Bad habits.
 

What bad habits do you often see from younger or new cyclists?

Why do you ask?

All the things you'd expect, with riding in the wrong direction at the top of the list.

I see you've posted this query in several forums. That's frowned on by forum rules. Be that as it may, your questions will be best answered by reading books like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Mag.../dp/0875964869

Cycling is a very complicated subject. We here have a hard time answering even a simple question.

95% of my cycling happens as the sun comes up. The youngsters are still in bed at that time, I wouldn't know their habits good or bad.

I can't honestly say I've noticed any bad habits from other cyclists.

1. Wrong-way cycling -- my number one pet peeve, if I am going the other (right) way when I encounter them.

2. Curb-hugging or being a gutter bunny, reinforcing motordom's "get out of my way" attitude while rendering themselves invisible.

3. Violating pedestrians', motorists', or other cyclists' right-of-way.

4. Riding at night w/o lights.

5. Riding too fast on pedestrian pathways on campus (UCSD).

Yep, you touched all my hot buttons....... they just don't act like vehicles!

Waving.

not saying "on your left":p

I don't care how they ride. It kills me how bad they are at caring for their equipment.

Let me take a different tack. I'm 62, so not a "youngster" and I'll tell you my bad habits.
1. Mashing instead of spinning. I'm getting better but I still find myself riding like I have my old balloon tire bike from my youth.
2. Not drinking water before I get thirsty. I wait too long to drink water and then it can be hard to quench the thirst no matter how much I drink.
3. Moving up on somebody's right. That's a blind spot and bad manners.
4. Not signaling when I slow down. I forget my bike doesn't come with brake lights.
5. Not down shifting early on hills. Hard to shift when the chain has a lot of tension on it.
6. Always wanting to be in front. It's not a race and I don't have to prove anything.

Not wearing a helmet.

I'm chiefly a mountain biker, but I spend a good deal of time on rail trails (very seldom on roads) to help build the legs.

It amazes me how many young mtbrs I see without helmets. Lots of mountain bikers - maybe they're new and don't know any better. But I also see dirt jumpers and BMX riders that seem to never wear them.

As a head injury survivor it gives me the chills. Accidents don't have schedules or ask for permission. Wear a helmet.

Steve Z

Around here most of the bike trail riders, young and old, don't stop where the trail crosses a road, even though there is a stop sign on the trail for the riders. When the traffic "thins out" they simply ride across the road and wave at oncoming cars assuming they will stop because "cyclists have the right of way". When I see people doing this I point to the stop sign and tell them the sign is for cyclists. They just smile and go on their way. I haven't seen anyone get hit — yet — but I've seen a lot of close calls and a few unhappy motorists.

In my experience this is #1, and is not limited to only new cyclist's.

The only thing that annoys me about the young is not appreciating their youth, they think it'll last forever.
As for the other bad habits, those aren't the preserve of any age group, it's just a pity more people can't be as perfect as me :D

The arrogance of youth.