Boy, am I glad I built a taildragger!
Now, before anyone gets his knickers in a twist over that ...
Like a lot of low-time TD builders, I had some fears and apprehensions with building one. The mystique of conventional gear airplanes and the horror stories of ground loops can cause anyone to hesitate. However, when I started building, I still had enough ego left to tackle the unknown and overcome the fear.
Now that I'm a high-timer (I have over 100 hours now!), I can pontificate about the finer aspects of taildragges vs nosedraggers.
When I owned and flew a Yankee, I wasn't smart enough to work hard at keeping the weight off the nosewheel while taxiing, and it was never a problem. However, I'd been warned about the Yankee's propensity for PIOs, and went to great lengths to avoid getting into one.
As has been well-stated by others on this thread, Van's designs are, like all aircraft designs, compromises. The RVs are designed for simplicity, economy, strength and speed. To accomplish those ends, some things have to be sacrificed. I can cruise faster than my friend in his C-206, but he can haul several people and their luggage. I can only do that one at a time.
Likewise, the front end of most spam cans is more rugged than an RV's, designed to take more abuse than an RV -- including landing on rougher surfaces and absorbing that abuse -- but that strength comes at the cost of complexity, expense and speed.
When I was learning to fly Smokey, I had several moments where I wondered if I'd have been better off building an -8A. The nosewheel issue had never occurred to me. Looking back (now that I'm an accomplished and masterful taildragger tamer

), I realize that driving a nosedragger has limitations, too. Different from those of the taildragger, but limitations nonetheless.
I fully understand and appreciate the dilemma and the desire to make the nose gear a *little* stronger, but maybe the best solution is to refine our piloting techniques and accept the limitations of the design, just as taildragger pilots accept that their landings may be more demanding on some days than those of nosedragger pilots.
I think we could ALL use some refinement of our landing techniques. I'd bet lunch that the vast majority of us land at much higher speeds than necessary. I know I do. I'm gonna work on that ...