Call them the Bixi Buffs.

They are the believers — the bicyclists that believe a bike-sharing program will work in Toronto, in spite of the city’s lack of physically separated bike lanes and a relatively small launch area. The program has worked in other cities, after all.

On Tuesday, more than 1,000 bikes will be available at 80 locations throughout downtown Toronto to those who have already signed up for the program. Here’s why some residents decided to take the leap.

Morena Protti and Kym Watts

Protti, 29, and Watts, 28, like to keep things portable — no mortgage, no car, no bikes to squeeze into their rented apartment.

She’s Italian, he’s from Australia. By the time they arrived here two years ago, the couple had already lived in Vancouver and Montreal.

They have tried Bixi in Melbourne and Montreal and signed up here as soon as the snow melted.

Both expect to use Bixi every day, even though they will have to walk or take transit to the nearest bike station from their home near Bloor and Christie.

In Montreal, where there is a network of physically separated bike lanes, Bixi works like a dream, said Protti.

“We found it very easy because there are lots of bike trails and it was quite well organized and there are tons of stations,” she said.

Protti was excited to learn last week (April 27) that there’s a Bixi station at her workplace, the Corus building on the lakeshore.

She has some misgivings about Bixi in Toronto — among them the lack of separated, well-maintained bike lanes and the narrow downtown area in which the program is being launched.

Watts thinks Bixi is ideal for tourists.

“It’s good for a city that has a good tourist population. If they want to borrow a bike they can use it to go to the CN tower, Chinatown. A day pass for the TTC is about $10,” he said.

“If (Bixi) can roll, it might improve the current status of the bike. Everybody could enjoy it more because Toronto is certainly congested,” said Protti.

Luca De Franco

De Franco describes himself as a cycling person and a Bixi fan.

He even won a bike helmet last year in an online contest for his short video, Bonjour Bixi, showing how the system works.

De Franco tried bike sharing in London, England, where he studied, and in Montreal.

“I liked it a lot better in Montreal. London has a lot of very tight streets where you’re very close to traffic compared to Montreal where they’ve got their own bike lanes,” says the environmentalist and freelance writer.

De Franco, who lives near Yonge and Lawrence, is looking forward to being able to make short hops downtown — say to St. Lawrence Market or Queens Quay.

“I love being able to pick up a bike anywhere and take these short trips,” he said.

As someone who rides a relatively expensive bike, using Bixi instead means he doesn’t need to worry about security. It’s just get a bike and go.

“I’m always concerned about my bike being stolen,” said De Franco.

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James Schwartz

The 30-year-old blogger admits he joined Bixi to help ensure Toronto got a bike sharing system.

The advance sale of 1,000 memberships was a condition of bringing the program here.

Schwartz has tried Bixi in Washington and Montreal. His reviews are posted at his cycling blog, The Urban Country.

“I still expect to use my bike every day but there are certain scenarios where I would use Bixi,” he said, adding that bike sharing can be particularly handy in social situations when you don’t want to bike home.

Schwartz got rid of his car last year and thinks Bixi will also be useful for picking up rental cars. He doesn’t want to leave his own wheels locked up for a weekend.

“I have a pretty nice Dutch bike that cost a lot of money,” said the technology consultant and software developer, who has a sideline as a cycling advocate. But getting it out of his non-bike-friendly apartment is a pain.

“My building’s not too friendly for bikes. They’re not allowed on the patio. You have to drive it down a car ramp and hang it on the wall,” he said.

Kate Hoffman

A highrise dweller, Hoffman loves biking — but it can be a lot of work for short hops.

Because she and her partner keep their bikes on the balcony of their lakeside building, they have to schlep them through the apartment, down the elevator and through the parking garage to go for a ride.

“There was a time about six years ago when I biked most of the time. But it’s too much of a hassle to get it down from storage.

“The Bixi experience is simpler,” said Hoffman, who runs a business supporting seniors at the Centre for Social Innovation. “They’re right where you want them, when you want them.”

Although the $95 annual membership price initially struck her as a bit steep, she concluded it was reasonable compared with what she spends on bike maintenance or TTC tokens.

Hoffman is looking forward to being able to ride her bike to a meeting in the morning and then have the option of finding another way home if she’s visiting or doing errands on the way.