CitiBikes Are 45 Times 'Germier' Than The Subway, Test Finds

NEW YORK CITY — The subway often gets a bad rap for cleanliness, but it's actually CitiBikes that germaphobes should look out for, according to Men's Health magazine. A test showed the handlebars on the shared bikes had 45 times as many germs as the subway poles that help straphangers keep their balance.

The CitiBike handlebars had a germ rating of 1,512, compared to the subway poles' 35. Anything higher than 50 shouldn't touch food, the magazine said. Men's Health Editor-in-Chief Matt Bean checked several city surfaces with a handheld germ counter for an episode of the magazine's web series "Gross."

"These things are considerably among the most disgusting surfaces we've tested in all of New York City," Bean says in the episode.

The handle on a Starbucks door came in second with a rating of 1,090, followed by the LinkNYC internet kiosks at 807. The device Bean used measures the presence of a chemical called ATP to determine how clean or dirty a surface is.

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Here's the full list of the surfaces Men's Health tested, along with their germ measurements.

1. Citi Bike handlebar - 1,512
2. Starbucks door handle - 1,090
3. LinkNYC kiosk - 807
4. Taxi handle - 424
5. Grand Central door knob - 45
6. Subway hold bars - 35

Watch the episode of Men's Health's "Gross" below.

(Lead image by John Moore/Getty Images News/Getty Images)