|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Thu, 20 May 2021 02:05:35 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone
wrote: John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 May 2021 16:53:25 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: On Thu, 20 May 2021 06:00:36 +0700, John B. wrote: But are U.S. roads really that bad? https://www.cityworks.com/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-potholes/ "There are an estimated 55 million potholes in the U.S." There are 4.18 million miles of roads in the US. That would be: 55 million / 4.18 million = 13 potholes per mile or one pothole every 406 ft. I'm not sure if that's considered bad, but from my local observations, seems a bit conservative. Of course, some potholes are larger than others: https://www.google.com/search?q=sinkhole&tbm=isch Drivel: Many years ago, I engaged in a series of discusions where I claimed that potholes are alive and are really ancient dinosaur tracks: http://members.cruzio.com/~jeffl/nooze/pothole.txt Goodness, the richest nation in the world and you have bad roads :-) It’s hard to make people rich if you actually tax people and spend it on infrastructure. Well, as I said in a recent discussion we paid 200 baht (US$6.34) tax on two houses this year and the roads here are NOT covered with "pot holes" -- Cheers, John B. |
Ads |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Wed, 19 May 2021 21:06:37 -0500, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/19/2021 8:44 PM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 May 2021 16:53:25 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: On Thu, 20 May 2021 06:00:36 +0700, John B. wrote: But are U.S. roads really that bad? https://www.cityworks.com/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-potholes/ "There are an estimated 55 million potholes in the U.S." There are 4.18 million miles of roads in the US. That would be: 55 million / 4.18 million = 13 potholes per mile or one pothole every 406 ft. I'm not sure if that's considered bad, but from my local observations, seems a bit conservative. Of course, some potholes are larger than others: https://www.google.com/search?q=sinkhole&tbm=isch Drivel: Many years ago, I engaged in a series of discusions where I claimed that potholes are alive and are really ancient dinosaur tracks: http://members.cruzio.com/~jeffl/nooze/pothole.txt Goodness, the richest nation in the world and you have bad roads :-) Naturally. Road construction and maintenance has become a racket, wherein more money only makes the roads worse. And the worse they are, the easier it is to arrange more money. Must be y'all are doing something wrong back there. Here where bribery and corruption is commonplace we still have good roads :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 7:00:47 PM UTC-4, John B. wrote:
But are U.S. roads really that bad? Here I can't remember riding on a really bad road. Even in Bangkok, which probably had the first paved roads in the country, I never came across a road as poorly made.maintained as the one that Jay posted the photo of. Are U.S. roads really that bad? Well, they vary. Roads in our state have complicated jurisdiction. Within a mile of me are roads owned by our village, by a neighboring township, by a neighboring city, by the county and by the state. Our county roads are often in bad shape. One reason is the state has a fund to help maintain county roads. The fund is evenly divided among the state's 88 counties. But our county, being one of the earliest settled, has many more miles of county road then most. That means our county gets much less per mile. I'm leading an unusual club ride in a few days. We'll visit about seven historic cemeteries plus a couple other historic sites, so it requires stitching together a pretty complicated inner-city route. I just spent quite a while exploring alternatives to one of the bumpiest streets I've ever seen. - Frank Krygowski |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Wed, 19 May 2021 20:15:53 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski
wrote: On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 7:00:47 PM UTC-4, John B. wrote: But are U.S. roads really that bad? Here I can't remember riding on a really bad road. Even in Bangkok, which probably had the first paved roads in the country, I never came across a road as poorly made.maintained as the one that Jay posted the photo of. Are U.S. roads really that bad? Well, they vary. Roads in our state have complicated jurisdiction. Within a mile of me are roads owned by our village, by a neighboring township, by a neighboring city, by the county and by the state. Our county roads are often in bad shape. One reason is the state has a fund to help maintain county roads. The fund is evenly divided among the state's 88 counties. But our county, being one of the earliest settled, has many more miles of county road then most. That means our county gets much less per mile. I'm leading an unusual club ride in a few days. We'll visit about seven historic cemeteries plus a couple other historic sites, so it requires stitching together a pretty complicated inner-city route. I just spent quite a while exploring alternatives to one of the bumpiest streets I've ever seen. - Frank Krygowski I grew up in "up state" New Hampshire and I don't remember a lot of "pot holes". We did have a lot of dirt roads and they get bumpy toward the end of summer and of course are muddy in the spring. Granted it has been a long time since I was there and memory is fallible but I do remember that the roughest road around was a concrete road where the frost had "heaved" the sections and there was a bump at the edge of each concrete section. -- Cheers, John B. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Thu, 20 May 2021 08:44:11 +0700, John B.
