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The Chilangos Lowbike Club’s members enjoying a ride during the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) celebrations in Mexico City. The Day of the Dead is one of Mexico’s main holidays. Every year the Mexican authorities’ close traffic one evening in Mexico City for a procession of several thousand cyclists dressed in skull costumes and wearing masks.
05/11/2017 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
Royer’s "Limo" bike parked in front of his house. The "Limo" bikes are longer than regular ones. Each bike model has a particular name linked to its shape and size. Also, each owner assigns his bike a nickname.
30/10/2017 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Royer is an auto-mechanic. He also builds various bikes spare parts for the Club’s members. Most of the bike parts are custom-made and bought on the internet in the USA. The price of a bike can go-up to several thousand dollars.
29/10/2017 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Sniper lives in La Merced, a neighbourhood in central Mexico City. Over its history the area was associated with commerce and is today still well known for its busting market. It also became a hotspot for prostitution. Sniper works as a tattooist and realizes artistic air brush painting on bikes popular with their owners.
29/10/2017 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
Portrait of Pizarron during a ride on the streets of Mexico City. Once a week the Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City is closed Is closed to motorized traffic so pedestrians and cyclists can use it freely. Many parades also make their way through Reforma.
30/10/2017 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Pizarron (L) who embodies the Club and Sniper (R) eat tacos during a bike ride on a Sunday morning in downtown Mexico City. Pizarron gained his nickname because most of his body is covered by tattoos; Pizarron means “blackboard”. After a chaotic life and its share of difficulties, the club has become a real family for him that has given him stability and a sense of belonging.
29/10/2017 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
The Chilangos Lowbike Club’s members travel to Guadalajara for the Club anniversary celebrations. Guadalajara is the capital of the state of Jalisco. It is located 540 km north west of the capital. Often, the Chilangos rent a bus and travel around the country to participate in events and competitions with other clubs whose members are now friends.
17/02/2018 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
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The Chilangos Lowbike Club’s members arrive at the Guadalajara Club's anniversary celebrations. After having travelled 12 hours, they set up their bicycles to show them to the public.
17/02/2018 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
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Most Chilangos Lowbike Club members have a family. At bike events and when possible, they bring their spouse and children. Their kids grow-up in the lowrider culture and from a really young age learn to follow its rules.
20/05/2018 Toluca, Mexico State, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
The Chilangos Lowbike Club exists since 2016. It was created to fight the violence, drugs and stereotypes by promoting the lowrider and cholo cultures. Its name comes from the word "Chilango" which is the slang word referring to the inhabitants of Mexico city.
20/05/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Lalusin has been disabled since he was born. He built a wheelchair pedal himself, to be able to follow his friends from the Club on their rides. The Chilangos Lowbike Club is open to everyone and welcomes all styles of bikes without any discrimination.
18/02/2018 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
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Club members dismount their bikes from their cars. Regular meetings of Lowriders are organized in different cities of the country. The club shares the expenses and organizes with their available resources to be able to attend these events.
20/05/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
Most Chilangos Lowbike Club members have a family and children. At bike events and when possible, they travel together. Children grow-up in the lowrider culture and from a really young age children follow its rules.
20/05/2018 Toluca, Mexico State, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
There are dozens of bicycle clubs throughout Mexico. On their club anniversary its members hold bike competitions, with live music and many other activities such as food stalls or clothing stands.
20/05/2018 Toluca, Mexico State, Mexico.
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The Club is not exclusive to men and is open to anyone passionate about lowriders culture and committed to fight violence and drugs.
20/05/2018 Toluca, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Devanny (C) and the members of the Chilangos Lowbike Club take part in a white march to demand justice for one of their friends who was victim of feminicide. Caramelo was a member of the Old School Car Club of Zacatecas and was shot 15 times on September 24, 2020 as she was leaving her home.
25/10/2020 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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The Chilangos take a break on the Monument to the Revolution (Monumento a la Revolución) in downtown Mexico City. The Chilango culture is based on exchange and openness, the members of the Club enjoy taking the time to chat with passers-by and pose with them for pictures. They like to immortalize their outings by posing with their bikes in front of the main buildings of the capital.
20/11/2017 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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© 2021 Jeoffrey Guillemard
Wachorris celebrates his victory at a bicycle contest in Guadalajara in the bus on its way back to Mexico City.
18/02/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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The Chilangos also customizes their bikes for night drives. A typical Sunday outing starts at 11am and may last until 11pm.
05/11/2017 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Suaveman (which means Soft Man) is a dog groomer in Ecatepec. He's one of the Chilangos Club's owners. He attends all club related events with his mother, his girlfriend and his son.
04/06/2018 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Fernando is one of the founders of the Chilangos Lowbike Club. He grew up in a neighbourhood of Mexico City plagued by poverty and violence. One day he decided to turn his back on his past life and the mistakes of his youth. Driven by the passion for cycling and Lowrider culture, he and his friend Suaveman created the Chilangos Lowbike Club to fight stereotypes and change the way people look at their neighbourhoods.
