Madridjoe

Lots of it in PA,. I give the cars and trucks a week or so to pack it down, then I'm good to go.

Colorado Kid

Back when I lived in PA, my wife and I turned onto a street that had fresh, chip and gravel put on it. We blew out the front tire of our tandem. Went down hard on the stuff. Slid for a few yards. We ended up a bloody mess.

RobinWarrington

Lots of it here in Australia. But it feels soooo nice once you leave it.

rm -rf

In SW Indiana, there's miles of glass smooth new pavement on some great cycling roads -- very low traffic. I'm not sure where these rural low population counties got the funding.

They also chipsealed a couple of main roads, but it's that pea sized rounded gravel, with a top coat of tar. Not too annoying even when new, and smoother after a year of car and truck traffic.

Farther north in Indiana, they liked the rough larger gravel, very buzzy to ride on. I avoid those areas now. I'm sure it lasts more years, if that's important to them.

CliffordK

They've been doing it for a long time, and it has evolved over time. The road we lived on when I was a kid was chip sealed about 45 years ago. It seemed mighty rough at the time, with large stones.

Lately, I think they've been using about 1/4" stones, similar to what is used for asphalt. It is rougher than pavement, but bearable. Road Cracks are what are most dangerous to me. So I'm always happy when the cracks get filled or covered over.

A few roads near me that were recently chipsealed have now been repaved. It actually surprised me a bit.

znomit

We get a lot hereabouts (NZ is in the future btw).
It's noisy and slow but glass does tend to disappear into the spaces between the stones. I get most flats on smooth asphalt.

Russ Roth

I grew up with the stuff, first with 27 1/4 which rode fine before moving to a new bike with 700x23, and never had a problem, didn't even find it that much more uncomfortable to ride on. Give the cars 2 weeks to pack it down and watch any fast corners.

Troul 

heaving solid surfaces that present a 2"+ blunt edge is a problem I've noticed cropping up in the recent five or so years. After a handful of "letters" to the county, what tends to happen is they rip it up, toss down a base layer that just sucks the wheels in. Then after a few months to a year, they slop in a lesser quality material.

oldbobcat

Yes. Adapt.

easyupbug 

We will see more as asphalt prices have significantly increased and budgets have not, along with minor road rash becoming more serious (cheese grater surface). One benefit is more folks will see they really don't need those 700x23cc.

downtube42

Texas
This ride out of Mineral Wells Texas had the largest aggregate I've seen. Fist sized is probably a slight exaggeration. The state highways would sometimes have a shoulder of old pavement, smooth as silk, but the new stuff is unpleasant at best. In San Angelo where i lived for a time, the city refused to spend anything other than federal dollars on roads, so they were going to chip seal in town. Dirt is next, I suppose.

rsbob 

Was descending a curvey 12% grade with well established chip seal. At the time I wondered whether the tires were getting a better bite versus on smooth pavement?

canklecat

After the chipseal is broken in a bit and the fresh oily surface is washed off, yeah, it seems a bit grippier in wet weather. Chipseal and striated concrete seem less prone to water puddling that causes hydroplaning in motor vehicles, and also seems to help skinny bicycle tire traction a bit in the wet.

None of my road bikes -- from the 1980s Ironman to my 2010 era Diamondback Podium -- were intended for 700x28 tires. Some skinnier-than-spec 700x28 *might* fit, but I can see rub spots inside the chainstays of my 1993 Trek 5900 OCLV where someone attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to run wider tires.

I'll probably sell all of my old school road bikes and get one gravel or all purpose drop bar bike with clearance at least for 700x28, preferably wider. No point punishing myself on 700x23 tires anymore. Roads aren't gonna get any better.

For now my method for coping with skinny tires is decently supple but tough tires and latex tubes. I've had good luck with Continental GP Classics (700x25 only), and Soma Supple Vitesse SL. Those lightweight Somas are remarkably tough and long lasting, and reasonably comfy in 700x23 with latex tubes.

Only downside is the Vittoria and Silca-branded Vittoria latex tubes I've been using the past couple of years are good for about a year and a few thousand miles before they develop minor leaks around the base of the valve. I need to improve my installation procedure and use stiffer tubeless-type tape to protect the base of the valve area where latex tubes have overlapping glued seams.

canklecat

Yeah, a couple of years ago they started laying the coarsest chipseal I've seen west of Fort Worth, from around Aledo out toward Weatherford and Mineral Wells. When it was first repaved it was brutal.

A couple of summers ago I decided to try a century in August on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. Instead of taking my bike with 700x25 tires with latex tubes, I took one with 700x23 and butyl tubes. It was brutal. Some of that stuff was so big and chunky it was almost like riding in railroad bed ballast. Slowed me down so much I'd made it only 50 miles by midday and decided to cut my losses and head back home.

Traffic has pounded some of that stuff fairly flattish, but it's still not pleasant.

Keefusb

The road in front of my last house was packed dirt/clay when I first moved in. No trash service, and no mail service on the dirt road. Had to haul my own trash (no biggie, the transfer station was about 1/2 mile from my house), and had to put my mailbox at the end of the paved section of road, about 1/4 mile from my property line.

When they finally decided to pave the road, it was because of a federal grant to preserve historic roadways. They came through and graded the road bed, and took most of the washboards out, then they put down a thick layer of crushed concrete (I reckon crushed concrete is cheaper than actual gravel).

Next they put down two successive layers of hot tar and chipped gravel. I suppose it's better than just dirt or gravel, but I'm glad the new "pavement" only lasts for about 1/4 mile right in front of my house before giving way to nice smooth asphalt. The pieces are sharp, it rides slow, and God help you if you ever fall off your bike at a decent speed on this stuff, it will tear you up!

DaveSSS 

Chip sealing is a normal part of asphalt road maintenance. After 10-15 years on new asphalt, crack sealing and chip sealing extend the life of the pavement. I live in a rural subdivision with over a mile of privately built and maintained road. We chip sealed last year with a little finer aggregate than typically used on adjacent county roads. Nearly all the roads I ride are chip sealed. If you're lucky, you might get by chip sealing twice before having to perform major grinding down and topping with new asphalt or complete replacement. Chip sealing cost $67,000.

I'm using 28-30mm tires with 23-25mm IW hookless rims and 52/56 psi. The ride is pretty good.