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do non-full suspension, shaft drive bikes exist???
Most chainless bikes are hardtails or have no suspension at all. There are road bikes, cruisers, hybrid bikes and even BMX bikes and folding bikes with shaftdrive. MTB shaftdrive bikes are rare. I don't think the market is ready to accept them, and the performance is not yet quite there.
I'm aware of two makers of chainless bicycles that sell in the US: Taiwanese
Sussex and Danish
Biomega.
The Sussex comes with some cheap, and I do mean cheap, components (fork, headeset, pedals, saddle) that you should replace with upgrades, unless you are very easy on the equipment. I don't mind modifying and upgrading, others may find a Sussex straight from the box to be a disappointment.
I can't say anything about the Biomega bikes, because I've never gotten a chance to try one out. They sure do look well-made, but whether the cool design is engineered well, I don't know.
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I'll bet you take it off some cool jumps.
3 foot drops are the highest I've jumped with it, and this sort of thing scares the crap out of me now. I used to do stunts with my bikes that I'd never attempt again. No hill was ever steep or rocky enough. Of course, this was before there were suspension bikes and when I was 15 years younger and 30 pounds lighter!
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Thats the coolest drivetrain(on a bike) Ive ever seen outside of a magazine!
Cool commuter!
The reason I wanted a chainless bike has to do with where I live, which is near the beach. Take wind, salty air and sand, and a chain and chain rings won't exactly last very long. You are looking at constant maintenance, or you'll be riding around with a rusty, squeaky chain that eats up chain rings. Because of the sand and salty air issue, I also prefer the internally geared hub over external gearing. Hub gearing and shaftdrive complement each other very well.
Shaftdrive, ya or nay?
Unless your environment is harsh, I say nay to a shaftdrive, because performance is lower than with a perfectly maintained chaindrive.
Weight: the shaftdrive does weigh more than a chain and chainrings, so weight weenies don't like the shaftdrive and the hub gearing based on that. I'm not a competive rider and use the bike mainly for excercise, so I don't mind that it's not an ultra-light bike. It just means more exercise!
Friction: depending on chain condition, the chain offers less frictional losses, but a shaftdrive will be much better in this regard than a less-than-meticuluously maintained chain. Hub gearing is less efficient than external gearing. I can't tell what's sapping more power, the driveshaft or the hub gearing. For the non-competitive rider it shouldn't be an issue. I replaced the heavy and buzzy offroad tires with high pressure street/hardpack tires that offer very low rolling resitance, and I have no trouble keeping up with other bikes.
Durability: I'm sure the shaftdrive will outlast most chains and chain rings. The only concern with the driveshaft would be an alignment issue that results in gears not meshing properly, but that won't happen if the rear axle bolts are properly torqued. Replacement parts for the shaft drive are not expensive, and each component is available separately and easily replaced.
Apart from low maintenace, the shaftdrive offers more ground clearance (no derailleur hanging down or chainring) and clean pants.
The shaftdrive is in my opinion ideal for a commuter bike, mostly because of low maintenance and for safety reasons. The commuter bike won't need any suspension, but should have fenders, a cargo rack and a lighting system (consider a hub dynamo) with which you can actually see in the dark.
I use my bike for recreational purposes in the park and on light trails and also run some short-distance errands. I also have a clamp-on (to seat post) bike rack that can hold up to 20 lbs cargo. I may get fenders for the wet season.