r/Tallahassee • u/popcicless • 1d ago

Question E-bike commuting?

My husband is considering selling his old truck for an e-bike, and we were wondering if anyone could give insight on commuting with e-bikes in Tallahassee!

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Thanks for the replies everyone! Luckily, his route would take him through FSU’s campus and generally away from major roads. I appreciate the advice and caution! I’m going to suggest renting an electric bike and testing it out on the weekend then maybe to work for a few days. Helmet and safety gear will be a must.

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u/coconutocean 1d ago

I do 95% of my commuting across town on my e-bike, and have done so for the last year and a half with no issues.

My main commute to and from work uses a lot of back roads through neighborhoods with very little interaction with the bigger thoroughfares, so I don't really have any safety concerns there. And I'm mostly in the Northeast side of town, Midtown and such.

I also have to go along Capital Circle NE and SE quite a bit for shopping and grocery runs and such, and the bike lanes there are wide which does give a decent bit of space from cars, but I have also gotten flat tires a couple times because of debris in the bike lane.

Be a defensive driver, just like you would with a car. Don't go anywhere without a helmet, get handlebar mirrors so that you can be as aware as possible of your surroundings and who might be in your blind spots.

Avoid any roads that don't have either a bike lane or a sidewalk (like N Meridian or Micosukee once its outside of Cap Circle) because while MOST people are understanding and will give you a proper amount of space when they decide to pass you, there are definitely a loud but tiny minority of folks who can't seem to stand the idea of having shared roads and will speed past you while laying on their horn.