In Albuquerque, lowrider culture finds its next generation

Eight years ago, Albuquerque became the first major city to repeal its ban on cruising. 

Cruising — driving slowly along main streets to show off a decked-out car — is a mainstay of lowrider culture, said Rob Vanderslice, an Albuquerque native, lowrider artist and the owner of Vanderslice Kustom paint supply shop.

Before the ban was overturned, if a car passed the same point on a street — usually Central Avenue — multiple times within a certain timeframe, the driver could be pulled over and ticketed, to prevent what city officials said was street racing, loud engine revving and traffic congestion.

Lowrider enthusiasts say cruising isn’t about any of that — it’s a way to see friends and flaunt the hard work they’ve done on their cars.

“If you do what I do, the fancy paint jobs — you want to go show it off and show the work that you did,” Vanderslice said. “It’s basically a rolling piece of art.”

Vanderslice is the program coordinator for the Duke City Lowrider Bike Program, an after-school club in which middle and high schoolers learn to build and paint their own custom lowrider bikes.

The program started in 2022 with only eight students. Now in its fourth year, there are more than 80 kids enrolled and a waiting list of almost 100, Vanderslice said.

“There wasn’t a lot of buy-in initially,” said City Councilor Klarissa Peña, who helped sponsor the club. “The success of this program is, I mean, it’s beyond measure.”

Lowrider culture is an essential part of New Mexico — the city of Española is the self-proclaimed lowrider capital of the world, and last year, state Sen. Leo Jaramillo, an Española Democrat, sponsored an unsuccessful bill to make the lowrider the state car.

Further south in Albuquerque, lowrider culture is the biggest it’s ever been, Vanderslice said.

“It’s never died out,” he said. “A lot of the negative stigma has been removed, which is huge.”

The students in the Duke City Lowrider Bike Program spend a school year building their own bike, skateboard or guitar. They do all of the work themselves, under the supervision of more than 25 mentors — welders, metalworkers, painters and artists who donate their time and materials. 

“It’s changing lives by teaching them how to use their hands,” said Dacia Vanderslice, a mentor and Rob Vanderslice’s daughter.

Of the 17 similar lowrider bike clubs across the country, Albuquerque’s chapter is the biggest, she said.

Since Albuquerque repealed its cruising ban in 2018, multiple other American cities have followed suit. In October 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law ending the state’s 40-year ban on lowrider cruising.

“Lowrider culture is who we are,” Dacia Vanderslice said. “It’s our identity. It’s really something that we were born into. It’s about passion, it’s about art, it’s about tradition. It’s really about family.”

When students graduate from the program as seniors, they’re able to take what they’ve made with them. Onjay Riboni, 18, said he’s excited to take his bike and skateboard home when he graduates this spring.

“It’s something to look forward to,” he said. “It’s not something you get handed.”

Riboni began attending the program four years ago after his mom found out about it on Facebook, he said. He didn’t consider himself an artistic person before, but said he looks to the program mentors for inspiration.

“It’s just one of those things that we try to pass on from generation to generation,” said Travis Ellis, a welder, fabricator and a first-year mentor in the program. “You don’t have to be a millionaire or come from a family with a lot of money to get into the lowrider game.”

Ellis helped Merissa Velez, 15, design her bike during last week’s class. Velez, a sophomore at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, said her dad wanted to get her a lowrider bike for Christmas, but saw the lowrider program and suggested she join.

“It took me like a year or two to get in because there’s a waitlist,” she said.

Her bike is bright blue, like her hair, and dotted with airbrushed music notes. She plans to attach a treble clef and a guitar to it because she loves music, she said, and hopes to paint a QR code on the frame that will link to her own Spotify playlist.

“You just get inspired,” Velez said. “My dad was like, ‘You love music.’ And I was like, ‘Let me incorporate that into my bike, if it’s going to be my thing.’”

Though a low-down, airbrushed car is one of the most recognizable parts of lowrider culture, some of the program’s mentors opt to work mostly with bicycles, like Aaron Gonzales, who makes custom lowrider bikes in Albuquerque.

Gonzales said he didn’t go to trade school or come from a fabrication background; he had a friend show him how to weld about a decade ago, and since then, has made more than 130 bikes. In his spare time, he likes to ride his own bike, he said, which he prefers over a motorcycle because it gives him a chance to see the city at his own pace.

“On a bike, you don’t have a choice but to slow down,” Gonzales said. “I think we all need that.”

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.