wrote: On Wed, 19 May 2021 16:53:25 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: On Thu, 20 May 2021 06:00:36 +0700, John B. wrote: But are U.S. roads really that bad? https://www.cityworks.com/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-potholes/ "There are an estimated 55 million potholes in the U.S." There are 4.18 million miles of roads in the US. That would be: 55 million / 4.18 million = 13 potholes per mile or one pothole every 406 ft. I'm not sure if that's considered bad, but from my local observations, seems a bit conservative. Of course, some potholes are larger than others: https://www.google.com/search?q=sinkhole&tbm=isch Drivel: Many years ago, I engaged in a series of discusions where I claimed that potholes are alive and are really ancient dinosaur tracks: http://members.cruzio.com/~jeffl/nooze/pothole.txt Goodness, the richest nation in the world and you have bad roads :-) Sorta. The quality of the roads are reduced to the minimal acceptable level. Any lower and the phones start to ring in various elected officials offices, which is deemed to be a really bad thing. So, the roads deteriorate until the phones ring. They then get patched back together, usually with a parade of cars stuck in the inevitable traffic jam, where the plan is to give the drivers the best possible view of the new construction. Of course, there's a shiny new sign, often quite huge, announcing that the road improvements were paid for by a road improvement bond sponsored by various elected officials itemized on the sign. Recently, there's been a new innovation, where the state installs the signs, but there's no road repair. I don't recall the exact wording, but it says something like this off ramp or road MIGHT be close at some random day and time over about a 9 month period. I guess it pays to advertise. One might speculate that the reason the US is the richest nation on the planet is because we don't waste money maintaining anything. That's largely true as there always seems to be money available for capital expenses such as new projects, new roads, new construction, etc, but little or nothing for maintenance and repairs. In general, the repairs are funded by "emergency" measures, usually after a weather related disaster or a relative of a very important person submerges his Tesla into a pothole. (No, this is not a joke. This is the way it really works). A variation of this problem is what it takes to get a new $200,000 traffic signal plus $6,000 per year electricity and maintenance installed near a school. The rule of thumb was to kill at least one student, or injure about five students, in order to qualify for funding to install a crosswalk signal. However, if a driver is injured, or a car is totaled, that increased the funding from a crosswalk flashing light, to a full features pedestrian and traffic controlled intersection. This is an example of why you don't want to know how sausage and traffic signals are made. Incidentally, the pot holes on the road from the main highway to my house has the potholes filled by the county, usually immediately after the first major winter storm. Originally, this was because one of the county supervisors lived in the area. However, that was long ago, and we just didn't have the heart to tell the country public works department that he's no longer a supervisor and no longer living on the road. Also, in the city of Santa Cruz, the newly elected city council members have the street in front of their houses resurfaced after the election. The city public works department considers the road work to be one of the perks of being elected. -- Jeff Liebermann PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272 Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Wed, 19 May 2021 21:57:47 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote: On Thu, 20 May 2021 08:44:11 +0700, John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 May 2021 16:53:25 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: On Thu, 20 May 2021 06:00:36 +0700, John B. wrote: But are U.S. roads really that bad? https://www.cityworks.com/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-potholes/ "There are an estimated 55 million potholes in the U.S." There are 4.18 million miles of roads in the US. That would be: 55 million / 4.18 million = 13 potholes per mile or one pothole every 406 ft. I'm not sure if that's considered bad, but from my local observations, seems a bit conservative. Of course, some potholes are larger than others: https://www.google.com/search?q=sinkhole&tbm=isch Drivel: Many years ago, I engaged in a series of discusions where I claimed that potholes are alive and are really ancient dinosaur tracks: http://members.cruzio.com/~jeffl/nooze/pothole.txt Goodness, the richest nation