lots of short advice out there but...

[mariposa]

Hi.

I had a Terry saddle. Like you, anything over 15-20 miles felt pretty uncomfortable.

I tried a million different kinds of shorts. Some were better than others, but none of them were great.

Then I switched out the Terry saddle and bought something called Selle San Marcos Lady Tri Stryke. It made such a great difference. With the new saddle, I can bike in almost any shorts. For 20-25 mile rides I will even bike in running shorts with no padding sometimes, and it is not a problem.

For longer rides I like the various Shebeest shorts the best. The mid-price SSS are a favorite. PI shorts feel a little bulky.

Sometimes the *saddle* is the problem.

Good luck!

[madscot13]

thanks for all of the info! I found a pair of PI ultrasensors onsale at REI outlet for $67. I think that is a good enough deal to pick them up. I really want to get this cycling thing right.

[Bklynmom]

I found a store with PI and Craft - on my 5"1" frame the Medium PI were way too long, and oddly baggy in the back of the thigh. I think if you are around 5"4" or taller, you will be OK in PI. (Now someone 5' tall will tell you they love PI in the next post, so watch out!) The Craft were a perfect fit for me.

There is no way around this trial and error shorts thing - there are just too many factors to rely on someone else's experience completely. I have a few clunker pairs that weren't cheap .