Just call the police and offer to him them. When you tell them what
the bike is worth, it may amount to felony theft conviction (Is the limt
at $4K or $5K), can't remember since I got out of the joint :D

I work in a moderately sized city in New England. There are, like any city, a number of homeless people, people who sleep in shelters, and people who beg/solicit/ask for money. Some of these people have bikes, usually a cheap dept store bike in bad disrepair.

Today, while walking down Main St., I encountered this guy with a Seven cyclocross bike outfitted with Ultegra components. The bike looked to be at least a 60cm, maybe a 62. This guy looked about 50, probably about 50 lbs overweight, and a little intoxicated. He was about 5' 9" or 10", too small for this bike. I asked where he got the bike but he didn't respond. I asked him if he wanted to sell it and he said no.

So I'm looking at this STOLEN bike and wondering what to do? Any thoughts? My guess is I'll see the guy again. I'd love to buy it and then try and find the owner. I'd imagine Seven could tell me who they built it for if given the serial number.

I saw a teenager in Cambridge riding a Merlin Road Bike with the Handlebars upside down on my way home from work one day. My guess was it was probably stolen, but the Merlin Factory was there, and it was possible someone in his family worked there.

I would try to post this on a couple of the New England Cross sites, sice that sounds like it belonged to a racer. The Police might not get involved unless they have a report of a stolen bike. And even then, most of the time they culd care less about a stolen bike.