Quote Originally Posted by kelleil View Post
Too much padding can be a problem?
For gloves as well as shorts, yes. However we are all different in both of these departments. I am another who requires minimal padding in my gloves, but my butt likes the rather thicker padding of the PI 3D Elite chamois, most thinner chamois won't do for me, "I" would like a thinner chamois, but my butt doesn't like it. What she wants, she gets

As others have already said, there are many things that can contribute to saddle and hand soreness on the bike. The links others have provided will give you a lot of references, and some of this is totally subjective. The perfect saddle or gloves for one woman can be an implement of torture for another.