Originally Posted by SethAZ

When I come up to a stop sign that I want to actually be completely legal at (eg: cops may be in the vicinity) I'll slow way down and stand up and lean back a bit, just as I get to the line I'll tap the brakes and bring the bike itself to a complete stop for a microinstant (that's 1 millionth of an instant for you non-imperial unit users out there) while I allow my body to continue moving forward. As I release the brakes I've already got my foot on the power part of the stroke and accelerate out of the intersection. The bike stopped, I didn't.

This is something most cyclists on this forum will know, but I'm continually surprised by how many folks I've ridden with who have no idea about gearings and differences in cassettes, cranksets, etc. They might be struggling up a climb and I ask what cassette they're using and they have no idea. It's just whatever the bike came with. No idea that there are different cassettes with different gearings, some of which may be better suited for what they're doing, but they don't know this, and don't realize that swapping a cassette is like a five-minute job with just two inexpensive tools required. They'll just take it in and pay someone else to do it, and that's if they know it's even something that can or should be done.

I guess the same could be said for the number of folks I've ridden with who have no idea that a chain can be removable, and that a removable chain is a joy to work with.

I've used my hand to swipe debris off at least the front tire too, before, but I've also gotten lacerations in my gloves doing this, and thanked my lucky stars I was wearing gloves in the first place.