Originally Posted by
base2
Like your fingertips playing guitar or your palette when playing saxophone, your sit ones need to harden up and acclimate to the saddle. More padding is rarely the answer. Though some padding can sometimes be helpful. More padding tends to lead to hot & swampy conditions which leads to friction and chafing. The purpose of a chamois isn't padding; it's to facilitate wicking and evaporation for a dry friction free posterior.
Based on my experience, I doubt that a chamois does much of anything to keep your posterior
dry. After a ride, my chamois is soaked, as is the rest of my kit.
I suspect that the chamois protects the skin from rubbing against the saddle, and it's the padding that accomplishes that by separating the surface of repeated rubbing (saddle-to-lycra) from the skin.