Actually, I have some (a lot) of questions for those more knowledgeable. Sorry if these seems noobish, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
-There's pieces of clear plastic covering the chainstays and at the point where the cable meets the frame on the head tube. The one on the chainstay sticks out and hits my pedal a lot, and it's accumulating grime beneath it. Is there any reason to keep this here? Is it supposed to be part of the bike?
-I notice when shifting the front gear from the high to the low, sometimes it jams (and causes a good bit of knee pain). I'm new to this type of shifting -- is there something I'm doing wrong?
-I made a very stupid mistake too. I took the rear wheel off to transport the bike but I foolishly forgot to set the gear to the smallest chainring. Of course, when I put the chain back on, I just guessed which ring to put it back on, but I think I got it wrong because the shifting's sort of weird now. Is there a way I can fix this myself without looking like an idiot and taking it back to the bike shop so soon?
-I notice I'm slowly starting to accumulate scratches -- putting my cleats into the pedals sort of nicks the crank arms, and small rocks hit the lower parts of the frame. The scratches are VERY small, but is anyone else OCD to the extent I am about this? Of course I don't want to keep it in a glass case, but I'd like to minimize aesthetic damage.
-Along the same sort of thought, I put my cheap $20 Target speedometer onto the fork. It has rubber padding beneath it and is attached with zipp ties, but this isn't going to scratch it is it? I plan on getting a Cateye once I recoup enough funds, and I assume these are secured in a better way.
-Last question! I was going downhill pretty fast and realized I was about to miss my turn. I slammed on the brakes, and to my horror the bike skidded and jumped like 10 feet. I have no clue how I avoided crashing or falling over, but I'd like to not repeat this. I pressed both brakes at the same time, but is this normal behavior for a road bike?