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 in the past week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week. Been unearthing myself from being out a bit lately, so you’re starting to see a bit more pop-out on the blog, as well as catching up a few…thousand…e-mails.
Tons on tap for this upcoming week though with the Giveaway Extravaganza and a few product reviews to be released.
The DCR Podcast:
Here’s the low-down on what was covered this past week in the DCR podcast:
– Discussion of the Tour de France, Tour power meter data, and more!
– Chatting about my little sailboat trip to Croatia for a week (and loss of $5,000 in action cams and watches)
– How openwater swim watches work
– Changing your workout modes in the middle of a workout
– Strava vs Training Peaks and other platforms
– Writing posts on apps/web platforms
– The international trainer purchase rule
Thanks for listening! Subscribing and rating in iTunes is much appreciated, and be sure to send in your questions via the voice mail widget at the bottom of the podcast page!
Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet:
1) La Grand Boucle was a grand disaster: An interesting look back at what was effectively the first variant of the women’s Tour de France slightly more than a decade ago.
3) GoPro to launch new video editing app and licensing portal: The licensing portal may be a brilliant move, especially if they can shift the mindset of people to share their content on GoPro’s portal versus YouTube in the pursuit of earning a few pennies.
5) Sony to enter the camera drone business: Not to be left outdone by GoPro’s planned drone, Sony is also getting into the game. Logical given their existing action cam business.
8) Unveiled – the Swiss Side Instrumented bike: Lots of interesting data here, all combined onto video on the Garmin VIRB while riding. This btw, is actually a perfect example of why Garmin needs to enable custom FIT recording within the Connect IQ apps. They could have recorded additional sensor data straight to that and then easily shown it within Garmin VIRB Edit. (via Aerogeeks)
9) Entire downhill mountain bike run captured in a single shot: Pretty cool little video by well known company Teton Gravity Research, all shot on the back of a truck (seriously). You can see more ‘how they made it’ clips and such in the link above.
10) Pro triathletes get together and form union: Said union managed to get itself in hot water a mere few hours into the announcement though when one of the leaders asked Lance Armstrong for assistance. #Fail.
11) The longest parade: A great photographic and behind the scenes look at the Tour de France caravan (from inside the caravan) by Caley Fretz.
13) The business of eSports in number: While most following the blog here side more with traditional sports, the business of electronic sports is getting to be massive. A worthwhile browse of the link.
I regularly sift through Kickstarter and Indiegogo (plus a few others on occasion) looking for sports projects. If you’re unfamiliar with projects, read my detailed post on how I decide which projects I personally back. 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.
(Nuttin of interest 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?
Garmin Edge 1000 firmware update: This adds in the promised Strava segment support (fairly early in the announced release timeframe). The Edge 510 & 810 updates are still pending (promised by the end of September).
Zwift adds trainer support: They’ve added to their beta side support for the Real Turbo Muin, RealAxiom, RealPower, RealTour and Real E-motion rollers. (no link available, just in newsletter)
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Have you seen any news from Garmin about timing for Di2 integration into the Fenix3? I get excited every update, and they’ve been great, but Di2 is the one I’m looking for.
on the motors… if you see anyone riding with their own special 2lb “water bottle” that they never drink from and never toss on the climbs, then you might have reason to suspect a motor. otherwise, it doesn’t matter if you can fit a motor into the seat tube. you still have to get power to it somehow.
At the moment, the technology being used is such overkill, they give you a ludicrously large advantage. I haven’t had a chance to watch the Lemond video yet, but similar devices are delivering hundreds of Watts for tens of minutes. If you scaled down the technology and hid a smaller battery in the seat tube and take a hit on the power output and durations, you’d still have a very viable method for cheating.
That said, I don’t think any pro cycling teams could get away with this. It would be so hard to cover up and if it was discovered, the sanctions for what is essentially an institutionalised cheating programme would (hopefully) be catastrophic.
Exactly. It’s not about delivering hundreds of watts (and the article notes the ability to put it in the frame on a smaller scale). Rather, it’s about delivering 10-50w over a period of 10-40 minutes. Well within the possibility today.
I’d be a large sum of money this has already happened in races. The UCI wouldn’t be so concerned about it if it hadn’t, nor would the vast majority of cycling industry.
Yay for the Apple Watch review. Here’s hoping your hosting plan doesn’t get slammed by the gazillion jumps from the Mac sites. And the inevitable “It’s not a Forerunner”; “Apple is dead”; “Overpriced hardware”; etc. comments in the threads. :)
Any update on the PowerTap P1 Pedals review? It seems they’ve been on the market for a few weeks now, but I haven’t seen much talk about them anywhere…
Yes, it was. The whole episode was a bit embarrassing though. While the cyclist was right to be upset, there was no need to escalate the situation. Not to excuse the driver in any way, but all that’ll happen is the driver will take out his frustration on other cyclists.
