wonderful - cos there weren't any wankers on 26 inchers claiming they were kids bikes in 1977 anyway, (IMO etc etc) Most cyclists (from whichever discipline) use brakes as a crutch. To put it in a trials perspective - You don't need brakes if you're sidehopping from two wheels, you dont need them when you land an up or gap (unless you're massively extended obviously), you dont need them when stationary (trackstand anyone?), you don't need them to manual, and you absolutely do not need them when reverting from fakie. I'm not necessarily saying you should take them off altogether - I don't think you'd get far riding comps with no brakes regardless of what ashton says about the future - but I do think your riding improves if you keep their use to a minimum and do your best to flow through moves without stoppoing and starting.