12/08/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Fernando in his apartment on a Sunday afternoon. When there is no bike ride with the Chilangos, Fernando likes to spend his spare time repairing his bike and resting.
12/08/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Devanny, a member of Chilangos Low bike Club is in her Mexico City apartment. Devanny collects cuddly toys of Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants her favourite cartoon character.
11/08/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Fernando in his apartment on a Sunday afternoon resting after an outing with the Chilango Club.
12/08/2018 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Devanny and her dog Maya on their way to visit friends in Ecatepec. Their bike is not only a passion, but also their means of transport.
10/08/2018 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Devanny and Fernando return home after a 10-hour ride with the Chilangos Lowbike Club in the streets of downtown Mexico City.
20/11/2017 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico.
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Fernando and Devanny during a festival in Ecatepec district. Fernando spent his youth in this violent neighbourhood. Now he lives with Devanny in a small apartment in a quiet residential area of Mexico.
11/08/2018 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Fernando remained close with his childhood friends and regularly visits them in their native neighbourhood he left to escape troubles. His friends respect him for making this decision.
20/11/2017 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Fernando and Devanny at a childhood-friend’s daughter’s birthday party.
19/11/2017 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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Fernando (L) attends the funerals of a friend who was living in the USA. His native district is one of Mexico’s most violent one and once or twice a year, one of his friends is murdered. A funeral wake is organized along with a concert and a mass dedicated to the Santa Muerte (Our Lady of the Holy Death).
05/05/2017 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
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A photo of a gang member murdered in the USA lies next to a statue of the Santa Muerte (Our Lady of the Holy Death). A ceremony is organized in the honour and memory of the deceased in his native neighbourhood.
05/05/2018 Ecatepec, Mexico State, Mexico.
Public Story
Los Chilangos
Credits:
jeoffrey guillemard
Updated: 10/28/20
LOS CHILANGOS
Mexico City 2017-2020
They have tattooed faces, shaved heads, wear black clothes and may look terrifying at first sight. But despite their harsh look, they are kind and nice men and women, who simply share a common passion: Bicycles and Lowrider culture. Every Sunday, members of the Lowbike Chilangos Club bike together in Mexico City. Chilango in Mexican refers to a resident of Mexico City. Many of the club's members grew up in neighbourhoods like Tepito or they come from the city of Ecatepec, north of the metropolis. In these neighborhoods, gang violence and crime are part of daily life, and there, laws are different. There is a high rate of homicide, feminicide and all kinds of trafficking. The Chilangos Low Bike Club México exists since 4 years ago, it was founded by Fernando, Devanny, Suaveman and others, to promote lowrider culture in an environment apart from drugs and gang violence. Nowadays there are more than a hundred members in the Club. It is a real club with real members. When a new member joins the club, they give him a shirt and a necklace with the name of the club on it. They spend a lot of money to build and paint their own bikes, but also to buy parts in the USA.The bikes are very small or elongated and low to the ground level they are shiny, they also love to add paintings, a lot of them use the Mexican flag or the Aztec calendar. They love “pimping” them and everyone adds their own style. They want the Lowriders culture to be accessible to all, and to break the stereotypes of people living in dangerous neighborhoods. They want to flee gang violence but keep a culture they consider their own, but that is sometimes associated with crime and gangs, they want people to see that there are two different things.
Lowrider culture was created by Mexican immigration in the USA. The Chicanos created a style, a language and a culture in accordance with their identity as a minority, looking to preserve a culture of their own in the US. Nowadays many migrants have returned to Mexico and have brought this culture with them. This culture has been particularly adopted in marginalized neighborhoods, as it resonates a lot with the way of living and aesthetics of the youth there.There are all kinds of people in the Club but most of them come from the poor and dangerous neighborhoods of Mexico City. They do have a though style, that is their identity but they like to play with it. To be bald, tattooed and have this hard look is part of their cultural identity , but it is just a style. In the end they are kind, generous and lovely people.They are really very open and also very proud of their club, so they are happy to show other people what they are doing. The majority of the members are men but there are also women and children. It is a club open to all. Many members come with their family to events. They have events several times a month. Almost every sunday they have a bike ride in downtown Mexico. Every Sunday in downtown Mexico City, the main streets are closed and give way to pedestrians and cyclist. The Chilangos will ride in groups and meet the people to make them aware of their passion. People take a lot of pictures of them. They are intrigued, sometimes they are afraid of them Club members are always taking a step forward towards the people. Once people understand and trust them they love to get to know them and take selfies with them. They also attend to low rider event organized by other clubs all over Mexico, and often participate in all kinds of events promoting bicycle riding. Plus, they celebrate their anniversary every year. None of Club members are gang members, even though they maintain contact with the community in their neighborhoods. Most of them lived all their lives in the neighborhood, so they grew up around gang culture, it is of course a part of their past and in some senses also their present. However, the Chilangos Low Bike Club México helps them to keep in touch with the neighborhood, respect and keep its culture while staying away from the harsh parts of it.
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