Ive heared that the Suunto Traverse is a sneak peak of the new design from Suunto and that the Ambit 4 will follow but that the Traverse is more in line with the first generation Fenix for a more outdoorsy watch and an early 2016 release.
I believe so. That’s how it worked with both Garmin and Shimano action cams in years past. The rider pretty much was left to record what they thought might be interesting.
Yeah, I think the challenge is that the V650 is basically the odd duckling in terms of the underlying Polar platform. I’m sure eventually it’ll mature, but we keep seeing weird slights compared to the other product lines.
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GoPro released a new firmware for Hero 4 Silver and Black. Allows on camera editing and some functional changes.
After having updated to Windows 10, as a V650 owner to find that after I did so sucks. Lucky I still have access to a Windows 7 laptop.
Thanks! I didn’t catch that one as all my GoPros are currently missing. :(
Eek! Is there a post coming explaining this? (I’m hoping for your luggage simply having been misplaced by an airline . . .)
Have you seen any news from Garmin about timing for Di2 integration into the Fenix3? I get excited every update, and they’ve been great, but Di2 is the one I’m looking for.
on the motors… if you see anyone riding with their own special 2lb “water bottle” that they never drink from and never toss on the climbs, then you might have reason to suspect a motor. otherwise, it doesn’t matter if you can fit a motor into the seat tube. you still have to get power to it somehow.
I’d disagree.
At the moment, the technology being used is such overkill, they give you a ludicrously large advantage. I haven’t had a chance to watch the Lemond video yet, but similar devices are delivering hundreds of Watts for tens of minutes. If you scaled down the technology and hid a smaller battery in the seat tube and take a hit on the power output and durations, you’d still have a very viable method for cheating.
That said, I don’t think any pro cycling teams could get away with this. It would be so hard to cover up and if it was discovered, the sanctions for what is essentially an institutionalised cheating programme would (hopefully) be catastrophic.
Triathletes on the other hand…
Exactly. It’s not about delivering hundreds of watts (and the article notes the ability to put it in the frame on a smaller scale). Rather, it’s about delivering 10-50w over a period of 10-40 minutes. Well within the possibility today.
I’d be a large sum of money this has already happened in races. The UCI wouldn’t be so concerned about it if it hadn’t, nor would the vast majority of cycling industry.
I hope to see that long overdue Garmin FR 225 and Apple watch reviews soon ;)
The FR225 is behind Epix and Apple Watch. Epix is slated for this week, with Apple Watch closely behind it.
Yay for the Apple Watch review. Here’s hoping your hosting plan doesn’t get slammed by the gazillion jumps from the Mac sites. And the inevitable “It’s not a Forerunner”; “Apple is dead”; “Overpriced hardware”; etc. comments in the threads. :)
Hi Ray-
Any update on the PowerTap P1 Pedals review? It seems they’ve been on the market for a few weeks now, but I haven’t seen much talk about them anywhere…
Thanks!
It’ll be published on Monday sometime (probably mid-afternoon European time). Just finalizing graphs as we speak.
That guy’s face plant was absolutely priceless.
Yes, it was. The whole episode was a bit embarrassing though. While the cyclist was right to be upset, there was no need to escalate the situation. Not to excuse the driver in any way, but all that’ll happen is the driver will take out his frustration on other cyclists.
Hi Ray,
What do you know about the new SUUNTO TRAVERSE?, Is it the “new” ambit?
Thanks in advance.
Ive heared that the Suunto Traverse is a sneak peak of the new design from Suunto and that the Ambit 4 will follow but that the Traverse is more in line with the first generation Fenix for a more outdoorsy watch and an early 2016 release.
Notting official from Suunto yet.
Were the riders responsible for turning the GoPros on and off at points during the TdF? The battery wouldn’t last anywhere near a single stage length.
I believe so. That’s how it worked with both Garmin and Shimano action cams in years past. The rider pretty much was left to record what they thought might be interesting.
Any word on the newly released B+ versions of all the Elite Real stuff?
I notice Polar have included support for the M450. Seems strange that the ‘budget’ project gets all the Windows 10 update love.
Looking forward to the V650 review, big thanks for all the effort you put in
Yeah, I think the challenge is that the V650 is basically the odd duckling in terms of the underlying Polar platform. I’m sure eventually it’ll mature, but we keep seeing weird slights compared to the other product lines.
I’m getting real tired of Polar. Glad I sold my V650. Maybe I’ll pick one up in the future if they start catching up to Garmin feature wise.
Ouch sorry to hear about the cam & watches loss.
The new Tacx Neo trainer is looking very interesting. Expensive, but interesting.
link to bikeradar.com