in the world and you have bad roads :-) Sorta. The quality of the roads are reduced to the minimal acceptable level. Any lower and the phones start to ring in various elected officials offices, which is deemed to be a really bad thing. So, the roads deteriorate until the phones ring. They then get patched back together, usually with a parade of cars stuck in the inevitable traffic jam, where the plan is to give the drivers the best possible view of the new construction. Of course, there's a shiny new sign, often quite huge, announcing that the road improvements were paid for by a road improvement bond sponsored by various elected officials itemized on the sign. Recently, there's been a new innovation, where the state installs the signs, but there's no road repair. I don't recall the exact wording, but it says something like this off ramp or road MIGHT be close at some random day and time over about a 9 month period. I guess it pays to advertise. One might speculate that the reason the US is the richest nation on the planet is because we don't waste money maintaining anything. That's largely true as there always seems to be money available for capital expenses such as new projects, new roads, new construction, etc, but little or nothing for maintenance and repairs. In general, the repairs are funded by "emergency" measures, usually after a weather related disaster or a relative of a very important person submerges his Tesla into a pothole. (No, this is not a joke. This is the way it really works). A variation of this problem is what it takes to get a new $200,000 traffic signal plus $6,000 per year electricity and maintenance installed near a school. The rule of thumb was to kill at least one student, or injure about five students, in order to qualify for funding to install a crosswalk signal. However, if a driver is injured, or a car is totaled, that increased the funding from a crosswalk flashing light, to a full features pedestrian and traffic controlled intersection. This is an example of why you don't want to know how sausage and traffic signals are made. Actually I do know how sausage is made, or at least the Thai equivalent. Two of my wife's brothers sort of inherited an abattoir (slaughterhouse). The good cuts of meat have a market, hides and horns have a market, but what to do with the rest? One reason they got rich was that they figured out an answer to the question :-) which is why I don't eat sausage :-) Incidentally, the pot holes on the road from the main highway to my house has the potholes filled by the county, usually immediately after the first major winter storm. Originally, this was because one of the county supervisors lived in the area. However, that was long ago, and we just didn't have the heart to tell the country public works department that he's no longer a supervisor and no longer living on the road. Also, in the city of Santa Cruz, the newly elected city council members have the street in front of their houses resurfaced after the election. The city public works department considers the road work to be one of the perks of being elected. Way back when I was in school we got to attend Town Meetings - the town still had the old fashioned type of government where they elected a "Select Man" and several others, "Highway Manager" Water Works Manager, etc., to run the town and the first order of battle was for the individual managers to get up and answer questions from the electorate. I can assure you that when you have to explain to Mrs. Jones why her street was plowed after Mrs. Smith's street was plowed you WILL evolve a better system, or at least a better excuse :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary wrote: I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide. Deacon Mark I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-) But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a few years and was quite happy with them too:-) I only ever pinch flatted on 25/23mm tires at 100+ As essentially not enough between road and rim, one of my club mates has dinged his rims the other week due to a potholes. On the Gravel bike with 35mm at 50psi plenty of space between road and rim. So potholes are generally just swallowed, with out issues, and as far as I can tell from Strava ie times up hills etc no slower than the pure road bikes I’ve had previously. Doesn’t have that high pressure zing which is lovely on fresh tarmac! But frankly I’m sold on the gravel bike, I’m less convinced by the ones closer to MTB with 50mm or thereabouts tires I suspect they would feel too sluggish on the road and a XC MTB is still better down the woods, where as the 30/40mm gravel bikes are jack of all trade. Roger Merriman. