ADUK Archive

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some opinions on the different types of road surfaces you ride over. I appreciate you may not be able to give the technical name of the surfacing but a description of what it looks like, how your bike handles on it and even the location would be a great help.

Thanks

Eric

Hi Eric,

We speak regularly but for others info as well as yours I point out caution regarding biking on new "Shell Grip" surfaces... you know the ultra grippy textured surfaces applied on bends and on approach to junctions etc.

They are very good when mature, but until they have settled in and the loose particles have been thoroughly swept up these surfaces are worse than riding on a gravel track

Rennie

rlmr wrote:Hi Eric,

We speak regularly but for others info as well as yours I point out caution regarding biking on new "Shell Grip" surfaces... you know the ultra grippy textured surfaces applied on bends and on approach to junctions etc.

They are very good when mature, but until they have settled in and the loose particles have been thoroughly swept up these surfaces are worse than riding on a gravel track

Rennie

Coming south on the A444 (from nuneaton) onto the junction with the M6, they've got loads of this stuff that's been there for a year or two and it's shocking. Lots of ridges that make it feel like you've got no braking power, big bald *polished* patches, and still bits of gravel if you're foolish enough to go near the edge of the carriageway. Awful stuff.

In contrast, at the bottom of the A444 in Coventry, there's a roundabout which again has this stuff on the entrance *and exit* but not on the roundabout itself, so just at the apex of the corner taking the first exit, there's a nice polished patch where they didn't put the stuff down to begin with, so coming onto the roundabout you have grip, coming off the roundabout you have grip, but for about 10ft in between, you don't!

Blech!

It's not the only surface that needs bedding in, though, the standard tarmac they're putting on the roads these days apparently needs several months of use before it gets to full grippiness, and it feels like it, too. Of course, here in coventry they don't leave it down long enough to get to that point before either they rip it up for the latest TeleNTLtrent Gas whateveritisthistime or it just spontaneously sprouts potholes (Green lane literally had potholes within 3 months of a complete new surface!)

Grr.

Cheers & God bless
Sam "SammyTheSnake" Penny

SammyTheSnake wrote:Lots of ridges that make it feel like you've got no braking power, big bald *polished* patches, and still bits of gravel if you're foolish enough to go near the edge of the carriageway. Awful stuff.

Sounds like the hot mix antiskid, has a tendency to form ridges as its extuded out the back of the wagon, and can suffer from 'plating' where large chunks detach themselves from the road surfac. Rennie - You may recall the anti-skid at the Muirhead of Pittormie corner on the A914?

SammyTheSnake wrote:the standard tarmac they're putting on the roads these days apparently needs several months of use before it gets to full grippiness, and it feels like it, too.

Ah yes, SMA but not the variety you feed infants! Down your way the Highways Agency insists on slippery road warning signs being erected for the first six months after laying the stuff. It's a binder rich material that takes time for the 'skin' to wear off enough for the stone to give you the micro texture required for grip.

Eric.

Err, its not really a road surface as such, but the propensity of LA Highways to put things like big white very slippery letters (sometimes up to 1 inch proud of the tarmac) on braking surfaces prior to corners saying SLOW along with almost meaningless direction arrows or destination names prior to roundabouts where the paint in association with spilt and sloshed diesel makes life more than interesting.

Similarly toe in arrows on bends desighned for the opposing overtaking (on broken centreline markings) traffic prior to them reaching a solid whilst I have a solid centre line. This is usually at a hazard such as a corner where their roadmarking becomes to me simply an additional lack of traction hazard.

BillZZR600 wrote:Err, its not really a road surface as such, but the propensity of LA Highways to put things like big white very slippery letters (sometimes up to 1 inch proud of the tarmac) on braking surfaces prior to corners saying SLOW .

Never ceases to amaze how much info we require to provide road users in an effort to prevent them from crashing.

BillZZR600 wrote:along with almost meaningless direction arrows or destination names prior to roundabouts .

All in the name of maximising capacity and reducing delays, or for the lost to be found? Amen.

BillZZR600 wrote:where the paint in association with spilt and sloshed diesel makes life more than interesting..

A la Stagecoach? allegedly

BillZZR600 wrote:Similarly toe in arrows on bends desighned for the opposing overtaking (on broken centreline markings) traffic prior to them reaching a solid whilst I have a solid centre line. This is usually at a hazard such as a corner where their roadmarking becomes to me simply an additional lack of traction hazard.

Unfortunately 'toe in', 'tuck in', 'throw back' or arrows to diag.1014 of the Traffic Signs Regs is a necessary evil with atleast one, preferably two and sometimes three preceding a continuous line corresponding to distances of 1 second, 2 second and 3 seconds travel time based on the 85%ile for the approach. Deep Breath.

Eric.

Thanks Err it was really just a rant having had to tippytoe on the bike around and accross (woops) several such on very damp and foggy/misty Sunday/ Monday on unfamiliar roads.
Indeed. and that would be the 85th percentile rule that determines a reasonable safe (notwithstanding individual hazards) speed limit on yesterdays 60Mph NSL which is now marked as a 50 or heaven forbid for all rural SC 40 tomorrow. (ironic chortling)

BillZZR600 wrote: heaven forbid for all rural SC 40 tomorrow. (ironic chortling)

I suspect I shall be doing a lot of Objecting in the near future..

Eric