California Mountain Roads Using Chip Seal

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WMW
in the industry
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Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:59 pm
Location: Ruidoso, NM

by WMW

When I was researching chipseal, Texas seemed to be the worst... called "boulder seal". There is a huge variance in how bad chipseal is depending on the size of aggregate and how it is finished. I think the riders who don't believe chipseal is that bad are blessed to have road departments that are using small aggregate.

If riding on that stuff was going to be my only option, I'd seriously look into a good frame with really fat tires. Probably a cyclocross or gravel bike. This guy a big proponent of 42mm wide 650B tires for riding on all road surfaces, and he sells fast tires for that purpose: http://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/09/2 ... on-losses/
formerly rruff...

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djconnel
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by djconnel

In the latest edition of his magazine, he test-rode a 650B Calfee Adventure bike by riding it 600+ km on a mixed paved/gravel route climbing 10 km of vertical without sleep.... now that's a test ride!

And the day before he took out a drill, balpeen hammer, and file to reposition the front rack lower.

Needless to say, if you lend Jan Heine a test bike for review, don't expect to get it back in pristine condition.

In any case, he certainly backs up his views with real riding.

Here it is:
Image

His assessment, BTW, was that the brakes worked well but they caused some fork flex which resulted in a slight sterring moment during braking. It was an interesting observation, something I suppose mountain bike designers already figured out with through-axles. But his assertion is that you want road bike forks to flex to absorb shock, but then for the disk brake you want to make them stiff to absorb braking torque, so these conflict. With rim brakes the braking torque is not transmitted through the fork, so there's no such conflict.

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WMW
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Location: Ruidoso, NM

by WMW

Yes... lots of beefed up modifications on MTBs are a direct result of the switch to disc brakes. And when I see how much time the guys at the local shop spend bleeding brakes I wonder what the point is... definitely not seeing it for road bikes.

Have you ever roller tested Jan's tires? Panaracer tires in the past have usually done poorly, but those Grand Bois Supers look promising.
formerly rruff...

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djconnel
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by djconnel

I've ridden Grand Bois on my Ritchey Breakaway and I like them. I've not done any roller tests, however.

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HammerTime2
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Location: Wherever there's a mountain beckoning to be climbed

by HammerTime2

Any update on the status of chip-sealing and the condition of mountain roads in California, and in particular, NorCal?

MoPho
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Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:48 pm
Location: NorCal

by MoPho

HammerTime2 wrote:Any update on the status of chip-sealing and the condition of mountain roads in California, and in particular, NorCal?



Well NorCal is a big area, but in my experience in the East Bay there seems to be a lot of it, in some places it it rougher than others depending on how recently it was paved. Only a few places where it is really annoying and slows you down. Still many roads that don't have it though.





or better yet, start a campaign to tax cyclist so they can help pave the roads they so dearly have to ride on.


I realize it's an old thread that got bumped but it should be pointed out to those that do not know; road use taxes only cover between 1/4-1/2 (depending on state) of road maintenance. The rest comes from the general tax fund, which cyclists pay into. Additionally, most cyclists also own cars and pay taxes on the cars too. The idea that cyclists don't pay for the roads is bunk.


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