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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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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.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
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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’s the mount that has the front light and Edge 1000 on – something new?
I’m tempted by these for convenience but likewise was a touch concerned on the size of them….
I’ve got it mounted to the K-Edge combo mount, bottom is a GoPro adapter, and top is a Garmin quarter-turn mount. Love it. K-Edge announced it last year around this time. I believe that’s the XL version I have there.
Garmin has made something very similar out of plastic. In general for just a bike computer that’s perfectly fine, but when you attach both a camera and GoPro (or this light), then I’d be super-worried about breakage on the plastic mount in vibrations.
I use that (k-edge combo) mount and love it.
K-Edge XL — the only downside is it blocks the charge port on the edge 1000 — but luckily you can swap the gopro and garmin mount and have an unblocked charge port for your super long endurance rides.
I love the way Scottoiler Automated Lube System promotes their product on the kickstarter page.
For most products the cheaper a watt can be saved the better but (because they did their maths compete wrong) they turned it around.
According to a picture on the site they have the most expensive cost per watt saving?!?.
Cycle S1 has a $0.4 cost per watt, compared to e.g. a zipp 303 with only 0.008 cost per watt saving.
Real cost per watt should be $25 cost per watt compared to $115 cost per watt for the zipp.
(picture will change when the wakeup and recalculate the right way i hope)
Picture has gone for the moment (they are following DC Rainmaker) and i think it will be updated soon.
Up + Left + Up + Left + Right + Right + Down, somehow this brings me back 25 years down the memory lane.
Except “the code” is up, up, down, down, left, right left, right, B, A, start.
Not sure how secure this lock really is as you can be almost certain a large proportion of uses will indeed be using the Konami code as their manual backup!
A, B, select, start…. ;)
The Sigma light isalready in hot water because someone else has a patent for the idea.
Any idea what the patent issue is? Bicycle brake lights that work on a similar concept have been around for years, just not packaged as neatly or priced as cheaply.
I don’t know. One of the people deeply involved told me that they got a cease and desist letter in the us while eurobike was still running.
He also told me they checked for “prior art” to prevent this problem. Im curios how the situation evolves.
About the Varia rear light, I thought you needed two of them to have turn signalling?
Also did you test the rear radar version? I am curious as to what sort of resolution you can get (can you tell if it is a car or bike sneaking up on your six.. multiple..)
My understanding is Bontrager is two lights for signaling, but Garmin is one. But I haven’t gone outside yet with either light, so perhaps I’m wrong.
As for Varia Radar – yup, lots of riding with that. See my most recent video: link to youtube.com
Or the post here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Bontreger requires 2 flare RT rear lights to use turn signal mode: link to media.bontrager.com
Garmin requires two rear lights too going by:
link to explore.garmin.com
When linked with select Edge computers, two tail lights can be easily be used as turn signals.
Maybe it’s a YouTube compression issue, but I found it disappointing that license plates weren’t more legible with the Fly12. Though perhaps that’s more the domain of the the Fly6?
Too bad that 1m (3ft) “safety marks” requires an app on a smartphone, that would otherwise be a pretty cool integration with a Garmin.
Lupine BT features actually do more than just turn the light on and off:
link to lupine.de
I’m looking forward to having an app for adjusting the light levels and other features – currently configuring light levels on a Lupine light means lot of button presses and counting number of led blinks.
[The Varia] “utilizes the light sensor on your head unit to determine how much light to emit.”
Which Garmin head units currently have a light sensor, just the 1000?
So far that’s all they say supports that feature:
link to explore.garmin.com
Will adjust to changing light conditions when integrated with the Edge 1000.
i am suprised that Lupine Betty still only have 4500 lumens, while Ledx Cobra now have 6500 lumens. Besides Ledx Cobra have a nicer lightspreading link to ledx.se
Couple of things: I have the Sigma brake light and it’s a seriously brilliant idea. The Scottoiler is ridiculous – chains get gunky because they should be wiped down after lubing, excess lube is a dirt magnet. Does the oiler wipe your chain down too? