Originally Posted by
dougmc
Why have a brake on a fixie?
Fixies can do things that a bike with a freewheel can not. Mostly these things are about "tricks" (riding backwards, etc.) and forcing you to pedal rather than letting you coast (which I'm told has training advantages.)
If you're doing tricks on a brakeless fixie, you shouldn't be doing it in the streets (I'm assuming barspins and keos), so the advocacy part of this is out of the picture.