Why not bamboo or balsa or bone? The wheel existed before ball bearings - why are they necessary for bicycles? (is it an efficiency thing, for human powered?)

Why not bamboo or balsa or bone? The wheel existed before ball bearings - why are they necessary for bicycles? (is it an efficiency thing, for human powered?) The safety-bicycle chain requires cheap precision mass engineering, but rope, rubber, axial rod (as in a car), or interlocking gears also work. Or direct, as in a penny-farthing. Or, no wheel power transfer, but push along with your feet, as in the Kirkpatrick bicycle.