Though the Department of Transportation promised the bikes in the upcoming Citi Bike program are “sturdy, heavy bikes,” they’re not meant for overweight riders, according to a fact in Citi Bike’s user agreement, pointed out by The New York Post yesterday.

The bikes, which can accommodate riders up to 6 feet 8 inches tall, and have titanium locks that DOT policy director Jon Orcutt said are "pretty much bombproof,” apparently won’t support anyone over 260 pounds.

The weight limit rule can be found in Section 5 of the terms of service, titled “prohibited acts.” It states, “You must not exceed the weight limit for the Citi Bicycle (260 pounds).” All riders are required to agree to a contract before hopping on a bike, which includes the Section 5 provision.

But overweight bikers need not ride in fear—no one is going to be waiting for you with a scale.

“I think people will be self-selecting, practical and safe,” Mr. Orcutt told The Post.

The DOT also stated that the limit is part of a legal provision that had to be included because of a deal with the manufacturer. The weight restriction also applies in other cities with bike share programs, including Boston and London.

“These technical specs are established by the equipment manufacturer and are the same as other bike share cities around the world and standard on commercially available bikes and components,” DOT spokesperson Seth Solomonow told Gothamist. “We expect people will use the bikes safely.”

The Citi Bike program, operated by NYC Bike Share, is set to begin later this month, with thousands of bikes at hundreds of locations all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. Riders have the options of renting a bike for 24 hours for $9.95, buying a seven-day Access Pass for $25 or signing up for an annual membership for $95.

A bike share station at the Navy Yards, in sunnier days. (Brooklyn Spoke)

One of the victims of Superstorm Sandy was the city's CitiBike bike share program. After the program was delayed last summer due to computer problems, many of the bikes and stations that were awaiting deployment were warehoused at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Much of the yards flooded when the East River burst its banks during the storm surge, including the lot with the bikes.

But today, the city's Department of Transportation announced that the bike share system would be ready to go in the spring as promised, and even announced a date, or at least a month, for the launch: May 2013. That is two months after the department had hoped to roll out the system, in March, and there will also be fewer bikes at fewer locations initially.

“DOT has worked around the clock to restore vital transportation links following the storm and that includes putting Citi Bike on the road to recovery,” Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement. “Despite the damage, New York will have the nation’s largest bike share system up and running this spring.”

Come May, there will be only 5,500 bikes at 300 stations in Midtown, Downtown and parts of Brooklyn. That would still make the system the largest in the nation, but it is a little more than half the size of the full system, which will have 10,000 bikes at 600 stations (none of which are located in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and much of Queens and Brooklyn, to the chegrin of some residents there and the joy of others, who are no fans of bikes).

Rollin', rollin', keep those bikes a rollin'... (Edward Reed/Mayor's Office)

Next year, spring showers will bring a flood of bikes.

Despite years of planning and the highest hopes, New York City's bike share program will not be launching this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on his radio show this morning. "We are just not going to put out the system until it works," the mayor said. "We were going to try a partial launch, but we're just not going to do it if it doesn't work."

John Gambling, Mr. Bloomberg's radio partner, than asked if the launch would be in the spring, which Mayor Bloomberg affirmed.The reason for the delays were software issues, which have plagued the bike share program's operator, Alta Bikes, in other markets, as well, most recently Chatanooga, Tenn., where their system launched months after expected.

“Unfortunately there are software issues," Mayor Bloomberg said. "The software doesn’t work. Duh. Until it works, we’re not going to put it out."

The mayor said he genuinely believed the program would have rolled out on the streets when expected and seemed disappointed it had not. “We did think there would be a possibility we would have bikes on the streets this summer," the mayor said.

Yesterday, the mayor seemed to portend this fate, at an unrelated press conference in Coney Island for an expansion to the New York Aquarium. There, he reiterated the technical glitches and swore there was no big conspiracy underway, according to Capital New York:

"We're getting very close," he said. "Look, everybody wants to say there's a secret agenda here. The software doesn't work. And putting it out when the software doesn't work, it wouldn't work. Period. And so we're trying to find out when we can put a date that we're sure or reasonably sure that it will work. And we're trying."

The mayor also marveled, as he had before, that people were first screaming that they did not want bike share, and now they are screaming about where the heck is it.

Update 9:40: A release from the city's Department of Transportation reveals the system will launch in March 2013, with 7,000 bikes at 420 stations. This is the same size as the initial plans for a first phase rollout that was supposed to have launched in July. Already cyclists on Twitter were hoping for a complete rollout come the spring, but it does not look like that will be the case.

“New York City demands a world-class bike share system, and we need to ensure that Citi Bike launches as flawlessly as New Yorkers expect on Day One,” DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement. “The enthusiasm for this program continues to grow and we look forward to bringing this affordable new transportation option to New Yorkers without cost to taxpayers.”

In a separate statement, Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, stressed the challenges of the bike share project.

