Originally Posted by MichaelW
You only do an endo if you sit bolt upright, jam on the front brake and fail to brace your arms. I have tried, but failed to "endo" when braking on descents that were so steep they were frightening. If my rear wheel rises, I just ease off the brakes.
Nonetheless, the right... or rather,
wrong combination of factors
can cause you to go head over wheels. I've done it in a panic situation:
sometimes panic puts a different amount of force onto brakes than you
would otherwise exert... but yes, I was riding improperly at the time. If
I hadn't been, it wouldn't have been such a panic!
That said, learning to use the brake properly is a better solution than
throwing it away. Besides, you'll save more weight taking the rear brake
off. Think of all that extra cable!