Because I, increasingly, am not. For 40 plus years of regular bike riding I’ve never felt the need to go down the route of padded shorts or rely anything other than my trusty Brooks B67S for saddle comfort. Until recently, this, plus the combination of a Brooks compatible undercarriage (I never even had to really break it in), and ahem, a certain amount of natural padding, has been enough for rides of over 100 miles, and many many hours in the saddle.
But now, whether it’s the menopause (why not, everything else is) or perhaps the increasingly eccentric nature of a well-worn Brooks (it’s possible that I might have ridden it with it on wonky for a few months without noticing, resulting in a bit of a twist) I am no longer comfy in its hammocky embrace, and this is a problem, both on and off the bike.
I know – because I run a Facebook group for female cyclists which is about 50% saddle chat by volume – that I’m lucky to have got this far without suffering issues, but that doesn’t make things any better. And I also know that the answer- if not a completely different saddle altogether – is likely to be something along the lines of padded shorts, but I’m a little reluctant to go down that road just yet. I know when you wear cycle shorts you have to go all in and wear them commando, but this strikes me as extremely impractical for the utility cyclist who uses her bike every day to go to places where she can’t get changed at the other end. What do all you normal-clothes everyday journeys brigade do if you need a bit of padding for your rear? I’ve only just splashed out on two pairs of expensive knickers – am I really going to have to trade them in for Lycra cycling shorts? And how is that supposed to work with normal trousers, when it’s hard enough to find a pair that fit as it is? I suppose part of the problem is that most people’s utility journeys tend to be short hops, whereas the shortest round trip I do starts at 11 miles and most days extend to 15, which at the speed I ride is a long time to be putting pressure on your sensitive parts.
For now I’ll probably persist with the Brooks, keeping a bit more on top of turning the screw to stretch out the leather and hoping that normal sofa levels of comfiness resume. But if that fails, I may need to take drastic action. What does everyone else do?
Town Mouse 
the brooks does look a wee bit wonky. New Brooks and (padded) panties as Ian Dury sang?
Ha! I should have made that the title. Brilliant
Well, I went down the lycra route and saddles with cut-outs for the bikes where I’m in a more leaning position. But on my touring bike padded shorts plus normal (woman-specific) saddle is fine.
One thing I never saw the need for is padded knickers but they may be an option for you? Not sure what you’d need to look out for but the internet might give some answers
There do seem to be a ton of options out there. Hopefully one that will do the trick …
I’ve used a women specific saddle since they came out…bliss!
And having been brought up in a cycling family there was no thought of pants with cycling shorts!! Those have definitely improved…the old chamois leather was fine..but could go hard..worse than a bad saddle!!. The padding nowadays has improved massively.
Changing? Easy…use the loo, if there are no changing facilities..I used to work in a museum and used the disabled facilities as there was a decent sink, and privacy.
Happy comfortable riding x
It just seems like a pain to have to keep changing clothes when I only went into town for some shopping … hopefully I can find something that works
If you’re just going in for shopping..why change?!
I have in the past put a light pair of trousers or shorts to put over my cycling shorts..or look at some of the shorts that some mountain bikers wear…look “ordinary” but are comfortable. But I’d never sit around all day in cycling shorts…
I don’t wear padded shorts don’t see the point. The foam compresses to a thick fabric can make you sweaty and cause problems.
Saddles don’t last forever. I rode with Brooks professional until my mid 50s. Now most of my bikes have a cut out saddle. SMP or Selle Italia.
Good luck it’s never straight forward getting comfortable usually needs lots of minor tweaks.
I suppose I’ve been lucky up to now but I guess life has caught up with me at last.
Back in my youth, I wore the padded shorts, but then any bike riding was recreational, as opposed to functional. The Gazelle that I now own doesn’t seem to present any issues, which is fortunate.
However, a suggestion might be padded seat covers that we found a number of years ago. Not sure if your local bike shop would have such a thing. Fitted with a drawstring, one can sureptiously (sp?) install said pad for the trip, and then simply remove it at the destination. Or not. Best of luck.
Bob.