REDUNDANT

A beautiful bike.

I ride with a brake in front as an emergency brake.

I don't skid or skip, but use my legs and a little planning to slow down and stop.

I challenge myself to get where I need to go without using my front brake, and I manage to do so about one ride out of four.
The other three times, something happens and I use my front brake.

It would upset me, aesthetically and conceptually, to have a rear brake on a fixed gear bike.
However, it would upset me even more to have a free-wheeling single-speed.
Free-wheeling.
That would depress the living daylights out of me, and I would probably start riding a geared bike again.

When you get to the age of 18, and can pay for your own bike, get rid of the back brake.

I just did my winter gear-down.

During the summer I ride anywhere from 82 gear inches (53X17) to 77 gear inches (53X18).

However, in the winter, in order to reduce my dependence on my front brake, I gear down to 53X19, for 72 gear inches, and then I don't need a front brake.

Your rear tire can slide around on frost and such without much danger, but your front tire needs to track true, without slipping.
I had my front tire go out from underneath me last year, when I used my front brake on ice, and I went down hard.
I broke four ribs and punctured my lung.
Bummer.

Gear down to where you get around without skipping, skidding or using your brake, and that will make you much, much safer.
Always ride with a front safety brake, though.
Chains come off.

This happened the first time I took my conversion out for a spin. I nearly had a heart attack, since I was approaching a busy intersection at 20 mph

Wore the **** out of my right Sidi scraping it along the ground

Other times I've had to pull in front of cars and pray

No one needs that kind of stress

Your dad's just looking out for your best interest. You see, riding with only one brake leads to riding brakeless, and riding brakeless leads to jail, death, or dismemberment. It's a fact kid...stay in school.

Fer serious. If anybody says "Why do you run a brake?" just say "So I can ride faster than you."

That or just yell "I DO WHAT I WANT!"

don't sweat it. if it were a true track frame and he had you drill it, then i'd flex on him.