Flip them on cl quick! j/k

No really, I guess you could post on cl, giving a bit of description, and say that you must know some unique detail about them in order to claim them. Like how many patches are on the tubes, or maybe they are fixed/free and one of the cogs is BB-lockringed on. Brand of the cogs would be a good thing for them to be able to tell you too. Explain what happened, maybe they'll be nice enough to help you recover your $100.

good point, but Ive sold items in a similar fashion that Ive surely obtained by legitimate means. I just dont think its fair to say hes a thief because hes missing some teeth.

He probably didn't jump because it was his first offer.

Hes a smart business man/wino. example:

He made the OP throw our an offer, made a face, then got more than twice that.

well put it this way.. if i saw a dude with a junky bike right now.. i might say "you have any interest in a schwinn madison frame and fork" cause im tripping over it in my living room..would that make it stolen?

"Here's your beer, buddy"
No_Minkah makes a face
"I mean two beers, buddy--sorry man"

Hard to say. Put it out there (like you are, essentially). If someone claims them, and you believe them, do the right thing. If not, ride 'em like someone stole 'em!

In the pics, they look pretty new. Wear and tear? Seems if they were brand new, less likely stolen(off a bike, anyway)

I say nice deal. Let fate take it's course. You're not a lying/stealing kind of guy. You've put it out there for someone to truthfully speak up. If you are meant to have them by honest means (as in your story, which was funny as hell btw) then you will get to keep them. If you inadvertantly aided some bad stuff then kharma will catch up with you.

It's not like you stole them. The situation is what it is.

Man, where do you guys think stolen bikes go? Bike heaven?

Plus, those will look mighty nice on your ride.

I can add that he told me the name of the shop in Florida where he got them, where his friend works, but I can't remember the name. He told me about that he also has "an old trek, one of the original aluminum ones", and that he had it at Cycle Smithy having the braze-ons getting dremelled off. Not stuff wino thieves tend to know about, in my opinion.

Edit: as for wear, I think I'll let that be a part of the secret description. That and the specific cog brand/teeth config. Everything else I can think of- the tires, the spoke lacing- you can see in the picture.

What size?

agreed. for me, kharma/godly punishment/reward is all about intent.

Or stolen off a bike whose owner (being new to nice bikes, perhaps) didn't lock it up properly. They make 15s on bottle openers, remember.

Is it unlikely that Tony would know? How big is his operation? Maybe email him or point out this thread, see if one of his customers has contacted him?

Storage units in Chicago, apparently.

That's a good idea. But a lot of people could have made these wheels.

Suppose I could leave this well enough alone, sorry to be rather bothersome. I recovered a friend's bike a few months back and it can be a truly emotional thing.

It still really comes down to your judgment, how the guy acted, etc. Do you know what town in Florida the shop was at? Those kinda things. You think they're ok, ride without guilt. Think they're sketchy, ride with some guilt. Pretty damned certain they're sketchy, at least put some work into it past a post on the internet.

Gotta crash, good luck and/or happy riding... = )

This is somewhat redeeming. Some people are very good at lying though. :)

Relax Shylock. Deep-V's aren't worth a pound of flesh, or a lifetime of guilt...

Sttttttttolllllllllllennnnn.

i lived in oregon for a year, and the day i was moving away i decided to give my bike away because i couldn't bring it with me. it was a 70s schwinn 3-speed that i bought for $50. i rode down towards campus to find one of the pan handlers who were inevitably hanging around spare-changin' the trustafarians. the first one i rode by asked for some spare change and i replied "sorry, i don't have any, but i'll give you this bike." he was definitely confused. i assured him repeatedly that it wasn't stolen and he wouldn't get arrested for riding it. after a few minutes he finally hopped on a rode off with a big smile and a wave. i've often wondered what became of that bike and sometimes worry that the guy did probably get arrested for riding the bike after assuring cops "seriously, someone just gave it to me!"

point of the story... sometimes you're in the right place at the right time, and not everything is stolen.

It may not have been stolen, but it sure was a steal.

Remember, if you don't jump up high in the air, with arms akimbo, yelling and laughing like a 5 year old girl hopped-up on sugar candy, than no matter how sweet the deal, you don't deserve it.

dude, you rule.

our ancestors would be proud

NO_Minkah: If someone claims the wheels, you could ask them what brand of innertube there is in them. The owner is likely to know.
Otherwise, congrats on a good deal.

is it ironic that a Canadian was the first mention that they're probably stolen?

Check out the story about the Aluminum Trek. If that's true, it does add some validity to his story.

big ups

duh.