Alright,....alright,...
I've been jokin' around here a bit, but I'm pretty experienced when it comes to monkey butt.
I come from the world of dirt bikes (old ones with very little suspension, and bicycles).
Yes,...bike shorts have padding,...the kind with a padded chamois crotch are the best.
Now,...as far as seats go...
A seat needs to be wide enough to support outside your butt bones. Feel down there, and you have one on each side. Woman's are wider, it don't mean you're fat, it just means you're a woman, not a man... If the seat doesn't support some meat outside of that, those bones are going to carry your weight. That's gonna' hurt.
I have ridden bikes with seats that feel like you're sitting on a telephone pole. Bad...bad ...bad...! Rounded from the center, doesn't work. It must bowl in the center and rise to the edges.
So, check your butt bones, and if they don't fit the seat with enough left on each side to allow a bit of meat to support the weight, you need to widen the seat.
If you're o.k. there, you want the seat shape to cup you to the center,... that's flat, or higher on the sides than the center. Many people think if the center hurts, you need to pad it more, that's wrong. You need to pad out the sides to take the weight off the center pressure point.
Next is where the seat lift comes in. You don't want to be feeling like you're sliding forward, or backward. You want to be cupped in the middle. When you start getting tired, or feeling a pressure, you can then schooch forward or back from there to relieve pressure, but you to know when you're doing it.
Sitting in the same spot for a long time will make you're butt ache eventually, no matter how comfy the seat, so you need to be able to move a bit. But there should be a pocket in the middle that let's you know when you're in the center.
From there,.. although it's not very fashionable, a fabric seat covering is much better than pleather. I have a very dark (off-black fake sheepskin) cover on my seat, that is barely noticeable as non-stock,... that is a great help in comfort. It keeps the seat cool in summer and warm in winter, and provides a little bit of extra cushion, while allowing a small amount of air circulation that stops you from sticking in one position.
Here's a pic of my bike with the sheepskin seatcover on,... hardly noticeable, but very comfortable. You can buy fake sheepskin at fabric stores for $5 or $6 bucks a yard and make your own. 1 yard is plenty, my best buddies wife sews an elastic round the bottom for me... I suck at sewing.
So,... as you can tell by now,... I have a pretty tender tush,... well,...not so much pretty... as tender, but that's what I've learned from my years in the seat.
Maybe something in here will be of help to all the suffering bums out there.
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