These bikes don’t have banana seats, but the Department of Public Safety officers still like their new patrol bicycles.

Seven new Cannondale M-900 “cop bikes” were delivered from Two Wheel Travel, 300 Main St., to the DPS yesterday at 4:30 p.m. by Fresh Air Delivery Service.

During last year’s Veishea events Two Wheel Travel loaned an M-900 bicycle to the DPS to help with patrols.

Diane Carson, owner of Two Wheel Travel, said the officers loved the bike. “There was a little competition over who gets to ride the Cannondale.”

Cannondale, she said, was one of the first bicycle manufacturers to start a police bike program. The new bikes have been fitted with special police accessories including beefed-up rims, stronger wheels, stronger power train, lighting systems and cargo racks.

“There’s some police specific equipment on here,” she said. The bicycles also have a distinctive white police department paint job.

The bikes were delivered by Fresh Air Delivery Service, a company that delivers via bicycle. “The bikes are actually being delivered by bicycle,” Carson said.

Lt. Steve Hasstedt, coordinator of the DPS bicycle patrol, said the decision to order more bicycles is not connected to the recent racial assault of student residence security officer Deantrious Mitchell, a sophomore in computer science.

“We had this ordered long before then. We had this ordered about the middle of September,” he said.

Hasstedt and Officer Robert McAleer spent part of yesterday afternoon sweeping out the bicycle storage room while they waited for their new bikes to be delivered. Both agreed the bikes are a good public relations tool because they will help the DPS connect with the public more frequently.

In addition, Hasstedt said the new bicycles are a part of an ongoing effort by the DPS to increase street and sidewalk law enforcement as well as patrol parking lots at night. “They’re great, they’re silent. You can sneak up on them before they even know you’re there.”

He said the cost for a new police car runs around $30,000, but the bikes, fully-loaded, cost around $1,100. And bikes save on gas.

People power also benefits officers, McAleer said. “It’s good physically for the officer. It keeps us in shape while we work.”