I'm assuming here that most everyone is OK with asphalt and concrete roads. Up here in PA our beloved PennDOT has just resurfaced one of my favorite rides in the area with gravel over tar. You would think with all the Obama money flowing out of DC they could afford to stay with asphalt but I digress....The road was asphalt and in decent enough shape but now it's gravel and tar and I'm just not comfortable pushing it on that type of road surface.

So the question is what type of road surfaces are youcomfortable scraping a peg or two on? It seems up here at least they are going away from asphalt on non major roads for gravel and tar. I know that there's a bunch of different road surface materials and thought it would be good to hear on which ones you can get aggressive on.

 

none, I don't really get aggressive on any road surface.
At my age with almost losing my thumb, broke up my right knee, and shattered L4 Vertebra in my back, I am just totally pleased to still be able to ride without pushing it.

 

Tar, and chip overlay, has been a common "repair" for years. Mostly on lighty used roads. Give the road a month or two, and you won't notice a thing.

They do that around here often, and on all the "good biker roads" folks just stay off them while riding, and let the cars, smooth the surface. After a month or two, the roads are good to go. I take it "easy, the first few times through, as there may be a pocket of gravel, here or there.

"Aggressive" riding is relative. Each bike has IT's "limits" and a skilled rider can go through a curve faster using "body english" than another scraping pegs.

 

Chip and tar is the norm for the non highway streets around here.The main roads and freeways are concrete and/or asphalt which are pretty messed up.

I dont purposely try to scrap.

 

Learn how to ride in the dirt. It can save you on those slip tire spins. You can learn more in the soft dirt before you jump on roads you can not handle. One bad crash could change your life. The more skills you have can make a good riding day over having a hard time riding.

 

Loose, dusty cinders. Like to test my skills!

 

For aggressive riding nothing beats dirt, an inch or two of semi-soft dirt over a packed surface. The right tires and bike.
Tar and chips suck for the first week then slowly get better. They did the road past my house early last spring and most of it is still real loose. Guess they saved money on tar.

 

+1 on that! Being aggressive can be fun at any speed as long as you don't get hurt. But then if you are seen having too much fun some one will come along and create laws, with imposed fines of course, to keep you from endangering yourself and others...

Perhaps the OP meant... "What type of roads are best suited to haul *** on?"

 

Chip and tar is the norm here also. Actually after it beds in and the lose stuff is off the curves and intersections the surface is very aggressive until it eventually wears and the tar seeps through. It's hell on tires though. Wears them down a lot faster than asphalt or concrete.

 

i have ridden on those roads a lot over there in PA and they can be fun but you just have to be careful, if that's possible on them roads. And yeah those roads do suck.