I bought some lenses for my old Frogskins from Fuse lenses after a tip from here agood while ago.

I got an email from them a few weeks ago inviting me to be part of their developer lens advocates programme, uh-huh whatever.

Today I got a package with a set of polarised lenses for my glasses F.O.C.

Thanks Mr Fuse! 🙂

Splendid stuff! I got a load of crap from being a Makers Mark ambassador (whatever that is) and there’s a barrel of it with my name on somewhere in the states

Yep. Lots! Then again, periods in the bike/ski industry helped….!

I got a load of crap from being a Makers Mark ambassador (whatever that is) and there’s a barrel of it with my name on somewhere in the states

You and me both, Brother Ambassador.

Have you ever visited?

Sort of, years back working for a finance Co, we had a large fleet/lease arm – thousands and thousands of cars, vans and trucks going out a month so we used to be sent new cars to ‘evaluate’ aka rag around for a couple of weeks before the next place got it for a few weeks and so on until they reached 3 months old, they washed it and sold it “ex demo”.

We used to get sent all the press releases and packs for new cars, you’d be amazed how much of the bullshit blurb in them arrived in Autocar etc verbatim, next to a nice full page ad for it.

I helped with the D3o development so got lots of free body armour I’d helped design.

Just head onto some of the Twitter accounts, and you can’t move for blaggtags..
People seem only too happy to proclaim, ‘it’s the best thing they’ve ever ridden, worn, slept in etc’
You kinda wonder if they’d say that if they weren’t getting them for nowt?

Not alot interesting happens in my life, but…..

About five or six years ago, I got sent a brand new set of compact Rotor Q Rings. Don’t know who from, or what I’d done to deserve them. I didn’t end up using them either, I just sold them on.

A also received a prototype Dialled Bikes frame to test about four years ago. I only rode it a hand full of times due to mental illness, ended up giving it to a mate to ride instead. Although it got him back into cycling, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

A few pairs of boots for trials/tests. The best? Danner, by a long, long way.
One day I’ll be able to afford a pair!

The good old days when I sailed a lot I’d get goody bags.

The best was a big dry bag from Gill with literally, one of everything from their catalogue inside.

2 mooncups
10 litres of cannabis
5 inner tubes
£20 telco gift card
6 pigeons

I’m somehow so on the Christmas booze list for my last company that mate me redundant in May.

I only found out because they sent me a the Christmas champagne. Very nice it was too…

I ended up in a Hospitality Trade Fair in error, wandering around I was persuaded by the nice lady on the Bacardi Breezer stand to drop my card into a pot to win a prize. I explained that I worked in Recruitment not in the Hospitality Sector she said that didn’t matter
Fast forward a week or so a pallet of 18 cases of Bacardi Breezer arrived, complete with every bit of promotional material that Bacardi produced – branded glasses, balloons, etc arrived at work addressed to El’s Bar (I worked for a company called ELS). Everyone at work took something home – I ended up with 12 cases of Breezer. Initially I didn’t like the stuff, by the 6th case I had developed a taste

I was one of the first ‘testers’ for the Brooks Cambium….I still ride it most days :0)

sponsored stuff isn’t free, but never the less, a box in the post with a marketing receipt feels free!

All the stuff here.

Christmas from Castelli

davidtaylforth – Member

About five or six years ago, I got sent a brand new set of compact Rotor Q Rings.

I just sold them on.

You could have forwarded the proceeds of that sale to a starving refugee. #selfish 😆

I get loads of free stuff each week…….just don’t tell the neighbors …ha ha ha 😆

Tested and destroyed plenty over the years from a lot of the big names in the industry.
Most famously was a brand new safety device – the only one in the UK at that point for evaluation.
Called the importer the following day to say it was a little cumbersome however worked ok. Could we have another though as this one is broken….
Turns out the reason it was the only one is because it was one of only 10 prototypes 😆
Mind – they did modify it to stop the dirt ingress that killed in in a single day.
Didn’t stop them asking me to kill test more stuff either!

I’m guessing Haribo doesn’t count. 🙁

Got some energy bars once, they were shit. Stopped asking for free stuff after that and just bought the good stuff.

When I was a student we were in the pub one lunchtime when a guy from a market research company approached me at the bar and asked if I could get a group of people together for that evening to go to a focus group testing beer. As you can imagine I managed that fairly easily.

We were so good at it we got invited back quite a few times, taste some beers, then get to drink some beers, collect cash payment on the way out. It was heaven.

I get a bit, although of course nothing is ever free. Stuff that I like / love gets used and reviewed and the stuff I don´t either gets sent back or I just say no thanks. Life is way, way too short to use stuff that isn´t good. At the start you´re just like “wow, free stuff”, and then the realisation that spending half your life in stuff that you don´t like isn´t much fun 🙂

Best free thing this year? An uplift company we use gave me a couple of cases of Somontano wine, all different bottles. Totally not needed because we use them because they´re awesome, not in the hope of getting free stuff. Free wine never goes back!

Arrived this morning, I won them in the pink bike advent calendar compo !

Cheers superstar !

PS

the 10 litres of cannabis was from the reptile store to try out. Don’t want folks thinking i chase the chicken or whatever you young hip kids call it

It’s used for snake bedding

I blagged my way onto a jolly with Land Rover in the Alps last year, messing about in the snow in Disco 4s – they provided all comers with Haglofs down jackets, hats, gloves, trousers etc; all are still in use. Full board, all food and booze, flights all gratis.

My sister is a Brand Ambassador for Land Rover (hence the invitation…) and she gets three new vehicles every six months for her and her team – they have two RRSs and an Evoque at the moment. Cow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDbq2aOCp7w

Ahhhh…. I had wondered. Bysimple association, my assumption was that either the unit of measure, or the described stuff was a typo/predictive text error. Although did spend a thought or two as to whether you may have meant it to be grams, ounces or even kilos, pounds and who your very kind benefactors may be 😀

Indeed – still have loads of TNF kit, Inov8 packs (though most of the shoes are worn out – did test some of their protos in their early days) and haven’t bought a warm or waterproof jacket in almost 20 years. Used to love having a package arrive. Worked hard for those though.

davidtaylforth – Member

Not alot interesting happens in my life, but…..

About five or six years ago, I got sent a brand new set of compact Rotor Q Rings. Don’t know who from, or what I’d done to deserve them. I didn’t end up using them either, I just sold them on.

A also received a prototype Dialled Bikes frame to test about four years ago. I only rode it a hand full of times due to mental illness, ended up giving it to a mate to ride instead. Although it got him back into cycling, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Sorry to hear that Dave. I hope you’re feeling better these days.

Won a comp on road.cc and got a bag of pretty expensive roadie gear sent to me. In truth I don’t think much of the kit but hey, it was free so I can’t complain.

No *sniff* I haven’t.

*sniff*

Ever.

…and, If I was ever *sniff* fortunate enough to be sent a free bike, I’d *sob* be considerably more grateful than all of these ingrates.

*puppy dog eyes*

Not really sent, got to keep a go pro hero 4 and mounts.
Did a review on my wife’s electric car for a government website.
My wife was contacted by VW, to see if she was interested and she agreed, come the day, she bottled it and I had to step in.
At the end the guy shook my hand and said thanks, I said don’t forget the camera, to which he said keep it, it’s second hand now!

As far as my misses is concerned everything I buy from here was free.

*she doesn;t have an account and she will never find out, unless she hacks my paypal*