Kudos!

Maybe try imagining how goofy you would look walking around wearing a padded saddle as opposed to padded shorts.

Well, this is somewhat controversial. Best of luck.

The chamois conforms to your body and stays put while the slick outer layer of the shorts then rub against the seat. Keeps all the friction away from your skin. If the padding were in the seat the shorts would conform to the seat and rub you.

Didn't we already discuss this in the last thread with this theme?

And we will again when the next Einstein thinks he knows better than the rest of cycling.


Why do we have padding in the shorts and not the saddle?

Because it works.

And if something else comes along that is better, we will use that instead.

Speaking as a female, I'm very glad my shorts have padding in them.

OP, I've tried it both ways. Started out cycling with a soft Specialized Body Geometry saddle with plenty of padding. Hurt like all hell even after a few months of use and plenty of saddle time. Tried going to tighter underwear but that didn't help either. Finally switched to a firm saddle and padded shorts and haven't ever considered going back. As noted, the pad is multipurpose, and in my experience, 'padding' is the least of what it does. Mainly, it absorbs sweat and prevents your skin from contacting the seams of your shorts. My favorite bibs all have thin, hard pads (Voler) and I ride saddles with very little padding (Fizik Pave and Arione). Not to say you won't like something else, though, but we can't provide that answer.

I don't know if anybody else does this but I do. In the spring of the year I either ride my bike with shorts that have no padding or very light padding. This is somewhat to harden my butt up some. I have all kind of brands of cycling shorts that I have bought over the years. I love the Voler Peleton shorts and if I catch them on sale I really like the Castelli shorts. I have never tried bibs and use the Brooks Waterford cut out saddle. Because I ride them in the rain a lot without a covering I eventually get sag in them. I put a new one on this week and am going to buy a lyrca cover for it for the rain. Yes I use some kind of chamois butter for rides over 100 miles and use to use Bag Balm but it was pretty messy and hard to wash off your hands.

Zman

A lot of silly and snarky replies - welcome to Bike Forums! Anyway, I think you have a good point. In my case, the bike shorts are a good way to keep all "junk" together if you know what I mean. I suppose I could accomplish the same thing with a jock strap. I also agree with the point that as your core improves, your butt fatigue is less.

OP, as already explained, you have the timeline reversed. In the past there was no padding in the shorts. Possibly some in the saddle. Now the manufacturers see padding as a way to distinguish their products. Comfort is something they can promise you to extract more money from you. I prefer thinly padded shorts and low to medium padding in the saddle. That is what works for me.

1. Lots of people agree that a pad is unnecessary. NBD, whatever you like. I do think you'd be hard pressed to find people who routinely ride 3+ hours or more at a time who would agree, though.
2. The premise of this question is flawed. The vast majority of saddles are absolutely padded. The amount of padding in a pair of bike shorts is extremely thin and comparable to or less than the amount of padding in a typical road saddle. Also note that there's a wide variety of chamois/pads in shorts, some of which are extremely minimal.
3. The OP seems to misunderstand the purpose of a pad in a pair of bike shorts. The pad isn't there for shock prevention, it's there to conform to your body and prevent chafing.
4. You really don't need chamois cream for the vast majority of riding. This is a personal preference thing. Personally, I never use it even on very long rides in hot weather.
5. In my ~25+ years of riding, I've come to understand that for me thickly padded saddles are extremely uncomfortable on a road bike for rides longer than about 45 minutes. You sink in and put tons of pressure on some fairly delicate tissues. I think the majority of experienced cyclists would agree with me: you want a bit of padding in a saddle but not a lot.

Also, the OP is highly sensitive here about some extremely mild poking. The OP has asked a newbie question to a bunch of people who generally have a lot of experience. It's a forum, take your lumps with good humor.

+1


Well, I'd say "mask" or "hide" instead of eliminate. The seams in the lycra remains. But there is no longer any seams directly between body and saddle.


Padded bike shorts has never been about providing softness.


It's pretty much all about providing enough deformation to allow the near-unavoidable seams directly between body and saddle to sink in and functionally disappear.


I can ride reasonably comfortable in a few sets of flat seam running tights and compression underwear.


But for longer rides, or several daily long rides in a row, I sure appreciate the purpose madde clothes.

This would make sense, if it made sense.

Imagine riding in a jersey entirely made of chamois pad- foam rubber-

and claiming that it's purpose is to mitigate moisture.



I agree with the OP, not necessarily about the saddle padding, but that we tend to

accept dogma with little question.

In what way does your analogy make sense? The chamois manages moisture in an area that sees both a lot of pressure and constant motion, a recipe for chafing if the moisture isn't addressed; the upper body sees neither of these issues.

What sort of cheapass shorts are you using with a foam rubber chamois?

Not to mention almost no airflow, especially when compared to a jersey.

If I may be serious for a moment...

I wish people on this forum could try a bunch of different options and stick with the one that works best for them (in regards to saddles/clothing, but also applies to bikes, fit, tires, wheels, etc).

Once they've picked the one that works best, they should probably come to terms with the fact that what works for them does not necessarily work for others, and it's better to assume that someone with a different solution has come to that determination after their own process of research and trial/error.

It's annoying to hear people call riders in spandex with chamois "freds" that bought the marketing hype and/or are sheeple. I've ridden in regular shorts on padded saddles and it doesn't work for me. A thin, hard saddle plus nice bibs with chamois does. That should be all the justification I need to wear "kit". It's not about buying the hype and trying to appear a certain way, it's about using what is best for my purposes.

Exactly. Also, new marketing opportunity - saddles with an underside scoop for ram-air cooling through the cut-out.

As mentioned in another thread, I used looser-fitting shorts w/ actual chamois BITD.

Good air flow, minimal sweat build up.

I wonder why I am now wearing sweaty, poorly ventilated shorts. Convenience, & because I accept the dogma.



If you think that your chamois pad is not made of foam rubber, you're fooling yourself.

I've heard that the pros use their seattube-mounted motors to drive a pump that circulates cooling fluid through their saddles.

Yes, of course. Because foam rubber is so absorbent. Makes perfect sense now.

And then there are the serious cyclists who ride Brooks saddles with normal shorts. I dislike padded shorts, and don't need them. I also dislike soft saddles. Go figure.