The user contract of New York City's upcoming public bike share program, Citibike, imposes a weight restriction on renting a bike; with New Yorkers who weigh more than 260 pounds (120 kg) not eligible to rent a bike under the program which is being funded by Citibank.

With short-term bike rentals to be available on New York City's streets later this month, when 6,000 bikes across Manhattan and Brooklyn will be available to rent, the user contract of the Citibike program clearly mentions that riders who wish to sign up for the daily, weekly, or yearly bike rentals "must not exceed the maximum weight limit" of 260 pounds (120 kg).

Revealing that the Citibike program will enable the riders to pick up and drop off the rented bikes at different docking stations during the course of a day, the program's spokesperson said that the user contract - which all riders have to sign before checkout - clearly states that bikes can be rented by only those New Yorkers who are less than 260 pounds in weight.

Terming Citibike program's user contract as `discriminatory,' Obesity Action Coalition's spokesman James Zervios said: "If the city's offering bikes they should have bikes that accommodate all shapes and sizes. This (the weight restriction on bike rentals) is another example of a certain population being pulled out and put under a spotlight for no reason."