Originally Posted by
ianjk
+1 on a brake.
Riding brakeless offroad is going to do lots of damage to the trails... MTB'rs have enough trouble as is keeping their trails open, let alone maintained, turning a nice trail into a rutted mess is the last thing that they need.
Eh....I seriously doubt that brakeless FG riding has significantly contributed to turning any trail into a "rutted mess". Its pretty easy to ride singletrack with a FG riding brakeless, without skidding. Given the lower gear, its the one time when riding brakeless is really easy.
Anyway, having a brake or not (or even a freewheel or not) isn't necessarily going to effect how much someone skids. The bigger culprits are the newbs and clueless people who skid with a brake. These are usually the same people who widen the trails by riding around the ruts and mudholes made by the jerks who ride the trail when its muddy.