Originally Posted by
Spld cyclist
It's a general rule that there is a greater coefficient of friction between the road and your tires when the tires are rolling than when they are not (i.e. skidding). You will stop the fastest just before you lock your brakes
That's true in a car, but in an upright bike you'll usually do an endo before you skid your front tire on dry pavement.
But as you said, modulation is key -- your front brake does most of the work, and you need to modulate it so you're close to doing an endo, but not quite there. The more skilled you are, the closer you can get, and you can get a feel for how close you are by how much braking you're doing with the rear wheel without it skidding. Also, you can make the bike somewhat less likely to endo by shoving your butt back off your seat, which moves your center of gravity further back and possible down a bit too.
Only if you can't make your front brake brake hard enough to do an endo do you need to consider better brakes somehow. Worn rims and pads can make it so your hands aren't strong enough to get the front brakes to that point, as can wet rims.
Tandems and recumbents are often less likely to endo, and they can be braked hard enough to skid the front wheel (which tends to result in an immediate crash, so it's best avoided too.)