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@ihatelaw
just got a bollocking from an irritatingly sincere guy in evans the cut on account of my beautiful brakeless bike...what is the consensus on this?
i used to work in evans myself and i always appreciated it when people who really loved bikes came in, rather than the usual commuter crowd, so i was bemused to get this 'tude. it was like he'd be more comfortable if i'd been in fluoro and stuff.
anyway my view is that i love riding brakeless, it's like skiing on tarmac and is the only thing that comes close to downhill which i never have the time for anymore...and I would rather sell my fixed and buy a hybrid than put a front brake on it...plus, i am not convinced it's actually dangerous. I have good control when I'm brakeless. I have had many dodgy moments, but I don't think I've ever crashed as a direct result of riding brakeless. And the increased awareness you have has saved my ass many, many times. you watch cars' front wheels in traffic to see if they're going to turn without indicating - saved me many times - and you just don't learn to do that if you have the option of braking.
I've only heard one story about a guy ever crashing directly because of riding brakes, and he was riding with a disc wheel across waterloo bridge when a freak gust blew him into the path of a lampost and he wasn't able to stop in time and I don't think that counts.