The stereo cycles of Sicily: Palermo teens pump up the velo – in pictures
Bici Palermo Tuning – a group of teenagers from the Sicilian capital – spend anything up to €1,300 customising their bikes with car batteries and multiple speakers to develop thunderous sound systems. The police are not impressed
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The competition to build the most thunderous sound system is fierce. All photographs: Matteo de Mayda. Words: Cosimo Bizzarri
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Some spend up to €1,300 (£1,150) customising their bikes
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The music they play depends on personal taste, but many choose neo-melodico, a genre from southern Italy that merges contemporary lyrics with traditional melodies
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They often gather in the square outside Brancaccio mall
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The increasingly powerful sound systems are an annoyance for some residents, though
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Some of the sound systems put out 1,250 watts and can shake the windows of shops and cars as the group rides past
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The teenagers of Bici Palermo Tuning say their weekly gatherings are often interrupted by the police
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The police threaten to confiscate their sound systems
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The group may be persuaded to disperse, but a short while later will have reconvened on the other side of the city
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‘No one puts up with us, so what do we do?’ says one. ‘Let’s raise the volume’
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