Modern chainless /shaft drive bikes?

[clerkkent]

Besides being a novelty concept, is there any advantage to shaft drive bikes? Anyone have a modern one that they were able to do anything with (besides ride it) ? I had two kiddie shaft drive bikes from the 80s, but beyond the shaft, they weren't terribly interesting.

 

[user 135]

They are fairly maintenance free. But that comes at the cost of being less efficient.

 

[Dbubbleguy]

One other difficulty with a shaft drive is removing the rear wheel to replace the tire. It's a bit more involved than just dropping the wheel out.