Be aware that depending on the extent of the paint and body work, this might cost upwards of $1000.00. Third, contact a local lowrider club to ask where to get your bike painted and if you want the tank and/or chain stay area filled in with Bondo. Second, find an old Schwinn Sting-Ray, take as many pictures of it as you can, and then strip it down. Originality is important, but it’s okay to get ideas for design elements from other bikes. Steps to Building a Lowriderįirst, go check out lowrider shows in person and check out pictures of lowriders on the internet for ideas and inspiration. They are typically also named and have a theme, be it Star Wars, Raiders, Hellraiser, Candy Canes, Tupac, fire, music notes, Nike, Jordan, or Dominos. Many also have pinstripes and names of those that have died as a remembrance art piece, similar to tattooing the name on one’s arm. Most lowriders are shiny and have candy paint on them. The key in designing a lowrider bicycle to take an original bicycle from the 1960s or early 1970s that has a “wheelie bike” or chopper design similar to the Schwinn String-Ray, and slow it down with smooth flowing bright glittering clean paint with white-wall tires, chrome and/or gold parts, mirrors, velvet banana saddle, and as much flare as possible. It was an original Iverson 1968 Charger, that I later turned into a lowrider bicycle. My first lowrider bicycle was handed down to me by my Uncle Ron in Philadelphia, via my big sister Kim. Anthony Nocella with the lowrider he built at the 2021 Salt Lake Winter Lowrider Show. ![]() ![]() Ultimately, Manny Silva, owner of Manny’s Bike Shop in Compton, California, would become the key person that introduced Barris’s style by to the barrio and lowrider. Later, the Stelber Cycle Corp in New York partnered with Barris to create bicycles under the brand name Iverson, which were not lowrider bicycles, but did have a bit more style than the classic Schwinn Sting-Ray. In the 1960s, Barris brought his car art to the bicycle world by customizing Schwinn Sting-Rays, but never strived to be part of the lowrider culture. Rene and Dani Mendoza with the lowrider they built at the 2021 Salt Lake Winter Lowrider Show. Lowrider bicycle design emerged in California from the “King of the Kustomizers” George Barris, the legendary car designer, who created The Munster’s Munster Koach and built the Batmobile for the original 1960s TV series. Lowrider culture is also therapy, and can be a healthy alternative breaking the cycle of violence, gangs, drugs, and prison. They are part of the Nuevo Imperio Cycling Club. Rene and Dani Mendoza's lowrider took 6 months to build. It is here that the culture promotes youth advocacy, art, dance, music, food, peace, unity, justice, and festivals. Lowrider culture is about la familia, and the interweaving of religion and family. Lowrider culture started with cars, clothing, stroll, swag, and religious and family values. It is clear, direct, and easy to argue that the lowrider culture has always been and is grounded in activism and social justice. The lowrider culture started in the 1960s during the Civil Rights, United Farm Workers, and Brown Power movements, inspired by earlier resistance movements by people of Mexican descent against structural racism and assimilationism. One of the bikes at the 2021 Salt Lake Winter Lowrider Show. ![]() ![]() Get to know the lowrider culture and its historical and socio-political place in Chicanx/Latinx/Cholx society. How does one start building a lowrider bicycle? First and foremost, do not rush out and buy a lowrider bicycle that has been manufactured in a mass-produced fashion.
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