Welcome to the Team!

Optical illusion? That bike looks tiny! But it isn't. Looks like it is on 24"s.

Welcome to the Team!

We sell a lot of Torker Interurbans - a sensible, modern road bike for $575. Brand new, warranty, the whole enchilada. This one we built with natural cork which looked great on the black.

Welcome to the Team!

Rolling with a 4 month old French Bulldog! I call him Mr. Biskits, I don't remember his real name.

Welcome to the Team! Oh yeah, edition!

Welcome to the Team!

Fresh Campagnolo

Dick Cepek, Walt Wheelock and Roger Mitchell

Boy, I spent hours and hours looking at that catalog. Every page a hundred times. 

Dick Cepek

All the adventure I ever needed was within 8 hours of Los Angeles. Walt Wheelock, Roger Mitchell and Dick Cepek.

Walt Wheelock

Coco's Ever-evolving Epic Want List

New and notable changes and matters of particular interest/importance from our previous epic want list of last September:

•  We do not buy bicycles through the mail that we have not seen in person. There are possible exceptions to this rule, but it would be a rare exception.

• We are very efficient and experienced at buying used bicycles, but our business is so robust that we need more clean bikes. We are particularly interested in bike store brand/quality:

1. Entry level, modern road bikes - downtube or integrated shifters/brifter. Steel or aluminum frames. Tiagra, Sora, 2300 group and 105 bikes are in the economic sweet spot. Always interested in the higher end stuff too.
2. 70s/80s/90s road bikes - clean Japanese/Taiwanese, can be broken, dirty or incomplete but that will certainly effect the price.
3. 80s/90s mountain bikes - men and women's rigid fork, hard tail mountain bikes. Aluminum or steel.
4. Modern, quality hybrid and city bikes - must be bike store grade, not from a big box store.

• We do not buy BMX bikes.  

• The only cruisers that we buy are Electras or Nirve, especially multispeed.

• We do buy kid's bikes but they have to be in exceptional condition and be a name brand from a bike store e.g. Fuji, Electra, Specialized, Trek, et al. We do not buy kid's bikes that were sold by big box stores or via mailorder.

• Our waning commercial interest in vintage steel racing bikes. Though our personal interest remains high, our expertise relatively deep and our passion true, I must admit that from the perspective of commerce, our interest in collectible steel road bikes has waned a bit. Coco's is a bike store for riders, not as much for collectors. We still want your Cinelli, Pro Miyata, Alan or weirdo French bike, but we can not pay "eBay value." Crushingly, we have had some extremely disappointing sales on eBay for bikes that sat in the store for years. It appears that the only way to make money on vintage bikes is to part them out - a scenario that sickens us. 

• No longer looking, as I have some new vehicle projects - Renault Dauphine, Simca, Saab 96, Abarth, Renault 4CV or other interesting Euro car. Must be cheap, running, driving, original or fading repaint and largely rust free. I know that is asking a lot, but underpowered French cars aren't worth much and my budget for this project is limited. If it were a competition car, that would be even better! 

• Chicago Schwinn - we have very little interest in the heaviest Schwinn road bikes like the Varsity or Continental. We would only consider a Schwinn with cast, one-piece cranks if it was exceptionally clean and cheap. 

Updated: May 2013

Though incomplete and ever-changing, we have attempted to assemble a list of the types of things we are currently buying at Coco's. The best way to gauge our interest is to send photos and descriptions to cocosvarietystore@gmail.com.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, we will travel to you for big purchases. For the right collection, I consider Los Angeles to stretch from Orange County to Long Beach to Palm Desert to Bakersfield to Ventura to Pearblossom.

We have wholesale relationships with the major bike distributors, so keep in mind that we are already getting wholesale prices.

Coco's Variety is located at 2427 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90039. We are one and a half blocks south of Fletcher.

My name is Peter. I own Coco's and I personally read all email that is sent to cocosvarietystore@gmail.com

We Buy, Sell and Trade.

Trade value always higher than cash out of pocket. 

Seeking wholesale sources: 

Nothing at this time

Seeking wholesale services:

Upholstery services for household or automotive. Do you have experience with an upholstery shop or a guy working out of his garage that you would recommend? I have several home upholstery projects and one small automotive project.

