Originally Posted by
europa
The ability to coast is over rated, massively over rated - where you may coast on a bike with a freewheel, it's easy to just let your legs roll over and it's better for them (keeps the blood flowing to flush out the lactic acid)
"Flushing out the lactic acid" isn't a real thing. And while keeping the legs turning over often feels better than coasting, this is more true when you've got a gigantic ratio to slow-pedal in than when you're doing 150rpm downhill at 30mph in a 66" fixed gear.
There's also the matter of cornering...