In the UK the rules of the road state "each wheel must have a braking
system". Riding to the track in my youth, the fixed wheel counts as the rear
wheel brake. Easy to mount a front brake as most track bike fork crowns of
that era were drilled, but very tedious mounting a brake lever on the bars
to operate the front brake, and unbolt it before taking to the track. Mucked
up the handle bar tape to and at 1 shilling (10pence) a roll this was not on
Mount a centre pull brake, connect a toe strap between the straddle wire and
the bars, and just tug the toe strap up to operate the front brake. No lever
needed!
Mike Mullett
Reading UK