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!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
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!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
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?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
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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.
“Despite being the land of cheese, neither Nacho cheese, nor even good cheddar cheese is easily found in France.”
Philistine.
I was wondering if you would stay up and watch the game. How ’bout them Hawks! So, so sweet.
Interesting…
Photos out when shopping, iOS source
Photos out when running, all with the Garmin VIRB.
Obviously you and I agree, the VIRB is a great little action camera. The new Edit software making it better and better.
It does work really well. About the only item on the VIRB from a photo point that doesn’t seem to work well is taking photos of watches while running. So I’ve gotta figure out something a bit different there.
The timezone worked perfectly for Australia, expect I really had no idea what was going on (NRL, rugby league, is what I understand). But what a spectacle.
I saw you bought some mozzarella, and I want to share with you the best place to buy it in paris.
This: link to parisbymouth.com
They are true italians, taking mozzarella from Cisternino (link to en.wikipedia.org ) a little village in Puglia famous for their awesome mozzarella.
I m italian (for the records) and I tried it and I definitely endorse it! so if you ever need mozzarella again, give it a try!
You won’t be disappointed
Nice, not too far away. We’ll definitely check it out.
I think you have to call it the supergame. Due to copyright issues.
Just to say congrats on your team results at the superbowl… For sure I can´t understand how a game played mostly with the hands can be called football, but you guys can be kind of strange on some things :)
Wing recipe, please.
Second.
Jealous about the chocolate bread!
Sounds like way more fun then my bike crash saturday and spending a few hours in the ER. With a destroyed helmet that makes me wonder, if this HR helmet gets broken from a crash do you need a fully new helmet or can the electronics transfer over making it slightly cheaper to by a helmet with no electronics in it?
Yes, I am kind of confused by the whole concept. If you bang your helmet, your supposed to replace it, but you might be tempted not to if it’s your heart rate monitor. Also what about if you want to try a different style helmet. And there are so many times you would want a heart rate reading without the need for a helmet (just outdoor riding or rollerblading – most other sports use different helmets) – I’m sure Ray felt silly wearing a hemet on his trainer. It would seem that it would make much more sense to have a monitor that could be mounted in any helmet or used by itself without a helmet. Not sure how that would work, but it’s kind of like the footpad in shoes – almost everyone is using the lace mounts now rather than buying specially made shoes with a footpad pocket.
Sorry, my spell checker kept changing foot pod to footpad.
I’ll find out about swapping it to a new unit. In looking at things, it certainly looks very swappable. Though, the back pod seems sorta glued in. But it may just be the way it’s locked on. In any case, I’ll ask.
As for HR in helmets, there’s a lot of people who don’t like wearing a HR strap (especially women). Some of that may be solved with optical wrist bands, but putting it straight into a helmet makes sense as well Ultimately, I’ve long since learned there’s a pretty big market out there in general, and I’m always surprised at volume numbers I hear when you start talking devices and what people sell.
I’m not really disagreeing with the concept of a HRM in a helmet, just one that is permanently mounted there. The ability to just grab your helmet and know you are good to go is kind of appealing. I think it would just be much more useful (i.e. sell a lot more) if you could use it in any helmet (bike or otherwise) or even in something like a sweatband for indoor use. Looks like the technology works very well.
I have to say, the first thing I thought was what sort of hole will the sensor make when someone smacks their forehead off the road… personally I’d rather have a nice soft bit of polystyrene there!
Does it work with a hat underneath? I’m guessing not, which means no cold weather riding with it. Still, if it came in a mountain bike version with a visor and, better yet, in blaze orange (it’s almost always some hunting season in Pennsylvania), I might get one.
I posted this on your unboxing post, but it seems more relevant here:
Just a comment about transplanting the guts of the helmet into a different helmet. I did just that last night, and had no issues at all. The sensor part and padding is simply velcro’ed to the helmet, and therefore can easily be removed. The brains of the unit is double-taped to the helmet. With a bit of dental floss to cut through the tape and some patience, it can be detached from the helmet with no damage. I reattached everything to my Giro Aeon helmet and the whole setup is much more comfortable than the Lazer helmet (maybe just my preference). The Giro Helmet would need to be cut for the brains to fit nicely, but this is probably not a good idea to start hacking up a bike helmet.
Glad you sent a shoutout to Seattle. With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training in the next week, I’m sure Robbie Cano is the talk of the town today.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!
Nice post Ray. Congrats to the Hawks and you. Dominant game there!
If you end up looking for a new bottle pack, check out the Orange Mud HydroQuivers. They have a one and two bottle version with a full pack behind it plus numerous storage pockets. It sits very high on the shoulders and does not use a chest or waist strap that makes it very comfortable.
link to orangemud.com
Thanks for the referral Tommy! Josh from Orange Mud here. Our focus is making hydration simple. Just throw in a bottle and go, plus you have access to your nutrition and phone/ipod on the fly with convenient shoulder pockets. For people looking at this comment, use code: DCRAIN at checkout for 10% off till 3/15/14. Tks! Josh
Please tell me your HR wasn’t really 118 straight after finishing a Z2 2.15 hour run!?
I did similar, Z2 for 150 minutes and was practically dead (then again it was my first time at the distance…) but my HR was averaging somewhat higher!!!
Generally speaking it takes about 30-45 seconds for my HR to recover from Z2 down to that. Sorry! ;)
That’s just not fair…. then again I guess you’ve been training for a bit longer than I!
17.46 vs 17.59 is like 99.2-99.3%, if you mean accuracy as the ratio of the two distance.
Dear Ray,
I’m a Norwegian two-time Olympic runner (13.06 5k back in ’04) as well as an MD. I have been following your blog for a while and want you to know that I’ve added it to a list of the Top 100 Running Blogs for 2014 (even if you have a combo swin/bike/run blog) !
You are there, and deservedly so, in spot # 22 :
My blog is quite new, but I try to share quality, inspirational posts with my readers. Here’s one of my latest posts for you to check out:
If you like it, please feel free to share with your readers. ;)
Keep up the wonderful work. If you ever want to get in touch to discuss running, do not hesitate to do so.
Kind regards,
Marius Bakken, MD
So you get to run around Paris and then eat amazing French food. I kind of hate you right now. (But that obviously won’t stop me from using your reviews!)
It’s a hard life…but someone has to do it. :)