My Finnish mother rode a bicycle with only a coaster brake for years. Even today, a lot of Dutch bicycles where I live have only a coaster brake (the significant benefit of which is zero cables, which means nothing to maintain, replace, or get caught in ludicrously dense bicycle parking).

So millions of people have cycled their whole lives with only a rear brake and thought nothing of it.

That doesn’t negate the fact that a front brake is vastly more effective in an emergency stop, since in the ideal case you can brake at 1 G with all the weight on the front wheel. But a rear brake is not as useless as some people imagine, especially on a rear-weighted, overweight omafiets or a sports bicycle with your arse way out the back.

Good for wheelies?