vest. Each vest must have the club logo on the back, a Puerto Rican flag patch on one side of the front and an American flag on the other.

The one exception is Benny, the only Dominican in the group.

“They gave me permission to have my flag,” he says.

Vests can’t have anything else sewn into them—except for rank patches. Tony has “President” and his wife, Margie Tosado, has “Secretary.” The three sergeants have black and blue Army Sergeant patches.

The jackets can have as many pins that fit. Some have dozens of pins and medals attached: eagles, roosters, tourist pins of the Statue of Liberty, Superman, crosses, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, bullets, skulls, I heart Jesus.

“They don’t earn any of them, but they put ‘em on,” says Tony.

Bikes don’t have to be Schwinn—though most are—but they must be vintage.

“As long as they’re classics with balloon tires. You can’t have no thin tires. See? They all got balloon tires. It’s gotta be an old bike. It can’t be no modern bike, like a mountain bike,” says Tony.

Parade bikes, which are their special bikes they show off at parades, must be clean. And just like the vests, American flags must fly next to Puerto Rican flags.

“Before we go to a parade we check every whitewall, we want bikes that are clean. I don’t want no dirty bikes in no parade,” Tony says.

Anyone can join, but there is a trial period. For a few weeks, new recruits ride with the club.

“We don’t pass no red lights. We ride in single lanes. We respect the rules of the road. We’re not a wilding crew,” Tony says. “I’m strict. Ride with me for a couple of weeks, we see how you act and we see if you respect the club... We check your attitude.”

Sergeants have jobs. During parades or long journeys to festivals or bike meetups, Juan stays in the back and keeps them all in line. Speedy is the mechanic and fixes flats or chains or popped spokes. Benny and Tony circle around the pack, keeping order.

While the rules of appearance and rules of the road are important—and broken often—the most important part of the Classics code is respect. The leaders of the club will do anything to maintain the reputation of the club. A big part of doing that is the rule that you can only wear the club vest with the others around.

“You only wear your colors with the group,” Benny says.

Members caught drinking or smoking or fighting or yelling at cops or committing any other acts of malfeasance or villainy—while wearing their Classics Bronx Club vest—will be fined heavily or even kicked out of the club. Anything that makes the club look bad, especially fighting, is not tolerated.

“That’s a big no-no,” Benny says.

Tony hands out $10 fines to the rulebreakers. Not wearing your vest to a meeting: $10. Driving the wrong way down a one-way street: $10. The cash—along with the dues—pays for parade fees, transportation to parades out of state, food, drink. If someone is kicked out of the group, they buy the vest back from him and send him on his way.

There aren’t any rules for what can be added to the bikes. While some Schwinn bike clubs across the country require unmodified and original parts in all their bikes, Classics Bronx Club doesn’t. Sure, they track down rare and obscure parts online and in local bike shops, looking for that original chrome gas tank or “Schwinn Approved” SpeedOmeter, but it’s the weirder other modifications that get the most attention. They attach old school chrome side view mirrors from cars, enormous banana seats, exhaust pipes, police sirens, air horns, fox tails, bells, spotlights, metal bulldogs or skulls built for motorcycles with eyes that blink and glow red.

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