Mister Jalopy's bike sale at Coco's in Los Angeles
Mister Jalopy is having a bike sale at his store, Coco's in LA this weekend:
This time last year, we hardly had any bikes to sell. We were new to the game and almost all the bikes we had came from garage sales. Since then, we have become considerably more efficient at buying bicycles. More trade-ins, more collectors, more scrap pickers, more junk stores saving bikes for us. And, fortunately, for our customers, we are overloaded. Remembering the days when we were so hungry for bicycles, I am poor at moderating acquisition.Bike sale at Coco's in Los AngelesWell, it has come to a breaking point. We have too many bikes to ever finish. We are tripping over them. And my personal bicycle collection has swelled so that I need to sell some of my really, really good stuff.
What will you find at Coco's this weekend? About 100 bikes.
20% off our bicycles that have been completely refurbished. We never negotiate on the prices of our refurbed bikes as we have so much money sunk in them. So, this alone is uncommon.
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The sight of all those dropped handlebars and steel frames makes my mouth water... Shame I'm thousands of miles away.
AaaaGH! Want to bike shop/need bike, but am trapped in SF Bay area with no chance of visiting coco's!
A good opportunity to buy your bikes for Burning Man early.
@ #1: now if you were thousands and thousands of miles away, you could always come to our recycled bike shop in Stafford, UK.
Same deals, more Raleighs, £s not $s.
Ho hum.
A good opportunity to buy back your stolen bike!!!
(At least that's what the case would be in Toronto. It's ruthless up here)
A hipster's wet dream.
It is really a good opportunity to buy a cheap bike.
I guess I'll just fly out there then.
Funny, I haven't seen so many racing-bikes in the same place in a long, long time.
It's all mountain bikes, bmx or hybrids over here. The only people with racers are time-trialers and tourers.
Yeah seriously, how many are stolen? Do they check first?
Lonin: Don't let hipster cool keep you from riding a bike.
AJ: We don't buy stolen bikes. There is no national (or local) registry of stolen bikes. I wish there was. I wish there were still Los Angeles bicycle licenses, frankly. We tried calling the police department for every bike we bought, but they are completely uninterested in doing that.
We do a couple things.
We don't by bikes where the story doesn't add up. Somebody brought in a Trek USPS/VW carbon team bike. All Dura-Ace. Wanted to trade for a 90s Diamondback hardtail mountain bike plus 20 bucks. We turn those down. We don't say, "Hey! This is stolen!" We just say, "We can't use this." Maybe it really did belong to his "old ladies' ex-boyfriend" but I am not taking that risk. I said no. He wheeled it down the street and sat on the curb to proposition all my customers as they approached. Lots turned it down. Then a fella came in to get a tube replaced for his kids' bike and decided our $5 tube and $5 replacement was too much and passed. Then he went outside and bought that carbon fiber Trek.
Everybody signs a form that says "WE DON'T BUY STOLEN BIKES." The forms asks, "Is this bike yours to sell?" Then we check their GOVERNMENT issued ID and write down their name, address and ID number along with the bike description and serial number.
Is it possible that we may buy a stolen bike? Sure. I hope to hell that we don't, but it is possible. We try to take every precaution. The alternative is to not sell used bikes. Or used tools. Or used anything. I believe the net benefit to society of selling used things outweighs the possibility of a stolen bike issue. I mean, the alternative is to never sell a used bike.
If somebody out there wants to start a free national bike registry, I will start by putting in every single bike we sell. That is what we need. I have had bikes stolen and would love to get them back.
LOTS of bikes are being stolen right now. We hear stories everyday. We have not heard of a bike being stolen that was correctly locked with a U-lock. Not that it doesn't happen, we just always ask what occured and it is always "I just left it for a minute..."
Also, we have heard of them being stolen off the front of buses, so watch out for that too.
Also, we have heard rumor of a white van that stops and guys jump out and throw unlocked bikes in the back. Sounds like an episode of CHiPs!
Another thing to look out for with stolen bikes is missing parts. A missing saddle and seat post is often times an indicator of a stolen bike, as many owners remove them to prevent their theft at the bike lock. Then when the thief comes along and takes the bike, they obviously won't have the missing seat post and saddle. I see an overwhelming number of used bikes for sale out here in Los Angeles that are as described. Also, if it's a higher-end bike, the owner should know at least a little about it. Be wary if they can't describe it or appear to know very little about "their" bike. In the case of a bike being parted out for sale, you can look at how extensively they've broken it down. I see a lot of parted out frames being sold with forks, bars, stems, brakes and fenders still attached, as if the mechanic had not the tools nor the knowledge to remove them. Any cyclist will know how to remove a set of brakes or fenders, most have access to the tools to remove a headset and separate handle bars from a stem, but I give them a break on crank sets and bottom brackets as few cyclists have had the opportunity to actually do this or even own the tools required. Vigilance is the key to both buying a legitimate bike and avoiding getting your bike stolen. Deal with trusted suppliers and friends; preferably with fellow enthusiasts =). If you are suspicious, you should rethink things, and don't forget to alert your fellow bikers out there of suspicious merchandise!
I wish I knew there was a serious problem in LA. Someone drove by last night and cut the steel cables securing our bikes on the bike rack on our car -- in our driveway. They took my son's Diamondback Outlook - took the lock and all. The thieves are driving around with bolt cutters. We were packed and ready to go on a trip, come out and one of the bikes is just gone. I guess you have to use the Ulock when the bikes are on your own cars bike rack too.