Specifically seeking:

Race car - this is somewhat of a pipe dream, as I have limited time and budget. Ideally, I would like a non-original, missing engine, big block 1965-67 Corvette. Solid car, period street or track racer. 

Snap-on, Mac, Matco - metric wrench set, screwdriver set, metric nut driver set - complete sets preferable

Gearwrench metric wrench set

Gunsmithing screwdrivers- recently, I was told that these are referred to as turn screws. It was explained that a set of turn screws are machined to fit an individual gun.

Cummins JetScan currency counter - will consider other "bank grade" counters. Must have ability to detect denomination change.

(Thanks to Heavy Tweed Jacket for scanning this J-Mags)

Abercrombie and Fitch patchwork safari jacket, not from the teen retailer, but the storied New York outfitter. As seen on Hunter S. Thompson. Size 38-40. LL Bean made a similar version, which would be acceptable.

 Will consider incorrect size or women's jacket as I am willing to have it tailored to fit.

Several of these have slipped through my fingers recently.

Actively seeking, bicycles, personal: 

Ritchey Breakaway Cross, two needed, 52CM and 60CM. Complete bike or frame set. Would also consider similar travel bikes. Keep in mind, I can already buy these wholesale, so I am looking for a used deal.

BMC Gran Fondo GF02, 61CM - Not currently in US, but I am looking for an aluminum Gran Fondo.

French Porteur, Cargo, Touring Bikes - My particular interest. Would probably have been imported to the US by an individual, not for a retail store. Though interested in legendary constructors like Rene Herse and Alex Singer, our budget encourages production bicycles. 650b, front racks, newspaper delivery.

Actively seeking, bicycles:

Actively looking for bicycles for resale. Vintage bikes and used bikes. Can be dusty, flat-tired and requiring refurbishment but they must be salvageable. No rust buckets.  We are particularly interested in bicycles that are under 60CM. Even better, under 55cm.

If you want our most generous offer, take the time to clean bicycles and components. If it is a big cleaning/polishing job, our offered price will reflect the labor we will have to dedicate. The following is a general guide; there are always exceptions.

Bikes listed in descending order of our desire:

Linus - We buy, sell and trade Linus bicycles. If you are selling a Linus, keep in mind that we are authorized Linus dealers so are already getting wholesale prices.

Low, Mid and High End Road Bikes, Modern, Integrated Shifter/Brifter - Our clientele for these bicycles has continues to  increase for low to mid range road bikes. At the less expensive end of the spectrum, Tiagra equipped, aluminum frame entry level road bikes would probably be the most desirable for us right now. Indexed shifting.

Mid Grade Road Bikes, Downtube - Vintage, enthusiast quality European, Japanese and American road bicycles. Lugged steel frame. Typical brands to include Nishiki, mid-range Cannondale, mid-range Trek, Specialized, Bridgestone, Univega, mid-range Bianchi and Centurion. Mid-grade aluminum components like Shimano and Suntour. Should have aluminum bars, stem, cranks. Stem bolt will be Allen head. Would have been sold by a quality/neighborhood bike store.

Hardtail Mountain Bikes, Step-through Mountain Bikes - We buy non-suspension, 'bike store' quality mountain bikes. Brands like Schwinn, GT, Cannondale, Trek, Univega and Specialized Hard Rock. Mid-grade aluminum components like Shimano and Suntour. Should have aluminum bars, stem, cranks. Would have been sold by a quality/neighborhood bike store in the 1980's and 1990's.

Comfort/hybrid/straight-bar road bikes/commuters - We buy 'bike store' quality bicycles, meaning they were purchased in a bricks and mortar bike store.

High Grade Road/track bikes/touring bikes - Vintage race quality European, Japanese and American road bicycles. Lugged steel frame. Storied brands like Colnago, De Rosa, Masi, Pinarello, 3Rensho, etc. Top components - Campagnolo, Mavic, Modolo, Dura-Ace. Would have been imported and sold by a quality bike store like Helen's, Ted Ernst, Yellow Jersey, Turin or I. Martin. Particular attention paid to pantographed and team bicycles.


Lugged Schwinn - We buy Japanese and Taiwanese lugged frame Schwinn road bikes. Would have been sold at a Schwinn dealer.

