Well I hate leggings at the best of times, for some reason prefer not to have the knees covered. however succumbed for the few winter commutes I did. Only started commuting towards the end of the summer and wore my tennis skort but would now like to get some cycling shorts really hated it in those leggings today. What do you recommend, don't want to spend the earth and would be nice to have a touch of colour somewhere on whether it be stripes or flashes (poor choice of word!), are padded or non padded best. My leggings are padded which I hate walking around in but on the other hand I guess it's more comfy to ride.