Chip seal is much much cheaper (for the city/county) than the alternative - but it is bad for tires. The main problem is the aggregate, especially before it is worn in to the asphalt. The damage to tires can be mitigated by using a finer aggregate. Our neighborhood (in Midvale Heights) was recently chipsealed and the company used a fine aggregate which seems to have caused (fingers crossed) little damage to tires - though the increase in rolling resistance was noticeable. We were, however, particularly careful in the first several days to stay at the edge of the roadway, to follow the track of the cars or even to ride on the sidewalk. In contrast, we recently drove our car over some chipseal that used a larger aggregate and I would not like to have ridden on that on any bike tire short of a Marathon Supreme.
On Aug 9, 2011, at 11:15 AM, Martin Lund wrote: > In terms of its impact on tires, cheap seal is awful stuff. My understanding > is that it costs less than standard asphalt and concrete and that this is its > only significant benefit. The material increases noise and rolling > resistance, can negatively impact handling and increase the wear and tear of > tires on all vehicles. I fix a lot of flats for people on a daily basis and a > good portion of these, particularly this summer, have been caused by chip > seal. Customers have told me that it is in use in parts of Middleton and > Shorewood Hills, though I have no specific locations. > > On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 10:53 AM, India Viola <[email protected]> wrote: > Robbie, > > I'm not sure I actually know what chip-sealing is, although I can hazard a > guess. > > A few years ago I was riding on PD, which had recently been re-covered, and > it looked like they used shards of broken glass in tar as the top road cover > material (I know that it's not actually shards of glass) and it caused my > tire to go flat. What I noticed on that particular road is that eventually > the road became less hazardous as car tires embedded the "shards" into the > substrate. The bike lane/shoulder takes longer to become flattened b/c cars > aren't driving on it all that much, so maybe a steamroller could do that job? > > I'm curious to hear the responses that you get- please post them if folks > don't 'reply all'. > > Thanks, > > India > > On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Robbie Webber <[email protected]> > wrote: > Dear community of collective wisdom, > > Can anyone comment about this [below email from Ald. Lisa Subeck]? Anyone had > a similar experience? Heard other complaints? Know if a new material is being > used? > > I had an email about a problem in Fitchburg forwarded to me this AM, so Steve > Arnold may be familiar with this, but is Madison also using something sharp > and pointy as aggregate? > > Rewey - you must know what's up... > > Robbie Webber > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Lisa Subeck <[email protected]> > Date: Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 9:53 AM > Subject: Chip sealing and bike tires > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > > Hi Robbie, > > I just had a call from a constituent who is having problems with bike tires > popping due to chip sealed streets. She commutes by bike and has had to > replace tires several times in the last few weeks. The people at Erik's Bike > Shop indicated to her that the problem is riding on chip sealed roads, which > she can't avoid getting out of her neighborhood. the folks at Erik's told her > they have been running into this problem a lot. They said there was even an > organized ride (MS Ride maybe) last week that had numerous people on the ride > pop tires from a chip sealed portion of the route. > > Since I think of you as an expert on all things bike, I'm curious If you've > heard of this problem at all. If this is a significant problem, is it > something we should put on an upcoming PBMV committee agenda? As my > constituent pointed out, this doesn't contribute to making us a bike friendly > city. > > Please let me know if you've heard about this problem at all. I will also he > talking to the appropriate city staff but thought I'd check in with you, too. > > Thanks, > Lisa > > Sent from my iPhone so please excuse any typos. > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
_______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
