Originally Posted by
groovestew
Is riding brakeless hard on the back wheel?
Riding a FG is "harder" on the entire machine since easing off of the saddle and coasting over bad surfaces as is done instinctively on a FW machine is right out.
Those stresses over time and the other stresses one can provide all add up but are nothing that a properly built and maintained machine won't deal with.
That being said: Stuff fails in service eventually.
Fix said stuff and proceed.
BTW:
I broke a spoke which threw the chain
This indicates that you missed the part about "properly built and maintained", having brakes was indeed a good thing.
-Bandera