Thanks, all.

A question about brake-pads: I recently noticed a "scraping" sound upon applying my front brake. When I reached home (I braked with the rear, the rest of the way, until I did), I inspected both sides of my rim and found one had a fine scratch running along it (nothing terrible — maybe even just the removal of some dirt). I looked over the suspect pad, and found a small bit of metal in it; yet, the pad wasn't worn past its "grooves," which I believe indicate when it's time for a replacement. I was able to pull out the metal flake, after which, it ran smoothly.

The question, then: What the hell...? Where'd that come from? Is it part of the pad? A bit of the rim? Debris from the street (seems doubtful, but still I ask)?

Thanks again.