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On 5/19/2021 6:44 PM, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 19 May 2021 16:53:25 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: On Thu, 20 May 2021 06:00:36 +0700, John B. wrote: But are U.S. roads really that bad? https://www.cityworks.com/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-potholes/ "There are an estimated 55 million potholes in the U.S." There are 4.18 million miles of roads in the US. That would be: 55 million / 4.18 million = 13 potholes per mile or one pothole every 406 ft. I'm not sure if that's considered bad, but from my local observations, seems a bit conservative. Of course, some potholes are larger than others: https://www.google.com/search?q=sinkhole&tbm=isch Drivel: Many years ago, I engaged in a series of discusions where I claimed that potholes are alive and are really ancient dinosaur tracks: http://members.cruzio.com/~jeffl/nooze/pothole.txt Goodness, the richest nation in the world and you have bad roads :-) I recall about two years ago, when I was the mayor of my city, we had a group of students from China visiting. When they were leaving we had them come to a city council meeting for a farewell ceremony of sorts. I asked one of them what he liked best and least about the U.S.. What he liked least was the road quality! If you've been to China, you'll find that the freeway road surfaces are extremely smooth and in near perfect condition. |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On 5/20/2021 12:57 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Incidentally, the pot holes on the road from the main highway to my house has the potholes filled by the county, usually immediately after the first major winter storm. Originally, this was because one of the county supervisors lived in the area. However, that was long ago, and we just didn't have the heart to tell the country public works department that he's no longer a supervisor and no longer living on the road. Also, in the city of Santa Cruz, the newly elected city council members have the street in front of their houses resurfaced after the election. The city public works department considers the road work to be one of the perks of being elected. Corroboration: A few years ago, our dimwitted village mayor had his photograph taken on a terribly potholed village street, as a way to publicize the need for a new village street repair levy. The street he chose for the photo? Mine! It had hundreds of picturesque potholes. The levy passed. The first street to get repaved? His! That is, the street where the mayor lived. It was three years before our street's picturesque potholes got a proper repaving job. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
Not completely sold on wide tires
On Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 7:10:10 a.m. UTC-4, Roger Merriman wrote:
John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary wrote: I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide. Deacon Mark I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-) But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a few years and was quite happy with them too:-) I only ever pinch flatted on 25/23mm tires at 100+ As essentially not enough between road and rim, one of my club mates has dinged his rims the other week due to a potholes. On the Gravel bike with 35mm at 50psi plenty of space between road and rim. So potholes are generally just swallowed, with out issues, and as far as I can tell from Strava ie times up hills etc no slower than the pure road bikes I’ve had previously. Doesn’t have that high pressure zing which is lovely on fresh tarmac! But frankly I’m sold on the gravel bike, I’m less convinced by the ones closer to MTB with 50mm or thereabouts tires I suspect they would feel too sluggish on the road and a XC MTB is still better down the woods, where as the 30/40mm gravel bikes are jack of all trade. Roger Merriman. I have a few rigid frame/rigid fork MTBs converted to drop bar. If I run 1.5" (about 38mm) slick type tires on pavement they're a fantastic heavy duty touring bike. Or I can put on 2.125" (@57mm) knobby tires for off road touring. Different folks have different needs and/or wants. Some people love the feel riding on a 19mm tires pumped up really hard. Cheers |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
how wide tires can one put on a 622x15C rim? | Emanuel Berg[_2_] | Techniques | 7 | January 12th 19 05:30 AM |
28 mm tires too wide? | [email protected] | Techniques | 14 | December 20th 05 06:12 AM |
28mm tires too wide? | [email protected] | Marketplace | 4 | December 19th 05 04:43 PM |
Triple E WIDE sizes for shoes sold anywhere? | chris c | General | 3 | June 3rd 05 01:13 AM |
Wide Mt. Bike Tires vs. Thin Tires | [email protected] | Mountain Biking | 17 | April 12th 05 06:13 AM |