Nexus/Davinci hub bicycles - Newer internal hub bicycles like the Bianchi Milano, Electra Cruisers, Felt or Trek Soho.  

Step-throughs - We love Dutch-style bikes, mixtes, step-through single speeds and 10 speeds. We are especially interested in gorgeous European and Japanese mixtes. We love 3-speeds less and should be in solid condition. Coco's has a soft spot for quality, step-through mountain bikes as they make great city bikes.

Kid's Bikes - Must be in great condition, garage kept and non-big box, i.e. came from a bike store not Target or via the mail.

Ten Speeds - College student quality European, Japanese and American road bicycles. Could be from a department store in the 1970's-1990's. Clunky. Common brands to include Free Spirit, Schwinn, etc. Could have steel derailleurs, steel bars and steel stem. We will only buy bicycles with cottered or cast cranks if they are in very good condition.

Chicago Schwinn - We buy Schwinn bicycles that are marked Made in Chicago. Varsity, Racer, Breeze, Sting, King Sting, Paramount, etc. The heavier they are, the less we pay.

Fixie/Single Speeds - We do buy commercially available bikes like the Bianchi Pista, the Torker U-District, SE or the Surly Steamroller. We do not buy Pure Fix or Micargi grade fixies. Also, we do not buy fixie conversions on road frames.

Cruisers - We do buy Electra or Nirve, especially multispeed bikes. We do not buy other cruisers.

High Quality Rigid Vintage Mountain Bikes - We buy Fat Chance, Klein, Yeti and Ritchey. This is a particular interest to Matt, less so to the store.

Components - 1960's-Current. Campagnolo, Mavic, Modolo, Dura-Ace, Shimano 105, 600, Ultegra, Chorus, Nitto, Suntour, Phil Wood, Brooks, Euro Asia and similar. Brake handles, calipers, saddles, handlebars, quill stems, cranks, chain rings, derailleurs, down tube shifters, seat posts, skewers, headsets, frames, forks, toe clips, pedals, tools, pumps, panniers and chain rings. French bottom brackets, headsets and seat posts of particular interest. Update: our interest has waned on these items. We have a lot and it is slow to sell.

Suspension mountain bikes - Occasionally, we buy 'bike store' quality mountain bikes. Suspension components must still work.

Vintage kid's bikes - Interesting children's bicycles and trikes that are in very good condition. 

Broken bikes - We will buy broken bicycles with frame damage, bent forks or missing components to salvage for parts. The prices we pay for such bikes is a fraction of that paid for complete bikes, as we are buying for parts value only and it requires significant labor to disassemble, sort and clean components.

Not seeking:

Old Components - Pre-1960's.

Pre-1960's bikes - We have a very limited market for these. Occasionally, we will buy these for our studio rental business, but it is an exception.

Muscle bikes (Stingrays) - We have a very limited market for these. Occasionally, we will buy these for our studio rental business. Condition is much more important than brand or rarity.

Recent department store bikes - Magna, Huffy, Pacific, Next, Mongoose, Iron Horse, Motiv, Jeep, Denali, K2 and Northrock are brands that we will not buy. We are not interested in bicycles that were sold at Target, WalMart, Costco, Big 5 or equivalent. Exceptions, there are some nice older Motivs and we will buy Huffy/Mongoose that pre-date Pacific Cycles takeover.

Fixie/Single Speeds and Single Speed Conversions - We do not buy single speed/fixie bicycles converted from road bikes. Also, we do not buy Pure Fix or Micargi grade DeepV bikes.

Cruisers - We don't buy cruisers, generally. Though we do buy Electras and Nirve, esp. multispeed. We will occasionally buy a vintage, American made cruiser if it is in nice condition and very economically priced.

BMX bikes - Modern and vintage. We don't buy 20" BMX bikes. They are very slow to sell.

Folding bicycles - We rarely buy folding bicycles. They would have to be perfect and cheap as they are slow to sell. Raleigh or Bianchi folding bikes would have to be in exceptional condition. The exception is Brompton. Jon wants a Brompton.

Rattle-can bicycles - We do not buy bicycles that have been painted with a spray can.

