Did you get chafing with the cushioned one?

And if so, that begs the question "Are all bike cushions the same?" B/c I know my various chamois's (???) are certainly not. I've got them sorted into 25 mile rides (which I can also do with no padding - so...useless category), and 25+ mile rides.

What reasons did the things you read give?

See, I can't ask my riding group. They actually KNOW me and might mock my question. They already know I am a part of the snot rocket group. But that makes me cool to those in the know. I can't lose that status by asking to do something un-cool.

My problem isn't on the bike. It's on the run. That's where I don't want the padding and where I'm getting the chafing. In my 70.3, the porta-potties were close enough to my bike rack that I was able to reapply Chamois Butt'r off the bike (had to use the bathroom anyway, and I take extended vacations through my transitions so I took the time to do that), but in my recent Oly, I'd have added another 1/2 mile on foot to get to the potties and back. The result was chafing. Not too bad, as I wore my DeSoto tri capris, which have 2 layers of 100weight polar fleece instead of an actual shaped pad, but still some chafing along the edge areas of the pad that required a couple days' worth of hydrocortisone use. (Actually, I got some chafing in the 70.3 even with the reapplication of Chamois Butt'r, but I was expecting it due to the longer distances involved.) In hindsight, I probably should have just used my regular Brooks running tights with no padding at all at the recent Oly. But I wasn't as "broken in" this year as I was last year, and felt like I needed some amount of padding. I should have been doing some of my training rides without padding this year to break myself in, but I didn't.

Maybe "gel seat" isn't the right product. I was looking on ebay at padding, and some are selling seat covers that look like the padding that's in my Shebeest and Pearl Izumi shorts. It's still called "3D" (though prbably not the "real thing"), and has the different parts/raised sections. Not like the Bell gel seat that is on some of the children's bikes in our garage. The Shebeest and PI shorts make me feel like I'm wearing a diaper when I'm on the run. It's the edges of the padding that create the chafing problem, not the padding area itself. I have a very full rear end, and full thighs, so lots of areas to rub against, and any additional padding just adds to the volume.

I'm wondering if one of the differences between a seat cover and a padded short/pant is that when the pad is hugged tightly to the body with a tight fitting garment, there is less friction (and therefore less chafing) involved. Which is great on the bike, but then you have to trade that with longer wear (and more friction) when you also wear the padded garment on the run.

The guys I ride with are pretty cool. I blow snot at them all the time. But none of them are triathletes, so the issue doesn't really apply to them now that I've got the "why" of my original Q figured out. (And probably they would have laughed at me, but been great after.)

I will ask at the shop, and also at another tri shop that carries much more tri gear, and see what they can offer in advice for different products.

And although I really like my current seat, a different one might negate the need for padding. I think I might prefer that to trying various shorts, and repeating that every time they wear out. The seat would be a more long lasting solution.