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 what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter and Facebook, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!
So with that, let’s get into the action!
DCRainmaker.com posts in the past week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week.
Sunday: Week in Review–May 1st, 2016
Monday: 5 Random Things From A Weekend in Venice
Wednesday: Hands-on with the new Garmin Vivomove watch
Suunto & Garmin Sales (Garmin Ends Today):
Just a reminder that the Garmin sale that started a few weeks ago is ending today (end of Saturday), deals there are:
Garmin Vivofit – $49 (was $79) – Review here
Garmin Vivofit with HRM strap – $79 (was $109) – Review here
Garmin Vivofit2 – $69 (was $99) – Hands-on here
Garmin Vivofit2 with HRM strap – $99 (was $129) – Hands-on here
Garmin Vivosmart HR – $129 (was $149) – Review here
Garmin Vivoactive – $169 (was $249) – Review here
Garmin Vivoactive with HRM strap – $199 (was $299) – Review here
Garmin Forerunner 15 GPS watch – $99 (was $119) – Review here
Garmin Forerunner 15 GPS watch with HRM strap – $129 (was $149) – Review here
In addition, Suunto has just kicked off a sale as well on the Ambit 3 series (in-depth review here):
Suunto Ambit3 Run: $199 w/o HR strap, $249 w/strap ($50 off)
Suunto Ambit3 Sport: $254 w/o HR strap, $304 w/strap ($75 off)
Suunto Ambit3 Sport Sapphire: $354 w/o HR strap, $404 w/strap ($75 off)
Suunto Ambit3 Peak: $299 w/o HR strap, $349 w/HR strap ($100 off)
Suunto Ambit3 Peak Sapphire: $399 w/o HR strap, $445 w/HR strap ($100 off)
Here’s a link to all the Suunto watches on sale. Note that each model also has various color options too.
The Suunto sale runs until June 19th, 2016. All the above qualify for free US shipping via Clever Training.
My YouTube Uploads of Note This Week:
Here’s the new videos that I uploaded the Tube of You this past week! Definitely swing over to the channel to subscribe, or hit up that like button.
DCR Podcast!
Here’s a handful of the topics discussed in this past week’s podcast:
– Thoughts on sleep trackers (such as Emfit & Withings Aura)
– The Withings acquisition by Nokia
– Livestreaming video from action cams to the world
– Kickstarter optical HR sensor projects (and overachieving)
– Chicken or the egg: Upcoming baby or leaving full time job
– And much more!
Listen to the full podcast here on the Podcast player, or just download it directly here.
Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet:
1) A deeper dive into how UCI looks for hidden motors: While my video from Paris-Roubaix shows the basic process employed at a race, this pieces dives into the technology more.
2) Ironman announces hidden motor testing: And it sounds like Ironman 70.3 St. George will be the first up, starting today. I personally wish they wouldn’t have announced ahead of time, and simply scanned bikes in transition after the bike segment. That’s what’s kinda great about triathlon: There are no bike swaps, and everyone’s bike sits in a secure area that’s easily accessible to race officials (with plenty of time to scan).
3) GoPro Karma Drone delayed till end of year: That hurts a lot. No two ways about it, missing the summer season is huge. Especially because aside from snow-sports, the vast majority of consumers will use and *show-off* a drone like this best in summer weather. Hopefully the delay is worth the wait in added features, stability, or…ice cream sandwiches.
4) What to call openwater swim temperatures: A handy guide from our Scottish friends.
5) Polar rolls out running programs: These new running training plans cover an assortment of running race distances, and auto-populate your calendar with specified workouts for the race goal you’re trying to hit.
6) The 85-year-old running legend: You know, just a 1hr 50min half-marathon…again…at 85yo.
7) Paralympic Swimmer Disqualified for Olympic Rings Tattoo: I’d agree with Neal, this is stupid. Especially given it’s both a new rule, as well as one not previously enforced even when the rule was there.
Sports Technology Software/Firmware Updates This Week:
Each week I quickly highlight some of the new firmware, app, software and website service updates that I see go out. If you’re a sports technology company and release an update – shoot me a quick note (just one liners is perfect, or Tweet it at me is even better) and I’ll make mention of it here. If I don’t know about it, I won’t be able to post about it. Sound good? Oh – and if you want to get a head start on things, this page is a great resource for watching Garmin firmware updates.
Wahoo ELEMNT firmware update: A bunch of updates, most heavily focused on mapping related items. Note: be sure to update your phone app as well.
Polar A300 Firmware Update: Adds Polar Balance scale compatibility, smartphone notifications.
Polar M450 Firmware Update: Addresses Strava paused time issues.
Fenix3/Fenix3 HR/Tactix Brava/Quatix 3 Firmware Update: Massive pile of new features that were previously beta features, now available in production firmware version.
Garmin FR230/235 Firmware Update: Connect IQ updates, ability to manually add sensor, battery improvements for Alaskans and Norwegians.
