Yeah, shaft drive bicycles ("chainless") were marketed as the "next big thing" around 1898–99 by big companies, like Pope Manufacturing Company's Columbia brand

Yeah, shaft drive bicycles ("chainless") were marketed as the "next big thing" around 1898–99 by big companies, like Pope Manufacturing Company's Columbia brand, as they were coming down from the Bike Boom of the 1890s. The important thing with bicycles, compared with motorized transportation, is that the "engine" is still the same now as it was then, so everything is very limited by weight and efficiency. We wouldn't be able to practically use most motorcycle and automobile improvements that have come since the Model T if we were stuck with the Model T's engine power.