THE struggling CityCycle scheme has scored an unexpected boost after being featured in a spoof-video of the hit 1970s television series CHiPS.

Brisbane marketing men and avid cyclists Cristian Staal and Ralph Barnett were inspired to make the 90-second clip after seeing the racks of CityCycles sitting idle across the road from their work at South Brisbane.

``We hadn't seen anyone add any personality to the bikes. They're just racks of bikes, pretty soul-less,'' said Mr Staal.

``I think maybe the subliminal message in our own minds was that we wanted to just enjoy and celebrate the CityCycles.''

Mr Barnett said the retro-style of the bikes reminded them of the Californian Highway Patrol featured in their favourite childhood television show.

``People see them as a bit daggy and look at you as if to say ``oh my God, you're on one'','' he said.

``We don't have any affiliation with the CityCycle scheme. We just did it for a bit of fun.''

After spending two weeks preparing their costumes, spray-painting helmets and ``raiding toyshops'' for the accessories, Mr Staal and Mr Burnett set out to turn their dream of becoming CHiPS stars for a day.

``Normally motorists don't really like cyclists in Brisbane but on this day, they were incredibly tolerant giving us a lot of space at traffic lights,'' said Mr Staal.

Although they covered up the promotional material on the bikes with their own accessories, Mr Barnett said no damage was done to the bikes.

``We hope Brisbane City Council doesn't fine us. We didn't want to do anything wrong. We just wanted to give the bikes some life,'' he said.

Since introducing free helmets and cutting the cost of hiring a CityCycle, use of the bicycles has increased.

About a third of the bicycles are now being hired each day with an average of 2530 trips a week.

Brisbane City Council Public and Active Transport Committee chairman Julian Simmonds said council would not fine the spoof's creators because it was "a light-hearted attempt that showed just how fun and easy to use the scheme could be".

"So long as people aren't damaging the bikes we'd support anybody who wants to promote the benefits of CityCycle as a cheap, speedy and easy way of getting around the inner city, " Cr Simmonds said.

"There's been a couple of spoof videos made about council recently, and I think as long as they're done in good spirit, they can actually work to give Brisbane some positive worldwide exposure."

Originally published as CityCycles: At least someone's using them