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, Facebook, and Google Plus, 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 this past week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week.
Sunday: Week in Review–January 19th, 2014
Monday: Running to the Château with new gadgets and muscle oxygen monitoring
Tuesday: Stages, Wahoo sponsor Team Sky, CycleOps sponsors Trek Pro team, and Team Lampre on ROTOR Power, Movistar on Power2Max
Wednesday: A short behind the scenes visit to Suunto and Omegawave
Thursday: Adidas Bluetooth Smart miCoach (Mini) Footpod In-Depth Review
Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
1) The Triathlon Spectators Training Program: Got a friend or family member that needs a bit of triathlon-fan training or first race being-a-fan advice? Start here.
2) Pepper-sprayed cyclist nightmare continues: Seriously, this story is still going. Sanity has not yet prevailed.
3) 102-Year-Old Cyclist to Break Hour Record: And the best part is, he’ll do it a few miles (err…kilometers) away from me here in Paris next weekend. Maybe I’ll wander over.
4) A Boeing 777 model (that moves) made entirely out of manila folders: Yes, it’s random, but given how much time I spend on said aircraft type, I thought it was cool (and that’s the only criteria for these posts). Definitely worth checking out (especially the cargo door). (via My Dad)
5) Great aerial footage of Bonzai pipeline surfing: I’ve gotta get me one of these DJI units for all my action camera testing…
6) Stages Power Meter Factory Tour: A good 10-minute long video behind the scenes at Stages Cycling. A fair number of little changes since I was there a year ago checking things out ahead of their launch. (via Carlos)
7) Runner gets shot on run, keeps running, doesn’t realize it till they get home: Interesting story. Though, the details are a bit scarce. (via Sport Tracks blog)
8) Chris Froome suffers with sunburn in Team Sky’s mesh jersey: Well then, that’s awkward. (via Sport Tech News)
9) Rev3 introduces new draft-legal sprint tri: I’m really excited about this. And wish I was stateside to be able to participate. I think this direction is great and am glad to see it going more mainstream (aside from elite pros).
10) Steve in a Speedo’s Israman Race Report: A good (and funny) read as always from Steve. Wish I could have joined them, but my schedule was just too busy.
11) Tricks of the trade: A neat little walk-through by a Team Garmin-Sharp mechanic on washing bikes.
Crowd Funded Projects of Athletic Note:
This is a bit of a new section. Most of this content used to be found within the main section, but I figured I’d just call it out up here and make it easy to find. I regularly sift through Kickstarter and Indiegogo (plus a few others on occasion) looking for sports projects. Note that as always with crowd funded projects, assume the project will be late and will under-deliver on features. Thus far, on the numerous products I’ve helped ‘fund’ (except a leather bike handle), that’s been the case.
(Nothing of sports related note this week)
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?
Site/Firmware Updates:
SportTracks Mobi adds Garmin Running Dynamics support: SportTracks has become the first major app that I’m aware of to add support for viewing Garmin FR620 running dynamics. Sweet stuff. Coming to the desktop version in the next release. (Update: Garmin Viewer Pro also does Running Dynamics)
Leikr: A bunch of GPS-focused updates including better accuracy, smoother tacking, and more accurate location data.
FitBit Connect updated (desktop uploader): Adds support for additional locales, minor bug fixes.
Adidas adds support for exporting out files: Really cool to see Adidas start off with offering GPX support so you can export out the Adidas Smart Run GPS. More to come from them in that department…
Sony PlayMemories (action cam software): This includes a bunch of the updates I talked about at CES, including the multi-cam support. Been playing with it a bit this weekend, neat stuff!
MyBasis rolls out advanced sleep tracking: They previewed this at CES, great to see it hit production ahead of their February estimates.
iPhone Apps:
iPad Apps:
Android Apps:
Windows Phone Apps:
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Thanks for reading! Oh…and hang tight, it’s gonna get busy around here over the next week….
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Hi. about sporttrack.mobi being first major app to support running dynamics… Connectstats supported it before the 620 release date… But agreed it’s not a major app :):)
Pleased to see the SportTracks upgrade. Great piece of software.
The Leikr upgrade looks like a real improvement; the track still wobbles a bit, but the overall distance is within 1% of a Garmin on the same run, rather than 3-5% longer. Still has other issues for them to sort out, though.
I used my Leikr for the first time on Sunday, with my Garmin 610 on my other wrist for comparison. 12.70km on the 610, 12.94km on the Leikr, so 1.9% over-reading, and the graph for pace was super spiky compared to nice and smooth for the Garmin.
Great maps, but certainly not a race watch as the pace was also incorrect due to the distance.
Hi Ray,
Thanks, as always, for the great coverage.
Couple of things to note:
1. The Boeing model is insanely cool!
2. I have a Blade 350 QX with Contour HD camera that Ouse for similar filming in your surfing link. My friend has the DJI. We use them both to film paintball events. Personally, I’d take the Blade any day over the DJI. Better customer support from Horizon Hobby and I feel easier to fly. Shop carefully.
