Ok, so here’s my problem.
I own quite a few padded shorts, ranging from $30 - $250 (bibs), and they feel great for the first 2-3 hours, then I get really uncomfortable in them. Not pain, but quite uncomfortable.
I was able to ride 200km wearing only compression shorts with no padding, but I think I got lucky.
Regular shorts/underwear always have issues because of the seams, so they aren’t viable.
I heard that triathlon shorts are lightly padded, so they may offer a nice in-between.
Does anyone wear them? How do they compare to traditional cycling shorts?
Yes, just the boxers, they are called “Icebreaker Anatomica Boxers”, they also only have a seam in the crack (there is a different variant of them that seems to have seams across the cheeks). I was just on a 2.5 months trip and did not use any cream or butter or whatever on my ass, just these boxers and the nh100, every day.
It works for me, maybe not for you.
Because they are wool, I won’t wear them (vegan), but I may look for something similar with seams in the crack. Most (all?) of my current boxers have seams that go over the cheeks, and that’s where most of the rubbing/chafing happens, so that might explain it!