-
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
SUPPORT THIS SITE
Wanna help support the site? You have two options. The first is to use Clever Training with the link and 10% off everything coupon below:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back. No cost to you, easy as pie!
UK based here! Canada! Germany! France! Spain! Italy!
Catch me on Facebook
Ray Elsewhere
Did you know I write a weekly column over on Slowtwitch?
Check out my Product/Electronics posts in Ray’s Sports Electronics Mailbag - they are packed full of gadget goodness.
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My GPS Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent gadget recommendations guide (2012) – covering almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day to day? I also just put together my complete 2012 ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
3
Understand technology and sport in the How-To Guides.
I enjoy explaining new things to folks – especially showing people how to get the most from their gadgets. Here’s an ongoing list of “How to” guides.
4
Read my Top 25 most useful posts.
It turns our I’ve written a fair bit of stuff over the past few years – and after it disappears from my front page, a lot of it never really sees the light of day again without Google’ing skillz. Or a photographic memory…which I don’t have. I’ve taken a look back and found stuff that…continues to find a trickle of readers via web searches or forum links.
5
Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
Monthly Archives: July 2012
The current state of Bluetooth Smart/Low Energy in sports technology (and why it matters to you)
Over the weekend a question was in the Polar/Look Power meter review post on the state of Bluetooth Low Energy/Smart and some of Polar’s long term plans for the space. It seemed like this might be a good time to … Read More Here
More boxes, more gadgets to test
I got back to Paris late last week from my trip to Seattle, and found myself amidst even more boxes – despite the fact that the movers had finished arriving weeks ago. Now granted, one of the boxes I had … Read More Here
Paris Blog: House Hunters International–Part I
Amidst the craziness of gutting out and fixing up our house, Ray and I both transited across the Atlantic twice to play what we self titled “House Hunters International”. Granted we weren’t actually on the hit reality show, but we … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 28th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Polar Look Keo Power System–Pedal Based Power Meter–In-Depth Review
The Polar Look Keo Power System is the first pedal based power meter to make it to market, meaning, you can actually go out and buy one. Announced nearly two years ago, the units finally started trickling out into the … Read More Here
How and why I mount cycling gadget devices on my aerobars
I’ve always gotten questions as to why I mount various gadget devices on my aerobars, primarily from the belief that in doing so, I’d be blocking my ability to use my aerobars. So, I figured I’d take a moment to … Read More Here
A weekend in Seattle playing with the Garmin Fenix and other gadgets
Important Note: I’ve published a full-scale Garmin Fenix In-Depth review (13,000 words!) over here at this link. The below were initial thoughts on beta hardware with highly beta firmware. Specific hardware changes were made since then to address some altitude … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 22nd, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Watching the Tour de France on TV…in France…in French.
Over the past week a lot of things got installed/hooked up/working in our little Paris apartment. Potentially one of the most important being our TV. Well, sorta. One of our TV’s works 100%, and the other one works about every … Read More Here
Not a happy ending: Losing a crank mid-ride
Generally speaking, in cycling, there’s no good reason for bike grease to ever end up on your left leg. The right leg, sure, it can brush the chain, chainrings, or any other number of parts related to the chain’s operation … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Putting the house on the market
There was a bit of delay since our last Paris post and this is primarily due to for how busy life has become. Moving houses can be a bit of a production, but downsizing from a full American townhouse house … Read More Here
A hands-on look at the Mio Alpha strapless optical heart rate watch
NOTE: This product has since been released, and I’ve in turn published a full in-depth review of it here. Late last week I got a chance to try out the new Mio Alpha watch, which is a strapless heart rate … Read More Here
Two quick items of note: Looking for a good vertical bike stand, and Motoactv slashes price $100
Before we get onto the new Alpha watch post here in a few hours, I’ve got two quick items worthy of a separate call out. First item of note: First is that I’ve (well, we’ve) decided we need a vertical … Read More Here
Running into a Parade, Cycling in Circles, and Crushing Cardboard
Finally, a full and complete weekend at home, in Paris. But boy, was it busy! Everything from runs to bikes to lots of unpacking. Unpacking of pots. Unpacking of bikes. Unpacking of books. Unpacking of trainers (how on earth do … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 14th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Kickstarter sports technology projects I’m backing…and why.
Last night, I had the chance to run with a recently announced Kickstarter watch. Now, I’m going to save my first look thoughts about the Mio Alpha for Tuesday, but based on some of the Twitter traffic after I tweeted … Read More Here
Watching the Tour de France live from 35,000 feet
It seems appropriate that as this post publishes, I’ll be on another airplane somewhere over the Atlantic, probably just north of Newfoundland. But, this post isn’t about tonight’s flight, but rather a short domestic flight I took last weekend on … Read More Here
A weekend bouncing up and down the East Coast (and a look at the new Joule GPS)
While we may have moved to Paris, it certainly doesn’t seem like it yet. In fact, since moving to Paris, I’ve spent more time outside of Paris than in Paris – go figure! We had long since planned to come … Read More Here
The Magellan Switch Up In-Depth Review
Back at CES in January, Magellan announced their entrant into the fitness market – the Switch and Switch Up, two products aimed squarely at triathletes (as well as runners and cyclists). With the products leads of the team moving over … Read More Here
Paris Blog: House Cleaning – 8 Years of Stuff!
(Side Note: Until the separate Paris Blog feed gets all setup in the next few weeks, both posts will be fed into this/current feed. Hang tight, you might just enjoy the content! And, in case you missed it – we’re … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 7th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Tip of the day: How to easily remove bike zip ties without scratching your bike
Perhaps it’s just me, but I find removing bike accessories secured by zip ties to be fraught with ways to scratch up that perfect paint job on your bike. And, given there’s a constant flow of new accessories to secure … Read More Here
2012 Tour de France–A look at the Caravan/Parade
(Note: This post is written by The Girl…aka…my wife.) While the first day of the Tour is exciting in and of itself from a cycling standpoint, we were also both pretty excited about the famed parade that tours a few … Read More Here
2012 Tour de France–Stage 1/Day 2
We left off yesterday in Liege, Belgium, where the prologue stage both started and ended. Today, (err…Sunday), we moved…well…just a few yards down the road. Stage 1 would also start in Liege, but would finish in a town just a … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 2nd, 2012
Ok- so this post is slightly behind a day. You can blame that on the Tour de France. No worries, tons more pictures from Le Tour here in a few hours. In the meantime… The Week in Review is a … Read More Here