“While we are eager for Citi Bike to begin, it’s more crucial that this ground-breaking transit system be launched correctly, not quickly," he said. "New York’s public bike share program will not only be the largest bike share system in the Western Hemisphere, it will also be the city’s first brand-new, full-scale form of public transit since the subway’s debut more than 100 years ago—this is not a moment to rush."

Update 10:05: And the pile on begins... Comptroller John Liu issued a report critical of bike share earlier this year, says now the administration should take a second look at their program. Via a spokesman: "While the delay may have been caused by poor planning and software problems, the City should take this opportunity to address the remaining safety issues associated with the plan in order to lower the number of accidents and fatalities that may result from the Bike Share program."

Meanwhile Veronica Vanterpool of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign echos Mr. White on the need to wait: "With all eyes on the country’s largest bike share program to date, NYCDOT is right to ensure that the rollout of bike share is smooth and efficient. Waiting until all software issues are resolved is a responsible move that will help guarantee the success of the city’s first bike share. Tri-State looks forward to seeing the program roll out in the spring–perfect timing for putting the drab days of winter behind."

Update 10:30: Going back over the audio from this morning's radio show, the mayor explained just how challenging creating a bike share system for 7,000 bikes is: "It really is very advanced technology. Each station is like a dock, each place you stick in a bike is a computer, and everything runs on solar power so you don’t need a lot of wiring and there’s no burden on the electrical system. There’s an enormous number of transactions you have to communicate in real time to central computers."

He also mentioned the possibility of including speed bumps to slow down cyclists, particularly in Central Park before dismissing the idea. He then argues that bikes, and bike share, are the future:

"Every place where it’s worked is very popular. And the world is going towards more bicycles. They’re not gonna replace cars, but you can’t get more cars on the streets and you have to have other means of transportation. Walking is one thing, bicycles another and buses, subways, those kinds of things. And the streets are there for everybody. The streets are there for people and not just for automobiles."

Watch your head. (Edward Reed/Mayor's Office)

Is it possible that requiring every New Yorker to wear a helmet while cycling might actually be more dangerous for bicyclists than letting them continue on their merry way—cranium at the mercy of crazed drivers, hapless pedestrians, flying rats and their own personal incompetence?

That is exactly the argument made by every cycling enthusiast from Mayor Bloomberg to Joe Twowheels after Brooklyn City Councilman David Greenfield proposed a bill last week that would mandate cyclists don a Styrofoam dome before hitting the streets. Right now, that applies to children under 14, who also have the right to ride on the sidewalk, and delivery cyclists, who believe it or not, do not.

Mr. Greenfield wants to charge cyclists $25 for their first helmetless offense, $50 for the second and $100 thereafter. He points out that a good bike helmet does not cost much more than that first ticket, so what’s the excuse? “It’s basically common sense,” he said of his bill.

But bike advocates argue that the bill will have the opposite effect, making the city less safe for cyclists because it will depress ridership—after all, most New Yorkers are more worried about suffering helmet head than head trauma.

“There is safety in numbers,” said Michael Murphy, communications director for Transportation Alternatives. He pointed to the fact that as the number of cyclists has quadrupled in recent years in the five boroughs, the number of accidents and deaths has concurrently fallen despite the greater number of bikes. "The more bikers, the more awareness, the better off we all are," Mr. Murphy said.

But, it is those numbers that have Councilman Greenfield worried, especially with the city rolling out 6,000 new bike-share bikes this summer and a total of 10,000 by next year. “We’re talking about thousands of tourists and new bikers,” he said. “New York is a unique city, and it’s one of the most challenging places to bike on the planet. I think it’s incumbent upon us to make sure our cyclists are safe. This isn’t Topeka, Kansas.”

Backers of the helmet law have pointed to the fact that the administration once supported such a plan, five years ago, under then-Commissioner Iris Weinshal. They also tend to ignore the fact that she has been leading an anti-bike campaign ever since a protected lane appeared outside her Prospect Park West doorstep.

Still, the timing of this proposal seems to be what has so many bike bigs bothered. If helmets mean fewer riders, that will be doubly the case where bike share is concerned. The entire point of the new Citi Bike program is to encourage hop-on, hop-off convenience. A helmet requirement makes it almost impossible to do that unless one carries a helmet hooked through a belt loop at all times.

“This is a huge canard,” one DOT insider said. “If you want to do something about safety, this is not the problem. No world class bike-sharing city has this law.”

Councilman Greenfield, who said it is not his intention to curb the bike-share program, says no matter, just build a kiosk beside bike stations with helmets inside. “They’re adjustable,” he said. Well, only so much.

And DOT counters that any bike share user gets a coupon for a discounted helmet at local bike shops and can even call 311 for a free helmet, something the department has done for the past five years, handing out thousands in the process. To claim the city is anti-helmet is not exactly correct.

“I think everything is a balance,” Councilman Greenfield said. “But public safety has to come first.” Whether a bike helmet does that, is the question.