Bike tour in Rome

We lived in Rome for 5 years. I would not ride a bicycle outside of Villa Borghese or Villa Doria Pamphilj for any amount of money. Crazy drivers and badly maintained streets. Walk.

LOL! Laurel pretty much nailed how I'd feel about two-wheeling in most of Rome (YIKES!) although I know bike tours are very popular. In addition to the couple of exceptions she'd provided, I'll add biking the Appia Antica to the "prolly won't kill ya" list. TopBike (highly rated) has a tour which does the ancient "Queen of Roads" and visits the aqueducts and a catacomb: lots to see along the way!

https://www.topbikerental.com/nuovosito/eng/tour-rome/ancient-appian-way-catacombs-and-roman-aqueducts-in-rome-italy

We trekked a fair number of miles of it on foot but thought the Appia was fascinating!

They have one beginning at 6:30 PM ... thought it would be a great
first day to get to know where everything is.

Editing to add: if you're thinking about doing a tour on arrival day in Italy - as in fresh off an international flight - I definitely wouldn't do a Rome bike tour in a jet-lagged fog. You'd want to be wide awake and have ALL of your wits about you! 😳

I personally would question the wisdom of doing anything at 6.30pm on your arrival day assuming it was an overnight flight from the US. Especially an activity that requires a decent amount of being alert. Do your overview the next morning.

So are the less-complimentary reviews regarding the sights, the pace, the bikes themselves, safety and comfort in traffic in the evening, or something else?

I cycled a fully loaded bike across London on the day before the Charles/Diana wedding, so I an not a timid cyclist. I wouldn’t consider cycling in Rome.

We did a Fat Tire tour in Barcelona, I enjoyed it but my wife was very nervous riding through crowds on a bike, based on that I would never consider a bike tour through the sites that the fat tire tour lists because as noted in the other comments, Rome is crazy. Tip: read the RS guide on how to cross the street in Rome.

Try this walking tour instead https://www.througheternity.com/en/rome-tours/group-tours/ . I haven't taken this one, but I have done a couple with Through Eternity and they have been the best group tours I've done anywhere in Europe.

I’ve rented velos in Paris and taken Fat Bike and Paris Charms and Secrets Electric bike tours in the city of Lights. I bike in south Florida and sometimes worry that I have a bullseye 🎯 on my back. But I would NEVER ride in Rome. I want to return home without body parts in a cast.