Call me a wuss, but when I read things like this, I really think I will never want a bike with no brakes.

"For example, yesterday, just as I was about to turn onto the Williamsburg Bridge, I heard shouting and a "scraping" sound. Seconds later, a rider on a brakeless fixed-gear appeared, his flat tire half off the rim.

Now, I don't know if he flatted while attempting to stop, or he flatted first and had to perform an emergency stop as a result, but judging from the shouting and the scraping he was not in control of his bicycle. People can debate how effectively you can stop a brakeless fixed-gear bicycle all they want, but the truth is that having your ability to slow your bike depend almost entirely on the integrity of your rear tire is ridiculous. Tires go flat all the time, and without warning. Riding your bike without being prepared for a flat (not to mention a clueless pedestrian or driver entering your path) is like going to a whorehouse without a condom."

(from http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2010...no-brakes.html)

And after a summer of long-distance inline skating back in 2001, I grew to really love having gears on my bike for going up hills. But that's just me.