OSO - a single-speed bike with a rear drum brake

After I stumbled across this bike company on a list of companies making or importing single speed an fixed-gear bikes, I had to find out a little more. I had never heard of them. I eventually read some online reviews I found and the web page for the TX-based importer of the messenger bike inspired OSO.



The importer describes the roughly $400 bike as "a mix between a cruiser and a road bike... simple and easy to maintain like a cruiser, but fast like a road bike". I can see how this might be true and at first I thought it was nothing more than a single-speed messenger style bike until I got to this: "there are no cables because the brake is in the pedals (coaster brake)". What!? Now that's unique, isn't it?

I think NYC Bikes offers this as an option, but I'm not certain.

I wonder, from anyone who's ridden one of these, what's it like?