granted i dont live in san fran but gainesville has some decent hills and from my experience there are no hills that you cant manage as long as you ****** your cadence. (yeah, thats funny sounding) but, if you let yourself get out of control on a downhill, then yeah, you're Fed... but if you exercise judgement (which should be always!) then you should never have a problem with any downhills. riding brakeless is interesting in the fact that your decisions take time to come to term. your attitude riding must be focused on what's ahead of whats ahead.... thats twice over. never look down and always perceive the concenquences of your actions. ok, peace and hair grease, i'm out.