New Schwinn - Categorically, we can't say that we won't buy a new Schwinn. They make some good bikes that are sold in reputable bike stores. However, most new Schwinns are sold at big box stores and are uneconomical to repair.

Bicycles with plastic derailleurs - These are low-end bicycles and are very difficult to refurbish.

Components - We are not buying suspension forks/frames, bar tape, cables, chains, tires, tubes, or tubulars. We don't buy parts that are beyond their useful life.

Low rider bicycles - We don't have a market for these.

Scooters, electric bicycles, Razors - We can't service these and, therefore, are not buying and selling them.

Tandems, Trikes - We don't have space for tandems and trikes.

Trades:

We will take any bicycle on trade. Even bikes that are listed on the 'Not Seeking' list. This is a philosophical decision and practical approach . We want people on bicycles and unwanted bicycles are not used. The fact that you have a bike that is uninspiring, coupled with the daunting task of getting rid of it, may be keeping you from moving on with your cycling life. We want to remove that obstacle. So, even if it is an unsalvageable hunk 'o junk, we will give at least some money in credit for it, strip anything that we can use and responsibly recycle it.

Donations:

We will take any bicycle as a donation. Even if it is completely shot and nothing is salvageable, we will accept unwanted bicycles and make sure that they are handed off to our trusted of scrap metal recycler.

Bikes that are fairly complete, but not to Coco's standard, are donated to the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition/Bicycle Kitchen.

Actively seeking, other:

Canon 7x17 FC binoculars, roof prism design

Super, ultra, mega-nice laboratory and industrial furniture and equipment

Items related to Kerr's Sport Shop, Beverly Hills

Period furniture made of wormy chestnut

American, 20th century quartersawn oak - lumber or complete furniture

Commes des Garcons shirt - New, large medium. This exact shirt or very similar.

Book - Donald Judd Furniture: Retrospective

Book - British Campaign Furniture, Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914

Book - Kem Weber: the moderne in southern California 1920 through 1941: [Exhibition at] the Art Galleries, University of California, Santa Barbara, February 11 to March 23, 1969

Book - End of Living Beginning of Survival, Dash Snow

Book - French Scenic Wallpaper by Odile Nouvel-Kammerer

Inactively seeking, meaning, it has got to be cheap:

Reverse painted lamps, lamp bases

Vintage Hermes scarves

Automatic knives

Tansu

Snap-On, Mac, Matco tools

Air Guns - European

Curta calculators

Zeiss, Lietz, Canon Binoculars

French-style espalier citrus trees or topiary citrus or olive tree, in container

Faux bois

Barrister bookcases

Automotive altimeter

Stewart Warner automotive gauges with old wings logo and bubble glass lens

Early books on reptiles with color plates

Contemporary art books - large collections

Phil Jackson, 1974

There is the look! Stadium tee with overalls.

Randy's Garage Sale Report

Before

 Getting harder to find gas spouts that work. The California mandated nozzles to require a resting seal - in other words, it is automatically closed at rest - means that it is impossible to fill the lawn mower without spilling gas all over the place.

This is a perfect example of a well meaning, well intentioned law that didn't work out. The solution causes much more spilled gasoline vapors slipping into the atmosphere than what it replaced.

 Before

You see so many of these crappy Big Lots park benches that you nearly gloss over when there is a nice old one. Weighs about 125 lbs! 

Coco's is always interested in good faux bois. 

 After

 After

Already in the store! Has a S in a crown on top. Standard English thread.

Spotted at Garage Sale - Mushrooms ODI

On crusty toolbox, not purchased as the toolbox was, as mentioned, crusty. Too crusty.

Glenn O'Brien's Schott Motorcycle Jacket Tagged by Basquiat

Whew. That is the business.

Seen here.

My 1961 Ford Vanette For Sale

1961 Ford Vanette Panel Van

Big industrial truck used back in the day as milk trucks, delivery vans, plumbing trucks, etc.

This is a very stiffly sprung, very low geared, low speed industrial grade truck. I expect top speed would be about 50mph, which would have you at a deafening RPM. Just because you have driven a big U-Haul across country, do not fool yourself that this is a similar experience. This is full body, full contact driving that could be compared to a round of amateur boxing or a quarter of high school basketball.

