Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $699, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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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 Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘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
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.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Great talk. Have you ever made an attempt to see if any of your comments in previous years have been taken to heart by the development community?
It would be interesting to see just how much your comments are driving change in the industry and getting them out of their bubble and implementing consumer based changes!
Ray,
I watched your presentation and as a whole I loved what you had to say. I was confused by one comment that you made though about the different devices that are available. you said “Let’s be honest, nobody cares about swimming devices, because swimmers don’t wear devices”.
I would have to disagree with that. I am extremely interested in swimming watches and I have been researching all of the available units on the market today. While none of them seem to do exactly what I think they should be capable of, I hope they get there soon.
There are two things that I am looking for in a watch:
1. Incorporating Optical Heart rate targeted for swimming so that I can monitor HR in the water.
2. A watch that would allow me to setup a workout (including drills) to follow on the watch. I have a feature request in with Garmin for the 910XT / Swim to have this added, but I am not holding my breath. You can see my post here link to forums.garmin.com
It was actually in reference to a forum for swimmers with devices. :) Kinda hard to see on the slide deck from that angle.
But, fear not – I love swimming devices, and definitely agree that there’s some huge potential in the pool. The challenge is getting a company to go from half-hearted to all-in. Many of them are half-hearted today.
Like you’ve see with the FR910XT and Swim, there’s this break where they aren’t including areas like workouts (which would make a ton of sense).
The ‘swimmers don’t wear devices’, is a bit of a play on one of the rules of a high end swimmer (which I am not) that says that thou shall never watch a watch.
Thanks!
I see…I couldn’t read the slide.
I used to swim competitively through High school, and after 20 years I am getting back in the pool to trim down the belly and get into a shape other than round. After two months of self motivated training 4 days a week averaging 2 miles a day…I am down two pant sizes and about 10 lbs. It would have been really interesting to be able to track my progress from day 1 and watch my weight and body fat decrease, and see my speed increase.
Being an IT manager/gadget geek, I love seeing all of the new gadgets that are out now, I would just love to see more focus on swimming. I have put forth comments now to Garmin and Finis to gauge where they stand on adding new features, but like I said….I’m not holding my breath.
It’s frustrating when they are sooooo close, yet so far away!
I would be interested to hear your opinion on my suggestion to Garmin. It makes perfect sense to me, and I think it would make it a real stand out feature for lap swimmers.
Any insight from Garmin on their data retention and DR planning? I have nearly 600 activities and Garmin states:
“Garmin does not have a stated time frame for the storage of data in GarminConnect accounts. Recovery process are propriety information and is not available.
For important activity data, individuals are encouraged to back up their own data. Please feel free to contact us for further support.”
To me this is Garmin stating that Garmin Connect is a dangerous place to store your data. They might delete it and won’t tell you if they have backups or anything in place to protect you. No bulk export options exist in GC so Garmin’s advice on backing up important data is the same as saying to manually export every record individually.
Ray,
with the Alpha watch, how tight do you have to crank it down on your wrist? I ask b/c over longer runs, with swelling, I wonder how uncomfortable it can get. I know for IM distance events, by the run, I’m usually loosening my watch strap so my hand can get blood. But if it starts tight, I worry about ones ability to have the watch work, but also not have it being uncomfortably tight.
Thanks.
Developers of products should be visiting, reading and listening to what users are saying and requesting on forums and social media. If they answer questions on the forums then that might reduce support calls. I always search forums because it is unlikely I will be the first person who encounters a problem.
I would also like to see firmware updates come out at regular intervals and maybe even introduce new features from time-to-time. It appears the Garmin devices have a long life span before a new products replaces it so why not add a few requested features.
As a fellow competitor and spectator, age group sponsorship means so much more to me than seeing professionals wearing products. I just love Ray’s video of the final minutes of the Iron Man. These are the people I admire most on the course. They usually work, train and have families.
I’ve just watched the presentation, really interesting.
I was surprised to hear at the start how few of the people who visit the blog come via readers. They’re great and I can’t believe everyone isn’t using them!
Hi Ray,
Great talk. It was all so true!
Have you by accident specifically spoken with the people of Garmin about their lack of support on their own forums?
By the way, which Twitter application is it that you use?
Yeah, we had a very long (and productive) conversation about the lack of support in their forums. In short, while there’s a Garmin Support person in there doing an awesome job, he’s really only part of the solution. They need more people, and they need different people (people from the product groups), otherwise all that features/functionality feedback is lost.
Oh, and the Twitter app is one on Windows 8 – TweetPro.
Thanks, Ray!
FYI…the CycleOps Joule GPS supports multiple user profiles, so it can be shared amongst family members.