Heads up!!! Here’s your massive Cyber Monday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $619, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
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Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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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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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Do you have a privacy policy posted?
- Why haven’t you yet released a review for XYZ product you mentioned months ago?
- Will you test our product before release?
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- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
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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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
There is really beautiful.
Love to read the Paris stories, while I have never been in Paris I can imagine how it would be (since I have been in other larger French cities). The Longchamps circle is a really nice thing, everybody (probably mostly) going in the same direction. Perfect for a sunday blasting.
The fun-fact is that most shoplifters and other criminals are not the brightest ones (good), a chase in France always makes me think of the movie Ronin. I like the tiny streets of old cities, which should make a perfect get away area. I was once stopped (well nearly) for not having the right lamp on my Fully-MTB (yes it was not white enough it was yellow-ish). Secondly it was not even close to dark, according to my GPS sunset was in 15 minutes. The officer was not friendly at all and unfortunately for him, he turned around to get to his bike. I took this moment to see if his stamina and city-street knowlegde would be as good as mine. I lost him in 700 meters or so. I would normally never do such thing but in Holland an MTB with light is already a rare sight, and then trying to fine someone because it is yellow instead of white (well old LEDs where yellow). And this unreasonable officer probably already had a bad day and I made I worse.
Why you didn’t try to help the police by running after?i’m sure you would have catch him in seconds.
Had he actually clipped The Girl, I’m sure I would have. Well, correction, I’m sure The Girl would have first – and I’m reasonably sure she would have completely flattened him. He would have been definitely better off that the cops had him before The Girl.
I have never laughed so much from reading one of your posts! Priceless stuff.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen photos of a high speed bike chase before—or of that many nuns out and about! :)
Sarah
http://www.thinfluenced.com
Hi Ray,
Just to let you know : barriers around Longchamp are there to allow car to access some sort of temporary car park during French open. there should be removed now that French open ended yesterday.
Ahh, that does indeed make sense. Also interesting to note that all the French Open cars (the special ones to move officials/players/etc… around) were parked inside Longchamp as well on the grass.
The Parisian police are trained in tactical miming. It would not be unusual for them to mime that they were armed, causing the young men to surrender.
Les flics may have also fooled you by miming that they were slow, when in fact they were deceptively fleet afoot.
And if you had followed les cinq-zero after the arrest, you probably would have found the thugs detained in a very convincing “invisible box.”
Hi Ray,
does the Leikr watch have two “active screens” (one with the actual data and the second with the lap data?
Thank you, Miroslav
Not at present, but, that may well change.
I hope you take the Leikr swimming. If they have failed to give this watch waterproofing on a par with 910xt, Timex Run trainer 2.0 and other new Garmins like FR 620 then they have seriously messed up a great opportunity to get a great product out there.
No, it’s not swim-friendly (the Leikr). They missed their waterproofing goal. At this point I’m not seeing the device panning out as desired.
Any further plans for an in-depth review of the Leikr? I’ve just got my hands on one myself, and wondering how my thoughts compare to yours.
No plans at this point. The reason is that for a $399 unit, it’s just far too under-featured. It barely rivals (and even then, struggles to) watches 1/4th its price.
Therefor, given that there’s no way I’d recommend it to anyone at this point (perhaps that’ll change in the future), and given I’ve got so many other reviews in the queue, I’m passing for now.