Garmin FR630 Firmware Update: Same as FR230/235, plus WiFi improvements.
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Thanks for reading all, have a great weekend!
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“Suunto Ambit3 Peak Sapphire: $399 w/o HR strap, $445 w/HR strap ($100 off)”
Seems like the peak sapphire is listed for $600 on clevertraining.
You need to click on the item to reveal the “real” price.
Polar’s programme reminds me a little of firstbeats old athlete in nature, I’ve loaded one up for a half marathon in October, run durations are appropriate to the distances I’m already covering for this months Belgium 20k. My only concern could be the pace of intervals against what I already do, as I do end up in hr zone 5 and clicking on a dozen or so future workouts I’ve not yet seen a scheduled zone 5 entry
How does of can a firmware update improve the battery life in subzero temeratures?
Probably they reprogram less current draw by decreasing sampling intervals. For altimeter every 3second instead of 3x per second. And that for more sensors. At low temperatures batteries can handle constant low current draw but not high current peaks. A bit like starting your car in winter.
Enjoyed the video… I happened to be knee deep in a loch earlier this week and it was definitely COLD. Followed by BTTIGO… Spring has only just arrived in Scotland, certainly not summer!
Any thoughts to whether this Suunto deal is a random promotion – or whether it’s making way for a new Ambit? (I know, I know the Vertical aka Ambit 3.5 was just released.. But one can dream)
Yet again the Suunto firmware updates are missed – almost as reliably as the Garmin ones are never missed.
Its because there’s an RSS feed for both Polar and Garmin updates, making it simple to double-check . No such feed exists for Suunto.
If you know such a feed, then feel free to be helpful.
Ben didn’t play my full question on the podcast! You missed all my hard work off the end… one of your previous podcast replies, with a little editing, fitted the question perfectly but you stopped it too soon! 🙁
Anyway – here it is:
link to drive.google.com
Hi Ray,
I thought I would let you know (as you were an early proponent of the Mio/Magellan Cyclo 505) they have updated the software for the Mio to include Live Strava segments.
V4.4 improvement list 2016-05-03 07:48:24
– Support Strava Live Segments;
– Support Benelux “knooppunten” (Node Network) under Routing settings;
– Support Shimano Di2 remote control for switching Dashboard pages and start/stop recording;
– Support “Ferries” option under Routing settings;
– Fine-tuned map colour scheme to improve visibility when navigating tracks in the forest or woods;
– Added ability to disable “Movement detected. Start recording?” reminder under System – Alerts setting;
– Fixed time zone issue when 1st time device boot;
– Dashboard Info 1 page now is configurable;
– Added 2 extra info fields to Dashboard screens – Info 3 and 4;
– Support of GPX file including multiple tags;
– Update crankset and cassette values for Shimano XTR M9050 Di2;
– Fix minus values in History – Totals and unrealistic value issue in History – Summary;
– Fix “no average speed or distance in history page” issue for indoor training;
– Change Trainer name “Elite” to “Elite Qubo Digital”;
– Settings menu restructure – system related settings integrated into System settings;
Well I guess Ironman is scared as hell to find a big part of their pro athletes being mechanically doped. Oh, and , I got some strange heartrate monitoring (192 bpm while rather easy cruising) while biking after the firmware update on my fenix 3. I was so shocked I fell of my bike -Well, partly due to that.. Too bad I live in europe.
I suspect the numbers are fairly low in the pro ranks, but, I’d also agree that there’s probably a few floaters. And, I’d agree that there’s certainly more than enough rumors to quantify as smoke* in terms of IM covering for various pro athlete doping suspicions. And that’s ignoring the whole Lance thing.
(*The whole where there’s smoke, there’s fire.)
But I still wish they hadn’t announced it, but just started doing it.
Completely agree with you, would have been a lot of fun I guess. I think they announced it so everybody using it so far can still put them off off their bikes -leaving the Ironman-brand virgin-like (in contrary to the pro bike sports where there’s much more smoke than in an indian resort communicating with smoke signals).
got something wrong here- May you delete the shitty picture there?(just saw the Gravatar link) Sorry for that.
-M
No prob!
Are you not doing the crowd-funded projects of athletic note section anymore, or has there just not been something interesting enough to make (athletic) note of?
I add it in when I see things of note. I think I’ve slowly raised the bar on what makes the list, so there’s definitely a lot less. Plus, a lot less sport technology stuff as of late.
For example, there’s tons of random Kickstarter projects for activity trackers. Unless they’re doing something really cool (like making you fly), I’m kinda glossing over them, as it’s just more of the same.
I have the Fenix3HR but still on version 3.0. Is there supposed to be a new update to include the 7.0 updates?
3.0 should be the latest for the F3HR, which should include all the 7.0 non-HR features. Just different numbering scheme: link to www8.garmin.com