New Bike at Coco's: Specialized Hotrock

Specialized Hotrock 24" inch wheel, 21 speed bmx/mountain bike. Great quality bicycle would be fantastic for older kids. Much better than toy/big box store bicycle. $150. SOLD!

New Bike at Coco's: Pink Cruiser

Basic cruiser at Coco's - nothing fancy, but nice condition and color. $140. SOLD!

New Bikes at Coco's: Blue Cruiser and a Raleigh Step-through

The blue cruiser is pretty clean and affordable at $140. The new white wall tires sure look slick. SOLD!

The Raleigh step-through road bike has been refurbished with a new saddle, tires, rim strips, tubes, gear cables, brake cables, bar tape and brake pads. A little more expensive than normal for this bike as it also has a brand new set of aluminum wheels with Shimano hubs. $SOLD.

Coco's Visitors

Keith and Alissa went for a ride on the LA River path and dropped by Coco's. They wrote nice things and took lots of pictures. Thanks, guys!

I'm with Coco's and River Ride

New Bike at Coco's: Japanese Bridgestone Single Speed

We converted this Bridgestone ten speed into a single speed. The components were in pretty rough condition, so it made more sense to convert to a single speed. More than our standard refurbs, almost everything has been replaced on this bike. New wheels, tubes, tires, cranks, chain ring, bottom bracket, pedals, saddle, brake pads, freewheel, brake cables and bar tape.

At 62CM, this is a good bike for a 6-footer. $250. SOLD!

New Bikes at Coco's: Pair of Schwinn World Tourists

57CM Schwinn Road Bike $SOLD

Schwinn step-through with a big cushy seat! $180 SOLD!

A pair of refurbished 1980's Schwinn World Tourists. Both have been refurbished with new tires, tubes, saddles, bar tape/grips, brake pads, brake cables, gear cables. Both are a little heavy - though lighter than the 1970's Schwinns - but ride great!

Rich buys a tandem

Our buddy Rich Roat bought a tandem and appears to be absolutely smitten with the 1980's period piece metalflake machine.

Rich at House Industries

New Bike at Coco's: 52CM Blue Single Speed

Clunky lugged frame ten speed converted into sexy single speed. New cranks, chainring, chain, freewheel, brake cables, brake pads, grips, pedals, tires, tubes, Ritchie headset and Tektro brake levers. We have a lot of money in parts and labor into this bicycle. $SOLD.

New Bike at Coco's: Univega

Though modest in appearance, this is a fantastic bike with Shimano Exage SIS shifting. $200. SOLD!

We like 'bike store bikes.' That means a bike that was originally bought in a bike store as opposed to a big box store. As it is expected that bike stores will be required to perform maintenance on what they sell, the bikes are built to be repaired. Higher quality components, more standardized, better brands, less plastic. Oftentimes, somebody will bring a Target or Costco bike in and we can't work on it as we just can't order parts for it.

This was bike was originally from I. Martin Imports on Beverly.

Lodge in New York Times

New York Times has re-working of a pancake recipe and the heavenly hots are cooking in a Lodge cast iron frying pan. Our "grilled cheese" cast iron sale continues through Tuesday.

New Bike at Coco's: Giant "Simple" Cruiser

Coco's Project Bike - this means we have done nothing to it. Sometimes, project bikes need a ton of work, sometimes they are ready to go. This is how we find them in the wild.

We consider this Giant Simple cruiser a project bike just because we have touched it. Tires hold air and it is ready to ride, but it is dusty and has the lightest of surface rust. Right now, as a project, it is $SOLD. When we have the time, we will polish the chrome, lube the chain and clean it off -- then it will be $180. Save $50 and clean it off yourself.

The Giant Simple is an aluminum frame, 'bicycle store' bike. That means it is not a department store cheapie. These bikes are $300 new. Previous owner told me they rode it 5 times and I believe it. It is in near perfect condition.

New Bike at Coco's: Nishiki Olympic

61 CM refurbished Nishiki Olympic. 70's ten speed is tuned up with new tires, tubes, gear cables, brake cables, brake pads, bar tape, etc. $200. SOLD!

Bikes Attack Van

At any given time, Coco's Variety has 40-50 bikes compressed into our compact 600 square foot storefront. My friend Guillermo has 40-50 bikes stacked on top of his van.