Admittedly, when I bought it, it was in much worse shape, but the drive up La Brea from Leimert Park to Silver Lake was a LOOOONG drive. The door was opening and slamming shut - since resolved with a ziptie. The throttle linkage was all wound up and felt ready to jam - since resolved. It was a long 10 mile, 1 hour drive.

I bought from the second owner.

First owner was an old guy in Leimert Park that had a plumbing business. I believe he maintained the truck until he retired and it sat in his yard, being driven only occasionally.

Second owner, also of Leimert Park, was intending to sell used clothing at the swapmeet. During this dark era, the ugly paint work was completed. When I first saw the truck, there were very flimsy shelves and inadequately supported 10 foot long closet rods loaded with South Pole clothing. I believe during this tenure, some electrical, tuneup and carburetor linkage repairs were made.

I was intending to use it as a mobile bike store, but my current bike store is successful enough to warrant all attention. Our problem is not lacking customers, it is lacking enough refurbished bicycles to sell.

I have lost interest.

65 photos with matching descriptions: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cocosvarietystore/sets/72157633506193562/

Exterior

Very straight. The cab is steel and the rear box is aluminum. The roof is aluminum. The rear doors work - though probably don't lock. They open very wide to the nearly the full width of the truck. The rear bumper is heavy steel diamond plate. The glass is servicable in all instances, except for the cab door which is a completely fogged piece of plexi.

I have found very, very little rust on the truck.

Two spots of rust noted:

- Battery tray, under floor boards is pretty swiss cheesed. Still strong, but perforated. Luckily, there is nothing but street under the battery box, so it caused no other damage. A cookie sheet and an hour with a mig welder would go a long way.

- There appears to have been some bondo on the hood. In one spot, maybe where a trim hole was attempted to be filled. At this spot, you can see a little rust. It is minimal.

Interior

Presentable, if ugly colored. Everything is there. The engine cover latches and opens without issue. Driver's seat is about what one would expect. It looks like at some point there may have been provision for a passenger jump seat.

The cab door is currently zip tied open.

Engine

Runs well. Carburetor had a cracked body, so I replaced with a similar model rebuilt by Carbs Only in Burbank. All the throttle linkage was a completely worn out, jenky, Mickey Mouse'd affair. All was removed and a carb throttle was installed with a Speedway Motors drag racing style aluminum throttle pedal. Works much better.

There is a bit of knock or something. Not sure what it is or if it is even something to be concerned about. Maybe a lower end knock, but also very possible a rocker that needs adjustment. I have not taken off the valve cover to investigate. Battery looks to have an old date, but works fine.

Trans

Shifts well, clutch is fine. Very low gearing. By the opposite end of the intersection, you are in second looking for third and still only going 12 MPH.

Brakes

Seem fine. Heavy truck, but they work as I would expect.

Title
Clean, in my name, currently registered. Totally legit. Registered through June and I paid the non-op starting July.

Undoubtedly, there are things I have missed. I don't know if the taillights work, haven't run a compression check or a zillion other things. It should be considered a project, though better than most, cheaper than most and much better than when I got it.

$2500, will accept partial/full interesting trade. Our want list.

Cash or credit card, though I would have to charge 3% to run the card.

Scammers welcome! Would LOVE to sell this site unseen and ship to you. Will trade for Medz4younow.com.

Super Ano Sophisticated Lady Cinelli Stepthrough

If somebody described this to me, I would say, "Wow! Cool!"

But, seeing it, cool is not the word that comes to mind.

On eBay, no affiliation. (Thanks to His Tenderness for the tip)

Ascot Park

15% climb on dirt, we were on road bikes at 100 psi. Next time, cross bikes. Felt steep going up and steeper going down.

Tadpoles, "Hey Homie!"

Everybody is asking how my tadpoles are doing (I caught them above JPL in Arroyo Canyon in my second water bottle.)

Great! Just sprouted rear legs, though not visible in this photo.


What are they? I think they are toads.

Think you are pretty cool? Don't even...

Shirley Muldowney

Peugeot Ashtray

At auction, in France, no affiliation.

Welcome to the Team!

Welcome to the Team!

That's a fast, sensible bike with fast, sensible shoes! Thanks, Sandro!