3. I’ve started my own blog. Check it out.
http://beatingbacktime.blogspot.com
Take care,
Don
Hi,
I would say it the other way round. I have the DJI Phantom 2 with the Zenmuse gimbal and the Gopro Hero 3+ camera. I think for 1000€ there is nothing that can beat this combo. You have an extremly well stabalized platform, you can use even in windy conditions. And with the Phantom 2 you get a fligthttime of round about 20 to 25 minutes! The only minor disadvantage I could think of is, that the Zenmuse is only compatible with the Gopro Hero 3 camera. But you could of course buy another gimbal if you would like to use another camera.
But I think with both copters you can really have a lot of fun.
Cheers from Bavaria
Yeah, I’ve looked at a few options for DJI gimballs if I were to go that way. One that’s as universal as possible on the action cam mount (I can convert from GoPro mount to anything) is key. But if the bracket is hard-set for a specific camera (versus the mount attach point), that’s tougher.
Falconeye – I completely agree with you.
My friend has the Phantom 1. That vs. Blade, I’ll take Blade.
I haven’t seen, nor wanted to spend that much on a Phantom 2 and gimbal. Glad it works great. Put some links up.
Don
Here is a nice example: link to vimeo.com
Falconeye – thanks for sharing!
That is amazingly stable!
How well does the live video feed to “see” where you are going work?
Don
Hello Don,
Just to clarify. This is no video I did (unfortunately), but it is from the region where I live and the equipment is the same as mine. It is only a example what is possible. I have my gimbal since one week, but because of the bad weather I was more or less only able to fly indoor:-(
Since I have no FPV equipment till now, I can not answer your question. But I think it is not really necessary to make a good video. Of course it can help you to see what you are filming especially when you have to tilt the camera during your flight or want to film something which is far away.
Ralf
based on the number of ER visits for guns that ‘just fire’ and are probably gang related, I’m thinking the runner is just more creative.
You can of course find an gimbal for the Phantom which you can mount different action cams on. But you will never get that quality of stabilization as with the DJI Zenmuse. This gimbal is developed specially for the Hero 3. You can’t even use the Hero 2 because it weights a few gramms more and this is enough to unbalance the whole system! So if you want to make really high quality aerial films, I think there is no better option at the moment. (Speaking of the 1000 € class. With 5000€ you can bring a DSLR in the air)
But believe me, with a little bit of experience you can really make breathtaking videos.
Now I go out and try to catch some good shootings of the fresh snow.
Cherio
While SportTracks.mobi i.m.o. still misses some features, they are getting there quite nicely. Their interaction with their stakeholders are profound and really enjoyable. The only thing I’m missing is a direct link from Polar devices to the ST platform, though probably such a link will never become realized.
Koen –
As Ray mentioned in his review of the Polar Loop (link to dcrainmaker.com):
“Polar says that an API is in the works, and that it should be available as early as the end of the month for Polar Loop data.”
This is somewhat promising that we may also have an API for sport sensor data. That would enable a smoother import of Polar data (perhaps even “automatic”).
On the other hand, the history of Polar with respect to software is frankly terrible. There have been some extremely novice mistakes done in the past. On example: writing a file that has a distance in kilometers or miles depending on the country it was created in, with no indication of which units it is while reading the file. Another: creating a file with an XML extension that doesn’t actually meet the XML standard (and so every standard tool to read it fails). I could go on.
The evolution of the website is hopeful; that they have brought some technical software talent into the company, or at least are working with a partner that has some tech skills. Making a pretty website vs. a bulletproof API are very different challenges.
We wait, hopeful, and eager to partner with any new API to really unlock their customers fitness data in new ways.
Thanks for the nice words re: sporttracks.mobi. We’re a small self-funded company, but we work tirelessly to make great tools for endurance athletes.
That’s exactly what I ment Aaron. That personal touch is what made me choose for ST.mobi. On the note on Polar: I didn’t knew that they are busy creating a (better) API. Though it’s great to hear, especially as I’m reading some frustrating about the ANT connecting on some Garmin devices (was something mentioned recently mentioned by several user of a Dutch forum). So for now I’m sticking with Polar, perhaps in the future I wil go into another direction. Anyway, thumps up for the ST.mobi platform!
Thanks for the link to the trisupporter site, triwivesclub. Had no idea this existed. I also didn’t know I needed to workout to cheer for my triathlete. Very funny….
A bunch of athletic kickstarters, but none seem all that interesting to me 🙁
For those who like to track things:
link to kickstarter.com
wool running shoes: (although do like the idea of using wool, seems like it would be hard for this shoe to be a well supporting running shoe)
link to kickstarter.com
forces you to exercise in order to unlock your tv or computer:
link to kickstarter.com
make your gloves work with touch screens like cell phones: (although guessing using a metalic thread may work better)
link to kickstarter.com
Ray – one for your site devs maybe, but when viewing on iPad (portrait or landscape) the embedded videos are often overlapped by ads on the left hand side. Not a huge issue always but sometimes means the expand to full screen button is covered, so makes video semi unwatchable.
Please don’t take this as a moan, just a bit of feedback, as you can normally click through rather than watch embedded anyway.
Cheers.
I meant right hand side, sorry.
Garmin FR 220/620 got a firmware update on the 23rd. Change history says GPS/Footpod problem has been solved and that wrist acceleromter pace/distance has been improved.
Looking forward to putting the footpod back on!