TMonk

you. We all know that fixed gears have inherent braking action; you're preaching to the choir. It's commonplace to refer to a FG as "brakeless" if it doesn't have hand brakes.

but you knew that already.

TejanoTrackie 

I think you are missing the point here. You incorrectly stated an equivalency between advocates of “brakeless” and those of FB only. The real issue is FB only vs RB only, and they are very different in terms of importance.

Erzulis Boat 

I really like having both F/R for long rides, especially with hills and tight turns. Because the rear is "weaker" the amount of input relative to braking reaction allows a very fine scrubbing of speed.

With a FG, the additional rim braking completely changes the ride. I don't do it for safety's sake, I do it to enjoy the bike that much more.

By having both brakes, you have total control, and will save more energy because you only scrub off just enough to navigate the course. I also run drop-bars, so having both levers active at the penalty of a few grams makes it worthwhile.

seau grateau

Well this thread is terrible now.

TejanoTrackie 

#threadkiller

REDMASTA

Cyclists with both brakes crash into parked cars and die whats your point. The road is full of objects both stationary and moving erratically, pay attention and act accordingly. The more brakes you have the faster and more efficiently you will slow down, obviously, but if you get in a situation where you need to slam them to save your butt you already done messed up. It might not always be your fault, but if it's happening regularly the problem is probably you.

Unfortunately not all people have the same ability to operate wheeled vehicles, crappy drivers (plenty of those) also make for crappy cyclists. Not like they hop on a bike and magically acquire some new abilities for situational awareness. Nope, instead of anticipating they react, which usually means slamming the brakes at the last minute and plowing straight into whatever they should of avoided all together. For these type of people 3 brakes and as much protective gear as possible is recommended.

fietsbob

A nice traditional winter training bike for keeping up your fitness for racing, is a fixed gear and has mudguard eyelets , mudguards,

... and brakes...

REDMASTA

I'm not an ultra long distance rider, but if I were to attempt this fixed I'd want to be as comfortable as possible, so dual brakes to help scrub speed efficiently and not overheat on long descents with my feet resting on the down tube .