Honestly for the cost factored in I like the PI Symphony shorts. Of course that's for a distance pf like maybe 20 - 40 miles. I remember when I first started riding I wore these cheap-o Cannondale shorts, which I think were spin shorts, that hardly had any thickness at all in the chamois and I thought that was fine for at least a year. Honestly the seat makes more of a difference for me than the shorts. The Symphony shorts have some nice features though, they started putting a little pocket on the side of them which I like, great for dog spray if you are out riding in the boonies. They even offer them with some accent colors now, they have the flat waistband that doesn't cut you in half like some others were talking about, totally understand that one The only negative I have on the Symphony is they got the leg bands a little tight, I pull them out everytime I wear them. The loosen up when they warm up but I would rather they did a looser band. Just my two cents, hope it helps and welcome to the wonderful world of cycling