Con-tro-versial!

I was just ranting and raving about no-brakes fixies, and I thought I'd copy it here, just eff-why-eye.

"Basically cool young things like working with no brakes. Many half-decent courier controllers (when I last checked, cyclone, creative and reuter-crooks) will not give work to brakeless riders. You have to go slower because brakeless bikes take roughly twice as long to stop. People on brakeless bikes are therefore not earning the money, but are busy walking the walk. The theme seems to be 1)arrive in London 2)pose on brakeless for a few weeks 3)have big / small accident 4)fit brake to please controller and start actually making money. In the UK you *must* be able to independently slow each wheel, which means (bing!) a front brake. You hit someone, and suddenly the previously-not-bothered City police willl nick you good and proper if you don't have a brake, especially if there is serious injury. Your professional insurance will also be void because of the illegal work vehicle, so you'll end up paying for the tourist's broken nose and compo claim for the rest of your life. And to prevent theft?? Don't be daft. Most thefts in central London are lean-locked work bikes thrown either onto the shoulder of a running crack-head or into a van. Brakes make zero difference to either. It's a misguided and small-minded fashion. End of rant v.2.0"