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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!
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?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
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- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
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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.
Love the Duck
Bike cleaning in the bathtub, what a great idea. Saving…. done.
your wife is a saint letting you put your bike in the bath
Well that was a muddy bike ride ;-) Do you have the link for that bike route?
Yup, here’s the original Strava route I mirrored: link to strava.com
And here’s the ‘Course’ on Garmin Connect: link to connect.garmin.com
The differences are:
A) Original route included an extra 20ish mile loop once you got to Fontainebleu (I skipped it in my course)
B) At the very beginning for the first mile or so I use a slightly more efficient routing for cyclists simply because I know the roads pretty well here
C) Otherwise they should match.
Thanks! A bit of a spin but it seems to be worth it…on a nice day ;-)
Whoops, that appears to be the very same route I created and did with some cycling friends from the Paris Cycling Group on the weekend you mentioned! I created the route using the ‘popularity’ feature on the Strava route-planner. I was also taken by surprise by the downhill cobble sections (also wet when we did it!) and have no idea why that particular section was popular (perhaps mountain bikers?).
And, yes, we had punctures also but not where you did! Feel free to join us on one of our regular sorties, if you are not too put off by the Fontainebleau trip (created as an alternative to the usual Chevreuse outings)
Haha…hi Anthony!
No worries on the route, it made for an interesting adventure. Oddly enough I likely would have joined you guys on that morning had my flight not landed at the same time, would have been fun.
I think your bike looks grateful for the shower!
Great idea, a shower for your bike.
What’s your standard flat kit? I’m wondering if you carry a bunch of patches and deal with that mess, or a couple of tubes.
I just have a spare tube and CO2 cartridges. For a ride like this two tubes clearly would have been better. Never really been into the patch mess – easier just go swap tubes. If it’s not pouring sideways with sand I can usually knock out a spare tire change very quickly.
My better half would kill me if I had a bike in the shower!
beat me to that one!
My better half was the first one to put her bike in the shower, in our couple :-)
Don’t you hate it when you can’t tell if the young’ins are high school or college!
Onward noble steed!
Oh, the stories that bike could tell…..
Eiffel clone:
link to english.cntv.cn
The horse stuff was the Global Champions Tour’s Paris stop. Link here: link to globalchampionstour.com
Hi Ray,
Quick question. What kind of rear bottle mount system do you use?
Love the dirt ride in the tri-bike by the way.
Thanks!
I’ve got a Beaker Concepts Hydrotail on there. Been using it for years, love it.
Eventful weekend. And good on you for going out in that weather… Now I feel like a bum for spending the past four days stuffing my face with food and beer without a single run/ride/swim.
So I got a new balance runner gps watch at Olympia here in Boston for $23 (they had a bunch). Catch is it comes with the two prong charging only cable. Figure I’ll get a four prong cable and try it out. It’s a backup to my iPhone cycling system so not too shabby.
On a related note, does anyone know if it’s possible to merge, say, a gps file from a watch with speed, cadence and heart rate collected on a phone?
It’s tricky merging files, only because of formatting. Sites like Training Peaks can actually overlay files from two sources – assuming that it’s compatible with TP.
I use repairfitfile to merge data from different sources before uploading to Endomondo
An example link to endomondo.com
– GPS track logged every 5s with Garmin GPSmap 60scx in SaferSwimmer float
– Cadence from Garmin 910XT (Even with 5s logging the GPSmap has 10 times as many breadcrombs as the 910)
– Heartrate from mio link logget with Garmin Vivofit (since the 910 won’t log heartrate in swim mode)
Great bike cleaning bay. Thanks for the inspiration
I really love your site: Some posts useful, all very entertaining. All written in a fresh, positive, humorous, honest and very personal style. I am sure maintaining such a site is a huge effort! Despite the high amount of visitors I assume money-wise it never pays out. So it’s a lot of idealism you put into that. Thanks for that! Cheers from Zurich.
Looks like you are pretty high on Chewbacca scale there Ray. Perhaps you too could benefit from this one… link to youtube.com
Haha, yeah, saw that one. Nah, never really been into the whole shaved cyclist thing.
yeah me neither, but I may give it a try this year. Wife is not too happy about it though.
You’re being a bit drastic there Ray, no need for a whole shave :P
I just trim when I feel like it, then again, the only way I can average 40+ kph for an hour is a neat paceline or a looooong incline :)
Ha – so glad someone else uses the bath tub and shower to clean their bike!
A bike in the shower – the horror!!! Shhhh… we won’t tell. I hope you cleaned the shower before your wife came home.
Testing the Rotor power meter ? When is the review expected?
Belgian* beer, like u say French beer instead of France Beer.
Forgot to mention who won the soccer match, mh? HARR
Seriously Ray, are you not afraid of the Style police, rocking silver brake shoes on black calipers and black wheels?
No seriously serious this time, why two of what looks like a speed sensor of the traditional type?
Also very suspicious about head units removed in any picture showing the top tube…
Style Police: Despite the ability of the French to be fashionable in almost all situations, I’ve found they generally fall a bit short in the fitness fashion department. Thus, I have nothing to worry about.
Speed sensors: One is a speed/cadence combo, one a speed-only sensor. The speed-only sensor I use for PM testing, whereas the combo sensor I use for random testing and gets swapped for either the BT or ANT+ variant depending on what specifically I’m testing.
Head units on top tube: Just 2xEdge 810’s. Simply collecting power meter data from the various PM’s on the bike as a backup in case the WASP has issues.
I also noticed that you’re running the Rotor power meter on the bike atm. How’s it performing after the latest firmware update? Do you have a feel for when we may see an in depth review or are you going to pull it into an updated buyers guide?
No worries about the Belgian beer; most beer purchased in the US is made by ABInbev, a Belgian company. So you were just on-trend there!
True. And as ABInbev owns Anheuser-Busch, Ray’s really drinking a Belgian beer everytime he has a Bud – or Natty Lite – anyway!
Hi Ray, when do you plan to publish the Rotor Power in depth review?
I haven’t quite decided on the exact date for the review. I continue to have some issues with it incorrectly reporting wattage on one side. :-/
ray any plans for the tour????
Yup, see today’s post. :)
hey ..its’ so cool