Yes they are the only reason why they’re a good buy - a good, heavy-duty chamois. Plus the spandex itself can prevent any chafing on the inner leg.
If you don’t want to be seen in them, however, just wear a pair of shorts over them. That way you can carry a few items in pockets.
I'm very fortunate, I just got into biking this summer at the urging of a friend who has been a biker all his life.
Fortunately we have a marvelous paved bike path at our disposal that spans about 13 miles at this point but our normal route on Sunday mornings will give us an out and back ride of about 20 miles......with no road riding at all.
This past Sunday morning I decided to meet him at his house for the start of the ride with the intention of taking an alternate route of all roadways. However, once we made it to the major road I wanted to take along Jefferson Ave. in order to ride to my sister's house in Grosse Point shores, MI, that road had no biking lane, which I was never aware of until I actually road the bike there.
When we headed west on it, I realized that was not a comfortable route considering we were relegated to the extreme right side with traffic whizzing by at 40 - 50 mph.......I immediately told my buddy that I was uncomfortable with that so we headed back to where we could hitch up with the bike path........
An observation tho, as we were riding along the road (a 2 lane with no paved shoulder) we passed a group of cyclists coming in the opposite direction riding to their extreme right in single file. They had no where else to ride because of the gravel shoulder nor did my friend and I. Anyway, just as we were passing them on the opposite side of the road, a big Dodge Ram came up behind them and laid on his horn!!! Had I been the last rider in that group, I would have been startled so bad that I probably would have swerved into the path of that idiot truck driver.........
I guess my point is that there are idiots on both sides of the spectrum. And as for myself, at this point in my cycling career, I'm staying off the highways......