Brakes or Brakeless?

So I ordered a new Windsor the Hour being one of the best bikes for it's price.
Bikes direct says that they ship it free with a brake and lever.
Should I:
leave it brakeless?
put it in the front?
or put it in the back?
I kinda don't understand why people put it in the front.
I'd prefer in the back but maybe you guys can give me good/bad reasons why.

thanks - Vince.

Why people put the brake on the front?

Mainly because you use your legs to stop when riding Fixed. "Skid"

Idk if you know this,
but Cops in Sacramento pull people over nowadays for not having brakes. A few friends of mind got their bike impounded/fix it tickets for no brakes. Not fun..

Rear braking only (skidding) is much less efficient than using a front brake. When some moron cuts in front of you making his right turn, you'll wish you had one. Read Sheldon Brown on bike handling. I'm 55 and regularly ride 50 -60 miles on my 1976 Raliegh running 81 gear inches. Descending 7% hills is hard enough on my knees trying to skid is worse.

I've been hit twice by a car while not having a brake. I've learned my lesson and now use a Front Brake.

I was 1 of many people hit by 2 morons making right turns.

It's not about being cool and riding with no brakes. Ride Safe..

Yeah I will NEVER take off my front brake. I try to skid but when I cant front brake FTW. It can save your life

If you decide to keep your brake, put it in the front, because that's where you'll get all the stopping power. If you decide to go brakeless, please be careful!

I have a front brake, but I don't use it a lot. It's nice to have, just in case.

Mandrew wrote:

Yeah I will NEVER take off my front brake. I try to skid but when I cant front brake FTW. It can save your life

Don't skid on those krylions! Although it'd probably be way easier to, since they're slicks.

andr3 wrote:

I've been hit twice by a car while not having a brake. I've learned my lesson and now use a Front Brake.

I was 1 of many people hit by 2 morons making right turns.

It's not about being cool and riding with no brakes. Ride Safe..

same thing happened to me... lady didnt even stop to see if i was alright.

but me having a brake wouldnt had made the difference

paulmitchel wrote:

andr3 wrote:

I've been hit twice by a car while not having a brake. I've learned my lesson and now use a Front Brake.

I was 1 of many people hit by 2 morons making right turns.

It's not about being cool and riding with no brakes. Ride Safe..

same thing happened to me... lady didnt even stop to see if i was alright.

but me having a brake wouldnt had made the difference

When did that happen? Hit and run? What a bike worker!

Paulo wrote:

When did that happen? Hit and run? What a bike worker!

this was last year. on my univega conversion. bike worker??

paulmitchel wrote:

Paulo wrote:

When did that happen? Hit and run? What a bike worker!

this was last year. on my univega conversion. bike worker??

I got censored. It was supposed to be the b word.

censored? hmm.... moist tits ass bike worker dick cock fucker stuff

EDIT: HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH WTF?!

Haha, ain't that a bike worker. stuff.

Edit: Hey, what was "moist" originally?

shit s hit

btw, i heard a rumor that will be soon able to say bad words in the future.....

EDIT: i guess we now can. happy 100 post to muah

bike worker. makes me laugh everytime

brakes are cool now didnt you hear?

Brakes are not a bad thing to have, especially on steep downhills. But other than that, I think if you have enough experience, awareness, and control, you won't have to put one on (even though it is illegal to not have any brakes). If you like to trick a lot and do barspins, then brakes are impractical. Your own choice, think it through. But brakes for sure if you're starting out.

a front brake will save some tires, save your knees, and are definitely good if you like to bomb hills. all i will say is dont ever slam the front brake(you will fly over the bars).

i chose to go with a front brake. mainly because i would rather be safe then sorry.

safe then sorry or scars and sexy.......

I'll be running a front brake as soon as I find a dirt cheap setup. Skidding is fun and all, but it's impractical and straight up dangerous in some cases.

Cops giving brake tickets is bullshit. Under CA law, a braking system is defined as something that allows you to slow down/skid to a stop - in this case, our legs. Don't let a cop harass you for riding brakeless.

i rock a front brake dont use it much learning how to control my speed and legs. but the security of having one ill play it safe.

...

if you dont know how to ride brakeless... than keep one on there