Lowrider bicycle

A lowrider bicycle is a highly customized bicycle with styling inspired by lowrider cars. These bikes often feature a long, curved banana seat with a sissy bar and very tall upward-swept ape hanger handlebars. A lot of chrome, velvet, and overspoked wheels are common accessories to these custom bicycles.

These bikes are typically a highly individualized creation. Despite the fact that these bikes originated within the poverty of the barrio, lowrider bikes can often be anything but cheap.

Noted American bicycle mechanic, technical expert, and author Sheldon Brown wrote of lowrider bicycles,

Lowrider bikes first appeared in the 1960s in California. Children would emulate the craft of lowrider cars with their bicycles as a canvas for creativity, usually starting with common muscle bikes. This allowed those who were too young to drive a car to have a custom vehicle. In 1963, Schwinn was the first company to launch a muscle bike, in the form of the Sting-Ray. Lowrider bicycles had a resurgence of popularity the 90s, as lowrider bicycle competition at lowrider shows started to become intense, as a result of the increased popularity, classic Schwinns became far more scarce as well as more expensive. Stemming from this new popularity a magazine titled 'Lowrider Bicycle Magazine' started publication in 1993.

One of the first trendsettering bicycles was the infamous "Claim Jumper," owned by Danny Galvez, Jr. of Los Angeles, California. As the first cover bike for LRB, it made history as it was on the debut Winter ’93 issue.

A man by the name of Warren Wong has a rightful place as a pioneer in lowrider bicycle history. Warren worked with BMX and freestyle bikes, but his desire to be different revolutionized the industry, and he eventually became known as the "Wheel King." with his "Body Count" clover-laced design. These were the first lowrider bicycle wheels, which would later evolve and be duplicated by many.

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Wikipedia