Some guys at Bert's know their stuff. I've been a friend with Luke, a mechanic at the Transit store forever. They tend to chuckle at fg riders unless you seem to have an actual passion for it, they're not fans of people who jump on it because it's in vogue.
Anyways, good to see some Buffalo kids on here.
I went the complete bike route too and picked up a Felt Brougham at Campus, and am quickly as budget allows me to switching stuff out for stuff I like more.

As far as the brakeless part, i have a brake and am yet to use it. But I like having it there if I need it. It's basically a ebrake if anything ever happens like dropping a chain or something...