So they are here - all ready for the launch at 6am tomorrow morning!

The new cycle hire scheme bikes have just been delivered to their stands throughout Pimlico

Can the new Barclays Cycles really follow on from the Montreal Bixi bike share system that was launched in May last year?  Montrealers are certainly very positive about the way it has gone so far; 'The Bixi gives them a sense of freedom. They can duck out of their offices for a quick lunch, ride into work without being caught in the rain on the way home.  In the summer months, it's another transport option along with buses and metro.  It's part of a cocktail of transport'.  'It has really changed the dynamic of the social community, it has changed Montreal.  It's more friendly, people are more together - and it is so practical.'

High aspirations indeed.  Or will we all get squished beneath bendy busses and the bikes get nicked and sold for scrap?  Even in the early days, Montreal suffered setbacks with one in five of the Bixi's being vandalised.

Let us hope London is more receptive, for more information and how to register: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14808.aspx