Resurfaced road, asking for punctures?

andy46
andy46 Posts: 1,666
edited July 2012 in Road general
Hi everyone

The local council have been out the last two days and resurfaced a couple of roads near me, the kind where they use loose chippings. I take it this is a cheap way of doing it.

I can avoid all of these roads except one. Will there be more of a chance of punctures on the loose chippings as I can imagine them being sharp, or am I worrying too much :lol:

I'm using Michelin Pro 3's if that makes any difference.

It's a shame really as the roads in question weren't that bad to be honest, and one road they've done is a regular Strava segment for me (in which I'm third) so I can't see anybody improving their times for a while. There are other roads round here that have been done like this and they are terrible now after only a couple of years :evil:

Anyway, should I risk going out or not :lol:
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Comments

  • Gizmodo
    Gizmodo Posts: 1,928
    It's called "surface dressing" and it's applied when the old surface gets too smooth - it is supposed to extend the life of the road by at least 5 years for a very low cost (compared to full dig up and re-lay).

    Unfortunately one often just comes across such a road and you can't do anything about it. It hasn't caused me any punctures so far but it's not nice to ride on.

    Hedge trimming is much more of a puncture hazard IMO.
  • simona75
    simona75 Posts: 336
    Have ridden over a few round my way with no punctures but the ride quality on them is terrible.
  • It's called "surface dressing" and it's applied when the old surface gets too smooth - it is supposed to extend the life of the road by at least 5 years for a very low cost (compared to full dig up and re-lay).

    Around here it last 12 months approx.

    Very annoying stuff.
  • plowmar
    plowmar Posts: 1,032
    12 months ? that's good round here it's only a month or two before the old surface is showing through. Have you noticed that they never fill in the pot holes before resurfacing?
  • campagone
    campagone Posts: 270
    Lots of layby's around our way have big piles of chippings in them, so this surface dressing is imminent and many of the roads have s/d sprayed on them.
    I don't find punctures a problem but you do get lots of cuts in the tyres which can obviously reduce their lifespan. The worse thing I find is the pile of loose chippings that collect in the side and middle of the road, I'm always weary of these on descents especially if it's a quiet road that doesn't get much traffic to sweep them clean.
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    It's annoying in a car, so I can only imaging what it would be like on a bike....

    Just got my first puncture - riding along a main road, with a big truck overtaking me. Forced to ride over a recessed drain, and my rear tyre just exploded. Had to walk a couple of miles back home :(

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    They were kindly resurfacing the roads around the Uttoxeter area a couple of weeks ago, i had to ride over a mile of freshly gritted road while they sprayed hot tar on the other side of the road, a beautiful experience that left my tyres looking like freshly sprinkled doughnuts plus a few choice pieces stuck to the underside of my frame.
    Five miles later i came across a stretch at Rocester with piles of loose chippings at the side of the road, this forced me to use the car tracks which then subjected me to a spray of chippings evertime a car over-took me.

    I just wish the bast**ds would fill the bloody pot holes in first, at least you could see them before they attempted this slapdash cover-up job of the road surface
  • unixnerd
    unixnerd Posts: 2,864
    They're doing loads of this in Aberdeenshire. I got caught in a fresh one last night and had to do much of it at under 10mph the surface was so dangerous and loose. Worst was when they did the Lecht, I watched a bunch of riders trying to descend this very steep mountain road at a snails pace. Still, it'll be handy when the ice comes to have some grip.
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  • houndlegs
    houndlegs Posts: 267
    Loads of this going on round here too. They did one road with a separate cycle track running alongside it,and the cycle track got covered in loose chippings, it totally ruined it,it was a lovely smooth ribbon before that.
    I got a bee in my bonnet about this and phoned the council,and lo and behold a few days later they had the grass cutting lads go the length of the path with the big blower things and blew all the chippings off.
    Result :D
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    houndlegs wrote:
    Loads of this going on round here too. They did one road with a separate cycle track running alongside it,and the cycle track got covered in loose chippings, it totally ruined it,it was a lovely smooth ribbon before that.
    I got a bee in my bonnet about this and phoned the council,and lo and behold a few days later they had the grass cutting lads go the length of the path with the big blower things and blew all the chippings off.
    Result :D

    Wow. Please tell us what you said in that phone call!

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • houndlegs
    houndlegs Posts: 267
    declan1 wrote:
    houndlegs wrote:
    Loads of this going on round here too. They did one road with a separate cycle track running alongside it,and the cycle track got covered in loose chippings, it totally ruined it,it was a lovely smooth ribbon before that.
    I got a bee in my bonnet about this and phoned the council,and lo and behold a few days later they had the grass cutting lads go the length of the path with the big blower things and blew all the chippings off.
    Result :D

    Wow. Please tell us what you said in that phone call!

    Ha,I wish I could tell you I wiped the floor with them and put them right in their place,but truthfully I just had a pleasant conversation with a lady and explained the situation to her.
    I pointed out that the council (or sustrans) were doing good things in building the tracks ( there are quite a few being built here ),and the chippings could discourage people from riding the tracks.
    She totally agreed and said she would see if something could be done.
    I didn't think anything would come of it if I'm honest.I imagine in a month or so they probably would have cleared naturally. So I was pleasantly surprised when they did it. I think I'll even phone them back next week and thank them,it can't hurt to keep them onside eh :D