the chamois in the shorts is less about padding the sit bones, than it is about providing a seamless, non-chafing area to protect the parts of your body that are moving around and in contact with your saddle. The original chamois was just that - a piece of leather chamois- soft, absorbant and most of all seamless, but not particularly thick or padded. Thicker pads in shorts are pretty recent and can be pretty uncomfortable in their own right (search "diaper butt" for a few laughs) - kind of like those big bulky gel seats - they look comfortable, but softer isn't always better.