I'm trying to replace a worn-out pair of cycling shorts that has been discontinued, and am having a hard time recognizing a feature that seems pretty important: the shape of the chamois pad.
The shorts I used to wear have a chamois pad that's subdivided into several different regions. I've always assumed all pads were like that, but the replacement shorts I ordered have a single flat pad, and it's just awful, so #TIL and now I need to figure out how to identify which shorts in the marketplace are like this.
Unfortunately, it seems like web stores universally refuse to show photographs of the pad (that's everyone from REI to Amazon, to manufacturers like Pearl Izumi who made my original shorts), so I need to know if there's terminology that captures this distinction. This answer describes them as "3-D molded," while this answer says "die-cut and formed" and calls them "panels." Wikipedia doesn't mention this aspect of cycling pads at all.
Does the marketplace in general have a common way of signaling this distinction? Or, is it a feature that's standard in but also unique to a specific kind of pad (e.g. gel-based) or shorts intended for some niche purpose (e.g. ultracycling)?
I'm looking for ways to tell that do not require me to inspect the shorts in-person. I assume the problem here is just a gap in my knowledge.
