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You may have heard about shaft-driven bikes, which in passing conversations with bike shop guys is seen as a failure for people riding more than 20 miles a month. Technology in this area is improving, but it is still limited to boutique bike brands.
http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/
http://www.dekrabike.com/ddrive.htm
But the big news is that Trek is trying a carbon fiber belt. A big bike name getting into chain-alternatives could rattle some chains (sorry, i had to go there).
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/19/chainless.bicycles.ap/index.html
That would be the Strida Eric. There was someone riding one of these at the last Crank Mob ride. The latest one has a really nice frame and disc brakes. I rode it and it seemed not a bad fit for a bigger person.
There was a person I ran into that took a trip on one from Seattle to LA!
The dude that had the Strida lived in the westside. Ask him to let you ride it sometime. The drive is surprisingly efficient. These folders fit a smaller person way better than me too.