Guillermo hangs out at the scrap metal yards and cherry picks bicycles from the detritus that is about to ground up and recycled. In turn, we cherry pick the best from Guillermo. Then, we refurbish them and our customers cherry pick the best from us. The tricky thing is Guillermo doesn't have a phone and has to keep moving his van, so to make a purchase, I have to wander around Sun Valley until I find him. Luckily, his van is easy to spot.

We believe the bicycle with the greatest positive impact on the environment is a fading champion that has already served a meaningful life and is resuscitated for a second chance at glory.

New Bike at Coco's: Small Cannondale Road

This very, very small Cannondale road bike is rolling on smaller 26" wheels. The frame measures a mere 46CM center to center, so in conjunction with the small wheels, this is a very short bicycle. Would be great for 5 foot tall cyclist. Aluminum frame, so the bike is light. Bike has been refurbished, stripped to the frame, cleaned, new tires, tubes, saddle, brake cables, gear cables, bar tape, etc.

Frame is pretty chipped, so the price is commensurately lower at $275. SOLD!

Cast Iron Cooking

Not only does Coco's sell Lodge cast iron, we also use Lodge. The last US made cast iron cookware company, Lodge has been making frying pans since 1896.

Two things happened in the past week to change my grilled cheese sandwich making. First, I bought Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express as I was lured in by his pragmatic Minimalist columns in the New York Times. Second, fuji apples are on sale at Ralph's for .49 a pound. Bittman recommended adding apples to a gruyere grilled cheese sandwich and smashing it with a press. Perfect. Though I have often had apples with a grilled cheese sandwich, I never thought of putting them inside. Delicious! The apples stay crisp in the melted cheese.

In honor of the grilled cheese, Coco's is having a Lodge cast iron sale this week. Just use the secret code phrase "grilled cheese" and get 20% off your Lodge purchase!

New Order of Oil Cloth

Oil cloth sales are somewhat seasonal - think picnic weather. Selection had gotten a little low as the Los Angeles weather got cooler, but a new order has arrived. We are fully stocked with 18 different patterns as we are anticipating an early spring!

New Frame at Coco's: Colnago

We have a nice Colnago frame hanging from the rafters right now. Campagnolo/Colnago drop-outs, nice original paint and decals, some paint dings but no dents. Seat tube measures 51 CM center to center, top tube measures 53 CM center to center. Priced at $350.

New Bikes at Coco's

SOLD super clean, refurbished Murray was made in Tennessee. Must have been one of the last mass market bikes produced in the US.

Refurbished Specialized hard tail mountain bike made into a commuter with narrower street tires. These mountain bikes are bulletproof urban assault bikes. Potholes are a mere annoyance rather than being treacherous. SOLD

Follow Coco's news including new bike updates at our Twitter feed.

New Coco's Business Cards

Crude as it would seem, the Coco's business cards are printed on a computer printer. What we lack in sophistication, we gain in low cost and flexibility of message. Some day, we will invest in real business cards, but until then, we will be over here working the paper cutter!

Logo created with Photo-Lettering, of course.

Heavy Patina Huffy Mainliner

To some, it looks like a rusty old bike. To others, it is a straight bar faded champion. I think it looks fantastic and it rides very well. The front and rear fenders are loaded with original, faded water slide decals. We stripped it to the frame and built it back up with new tubes, tires, grips and pedals. SOLD.

Bicycle Mechanic Answers All

Over at the New York Times City Room blog, veteran bicycle mechanic Eric Schofield has been answering reader's technical questions. People are asking smart questions and Eric is giving smart answers! (Thanks, Susan!)

Answers from a Bicycle Mechanic

Diminutive Road Bikes at Coco's

Small Centurion at 51 CM SOLD!

Even Smaller, More Outrageously Painted Centurion Measures a Mere 47CM - $275 SOLD!

The great challenge of running a bicycle store that specializes in used bikes is the issue of sourcing. While we can order new bikes in any size and color, the availability of used bikes is a little less reliable. The most difficult bicycles to source are small, quality road bikes. Right now, we have four small road bikes by happenstance that range in price from $200-275. Three are Japanese from the 1980's and the fourth is a very charming Motobecane from France. SOLD!