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.
4
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!
5
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.
What do you think about apple watch waiting can’t pull string until get low down from you
Check that link to the $150 swimsuit. It forwarded me to a suspicious looking “malware cleanup” site with endless popups. Had to force quit chrome to get it to stop.
The OneMileAtATime site I linked to, or the suit site after that?
If you click the link, OneMileAtATime, you get the maleware.
Clicked and no malware or popups on my side. @Eric N. Could be the case that you had something going on beforehand on your side of thing.
Weird, never seen any issues on that site/platform (and not getting anything here either). Like Oscar said, I’d double-check your computer as often times that’s an indication of something on ones computer.
I had the same malware experience with the OneMileAtAtime link.
So did I
Hmm, very weird. I’m wondering if some ad network is throwing it. I’ll throw a note that some folks are seeing issue. I’ve never seen anyone comment on his page (very widely read) of any issues, so definitely odd.
The Volvo paint thing looks neat but it only lasts for 7 days and isn’t waterproof. Per the link to volvolifepaint.com site:
“LifePaint washes off, and will not affect the colour or surface of your chosen material, lasting approximately one week after application.”
Hi Ray
thank you very much for Nº4: TIMELINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
your work is our inspiration
THx
Hey Ray
Really looking forward to Surge bike mode. Any idea when the firmware will be released? Their blog doesn’t mention it at all…
Stay awesome :)
-Claus
April is the plan.
Re. multiple device tracking. Any idea how Fitbit and/or Withings handles data if you are tracking on a wearable device and via their app on your phone at the same time?
Any word from Garmin if they are going to start to allow multiple activity trackers?
We chatted about it at CES (informally), and they most definitely are working towards it. They were at the time focused on stabilizing some GC aspects first (this was in the week following some Christmas system pain). It’s honestly probably a bigger concern for Garmin than Fitbit, since Garmin has so many wearables where people would want to go to a band during the day (Vivofit), and then a watch during sport (FR920XT/Fenix3). There was timeline attached to it. But I’ll poke and see if anything is set in jello.
Thanks for reply…love the 920 for most of the day, but it’s just not great looking for anything above casual, and too big to sleep in, so would be nice being able to have options and not lose any data!
This would be great for me. I am wearing diff GARMIN stuff for diff things too.
There’s an annual pancake race between Liberal, KS and Olney, England, with a tradition going back 66 years.
It’s a 415 yd S-shaped course, and participants have to continuously flip pancakes while running.
The women’s only record stands at 55 seconds.
link to kansas.com
The Olney race itself dates back nearly 500 years.
Vivofit now automatically logs your sleep. Not that I find the data interesting as I know I sleep badly but its good they have done this update for an older product.
Having a difficult time deciding between the Fitbit Surge and TomTom Cardio GPS w/HR. Runner at heart and want more data and HR feature less a chest band.
Coming from a nike GPS Sports Watch and know either is a huge upgrade this is why i like these 2 offerings. Been nike since 2010 and have over 1.6M fuel and log between 115 to 135 miles a month. But in USA/PA 5 months are spent on treadmill.
Your comments about Surges HR errors and TomToms treadmill errors both concern me.
Any suggestions/thoughts? Will either company firmware fix these issues soon?
Great info and site.
Thank you!
GMRO
Go with the TomTom. While there are treadmill errors with the TomTom, they aren’t in the same impact-league as the HR errors from the Surge.
Also, supposedly TomTom introduced some treadmill fixes this past winter, but I hear/see mixed results on it.
DCR,
Thank you. Was sort of leaning towards the TomTom.
SO any preference between the Runner Cardio HR and Multi-Sport Cardio HR? Any disadvantage of just getting the runner version? I’m not a swimmer but sometimes do mountain bike. Are there more internal canned workouts etc in the multi-sport that could be useful?
Again, GREAT SITE…I’ll be checking back often. Your testing and info is great! Very detailed and glad my review search came up with your site!!!
GMRO
I’d probably go runner. There aren’t any canned workouts for cycling/etc.. on the unit. And with running you can technically change it to speed anyway. It’s the support of the cadence sensor that you get with the multisport (as well as swimming of course).
Hi Ray, have you ever heard anything from Garmin about including auto-rest in 920XT/Swim/910XT swim metrics? It’s something I’d love to see them add, and it worked quite well on the Swimsense.
Nothing that I’ve seen unfortunately.
Can’t wait for your review on the Reconjet. I’m seriously thinking of getting it if nobody complains about hardware and software issues. I have a race in August. Would be cool to see my stats without looking at my watch.
Whilst I doubt I’d ever pay that kind of price for swim shorts it’s hardly rare:
A quick look at Neiman Marcus has Burberry and Etro for around $300, Valentino and Alexander McQueen for almost $500:
link to neimanmarcus.com
Granted they’re fashion labels, but swimwear specific companies such as Onia, KoMocean, and Orlebar Brown sell shorts for around $200.
The 920xt got a firmware update yesterday: link to www8.garmin.com
Here are the pictures of the Pancake Mile:
link to picasaweb.google.com
@Tyler: do you get to eat the pancakes at the race in Olney?