By Leora Rosenberg

The first time I rode a bike in New York, I was so terrified I kept my health insurance card in my pocket for my seemingly imminent accident. There are a lot of things you learn as an urban biker: how to avoid buses, how to minimize sweat, and how to give a cab the finger without losing your balance. But the first thing you learn is that New York biking isn’t as hard as you thought it would be. In fact, the biggest problem you may face may be picking which bike share to join.

Let’s say you don’t want to buy a bike. Maybe you can’t afford one, or maybe you know that every bike in New York City is just waiting to be stolen. Also, you live in a teeny apartment with no bicycle storage. So you decide to join a bike share. Since you’re an NYU student in Manhattan, you have two good options: : The NYU BikeShare and the NYC Citi Bike system both have bikes you can borrow. Here’s our BikeShare versus Citi Bike comparison:

Price: NYU BikeShare vs. Citi Bike

The NYU Bikeshare is every college student’s favorite price: free. All you have to do is fill out an online form and sit through a dull bike safety course. Citi Bike is pricier. An annual pass costs $95, a week pass costs $25, a daily pass costs $9.95, and prices are expected to rise soon. Free is hard to beat, but you should take two other costs into account: your helmet and your existing transportation budget.

Let’s start with the helmet. They’re not legally required in New York, but you definitely need one. You’re paying too much for your education to let your brain melt in a concussion. The NYU BikesShare will provide you with a helmet if you need one, although since they don’t promise a helmet that fits you right, you may still decide to buy your own. A Citi Bike doesn’t come with a helmet, but an annual membership includes a ten dollar helmet coupon for a helmet redeemable at most local bike shops. In any case, if you’re willing to trek to one of their fittings, the New York City Department of Transportation will give you a free helmet. When you’re budgeting, keep in mind that helmets cost between twenty-five and one hundred dollars. That seems like a huge range, but since all helmets pass the same safety test, the price differential is mostly about style and comfort. So long as your helmet fits, you’re okay with a cheap one.

The more complicated budgetary concern is what you’re already paying for transportation. MetroCards and cab rides aren’t cheap, so you should think of a bike share as a potential money saver. Think about which option would best help you cut down on your regular commuting costs. If Citi Bike allows you to skip more subway rides, it may end up being the financially responsible choice even though it’s more expensive.

Convenience: NYU BikeShare vs. Citi Bike

Both programs limit where and when you can bike. Your choice will largely depend on whether you prioritize geographic flexibility or the length of time you can keep a bike.

NYU BikeShare users pick up a bike at one of several dorms and return it to that same dorm. It’s convenient only if you live on campus, and only if you’re making a two-way trip. They make up for the limited location options by letting you keep the bike until 10 p.m. Citi Bike gives you the opposite deal. There are hundreds of stations to pick up a bike, and you can return that bike to any station regardless of where you picked it up. The downside is that the system makes you limit your bike rides to only half an hour or forty-five minutes depending on your membership option. You should also think about the hours you’re planning to ride. The NYU Bikeshare is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., while Citi Bike is open 24/7.

If you’re planning on taking long rides like the full circle around Manhattan, the NYU BikeShare is your best bet. If you’re planning using a bike for your commute, and you don’t want to worry about bike when you’re not riding it, you should get a Citi Bike membership. You might also want to consider your drinking habits. You never, ever want to ride drunk, and since Citi Bike lets you do a one-way trip, a bike ride to a bar won’t force you to decide between returning your bike and getting yourself home safely.

Dysfunction: NYU BikeShare vs. Citi Bike

Both systems suck. Citi Bike is notorious for broken docks and stations that are empty when you need a bike but full when you want to return one. NYU BikeShare is no better. My membership has been mysteriously deleted from the system more than once, and there’s not always an available bike at every dorm.

No matter what system you choose, you’re signing up for a certain amount of hassle. The difference is that when something goes wrong, the Citi Bike staff will resolve your problem quickly. You can call or tweet them at any time, wait times are short, and the workers are friendly, English-speaking folk who believe you when you say you return a bike and the computer said you didn’t. The NYU BikeShare staff is friendly too, but they’re hard to get a hold of quickly. Since the residence hall workers who process your check out and return don’t have access to the computer system’s back end, they can’t help you with anything. If you have a problem, you’ll have to call or email the NYU BikeShare office. If you have a problem on the weekend when the office is closed, you’re just out of luck until Monday.

The difference between the two system’s constant dysfunction is that the Citi Bike staff actively works to help you out when something goes wrong. You can call or tweet them almost any time, wait times are short, and the workers are friendly people who believe you when you promise you returned a bike even though the computer said you didn’t. The NYU BikeShare is less able to fix its mistakes since the dorm staff that processes your bike check out doesn’t have access to the system’s back end. If you have a problem, you have to call or email the BikeShare office. If you have a problem on the weekend when the office is closed, you’re just out of luck. Even during the week, they’re not terribly quick at responding to email, so you can’t count on an issue being fixed in time for you to get to work in the morning.

On the upside, both systems are slightly more reliable than the L train.

So which bike share should you join?

It depends on your needs, and there’s no rule against joining both. There’s only one hard-and-fast rule: Wear a helmet.

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