Disadvantages
- A drive shaft system weighs more than a chain system, usually 1-2 pounds heavier
- Many of the advantages claimed by drive shaft's proponents can be achieved on a chain-driven bicycle, such as covering the chain and gears
- Use of lightweight derailleur gears with a high number of ratios is impossible, although hub gears can be used
- Wheel removal can be complicated in some designs (as it is for some chain-driven bicycles with hub gears).
Read more about this topic: Drive Shaft, Drive Shafts in Bicycles