I have a 29er and I ride on WTB Cruz Freedom tires.

Handles hardpack and rough roads with aplomb.

I wonder another thing, which is whether it even works to prolong the life of the roads. Maybe it's snake oil. One street in particular along my commute was just as lumpy a few months after chip-seal as it was before the treatment.

And of course different climates have different road problems. Here, the main killer of roads is freeze-thaw cycles. To protect a road from breaking up, it actually has to be sealed well enough that water doesn't get into the cracks

I've had my share of flats thanks to cheap tires, but most seem to be the result of glass on a certain stretch of bike path. At least, the flats that weren't self inflicted by careless tire installation.

Tire widths on the three bikes I ride range from 32 to about 40mm. Central Indiana chip seal is tolerable with those tires. Lots of variation of chip seal surfacing by area.
Not sure if we were on any chip seal today - definitely very little smooth surfacing - but was impressed by the smooth ride of the 1.6" Marathon Supreme tires which are fairly new to our tandem.

Chip seal is a surface treatment. It seals the surface from water infiltration, and provides a new wearing surface. It doesn't do anything to correct large scale irregularities.

In a lot of the midwest, lots of rural roads aren't really paved with asphalt or concrete. They're gravel roads to which a chip seal topping
has been applied. They work pretty well for low traffic roads, say less than 200 vehicles a day. Because they're still really gravel roads, they move like them, and get heaves and lumps

I need the tongue-in-cheek emoticon, all my road bikes have Paselas of appropriate width. I know I should try something lighter but every time I see riders on the road, fixing a flat, I love 'em even more. This time of year the crap on the side of the road is what's killing tires, worst than any chip seal I've seen.

What i've done on my old bike was have a 2 incher on the back and a 1.50 on the front. On new bike i have 1.50 on front and 1.75 on back... it works pretty well and the skinnier rear allows for a 80 psi vs 60 psi max which really helps rolling resistance on regular pavement and when i have stuff on the rack. I have a town/transport/utility bike, not a road bike, so... perhaps you could go to a 1.50 inch, or is that too wide?

- Andy

I grew up cycling in Texas, and the chip seal is usually like that. The worst is when it is fresh, because the loose aggregate that hasn't stuck to the tar washes to the side of the road. Every once in a while you find yourself riding in loose gravel, most often near a turn where car's lines of travel diverge from the striping.

Agreed about the shoulder crap. All my recent punctures have been the result of large, flint-like objects.

Texas Chip Seal

Why do states even allow this? Seems more hazard than help?

- Andy

I don't like chip seal but it does lower taxes by extending road life. It's all about the correct tyres. It has been proven over and over again that skinner tyres don't help. The tiny contact patch increases rolling resistance for real life roads and the added pressure due to smaller contact patch increases flats.

I'll take higher taxes & proper pavement over frosted gravel anyday...

- Andy

OP didn't speak to other surfaces encountered on the commute or what size tires the bike would accept. If there are no sections of loose gravel where climbing is required, and the bike will accept wider tires, Marathon Supremes should work very well. 32, 35, 38 would all be an improvement, I believe. I ride some chip seal on weekend rides and barely notice the difference from regular asphalt on my 35mm's.

OP here...

1. I weigh 163lbs.

2. The rest of my commute is regular pavement.

3. I will try 50-60 psi next time and take note of how it goes.

4. I'm leaning toward trying 32s next time i need tires...but not till then.

Wow 10 Wheels! That doesn't look anything like the chip seal used around here. Those are boulders compared to the shards that are used on the roads as chip seal here in Wisconsin, namely Madison. I'd take a picture of it now but most of it is covered in snow - go figure, but this is Wisconsin.

The tiny pieces are supposedly more of a hazard to puncture bike tires, even the road work signs say for bicyclists to use an alternate route when they put this stuff down initially.

That's pretty normal for the chip seal I've seen all over the country. Once the stuff is embedded in the oil, it's not all that bad. I once had to endure 80 miles of fresh loose stuff along the Columbia River from Hermiston to Biggs which was not fun at all. I've never had a problem with punctures from chip seal, however.

And, as with washboard roads, the faster you ride the smoother the road

I would imagine that's for the loose gravel as much as anything. They lay it on thick around here.