Then hang it on the wall.

well if you wont be riding in the city where you are right next to cars, brakeless on a fixie is probabaly not a big deal at all.

not being able to use your legs again because you couldnt stop your bike in time without a brake and crashed into a car that pulls out in front of you without warning causing you to brake your back is probably not a big deal at all.

because over the 4 years i spent in peoria i found myself in bloomington normal at least once a week for a variety of usually stupid reasons.

parties, sporting events, traveling through town and stopping for lunch, etc.

1. all the roads are bad. real bad. most of 'em are crushed limestone shards with a layer of tar sprayed over the top. literally a tire shredder.
2. no bike lanes/paths. occasionally you'll see a "bike route" sign around town but they're disconnected, run you through really bad neighborhoods and really busy streets with little to no shoulder.
3. cagers. cagers here are ignorant. drivers in chicago or the suburbs at least know to some extent that bicycles occasionally ride on the street. if they act like *******s, they do it on purpose because they don't want you there. drivers in southern and central illinois are just outright ********. they're unpredictable, they don't know how to drive around bicycles, and they are generally uneducated.

i'm all for commuting and riding around on the road - but there are plenty of places in america where riding on the street is still just too ridiculously dangerous to risk your life. when i'm at home in chicago i'll be the first guy to take a lane and ride down a street like i own it. when i was at school, you better believe i stuck entirely to small side streets and sidewalks everywhere i went and that wasn't often more than to and from class.

How do you ride without brakes?

Just dont hit a car or a person.

How else are you supposed to stop?

come on now. you can hate unskilled brakeless riders, fine, but there are people who have been doing it for twenty years without killing themselves.

What else would anyone do with it?

Am I the only one who thinks this might be too soon? I'm all for people riding brakeless if they truly have mastered the skill (even then I think actively removing it is an act of vanity over practicality). But removing a brake when you're "just getting the hang of riding fixed gear" seems like set up for bad fixed gear PR in the local paper.

You'll be fine in Chicago, there are a TON of fixies with no brakes here. If you want some advice, leave the front brake on. I know a bunch of fixies, and you'll really really really want it when the chain snaps, or your knees get sore.

not chicago. bloomington/normal. about 150mile difference.

i'm pretty sure that you're legally allowed to not have a brake but if you get in an accident with a car, the driver is automatically not liable for the accident.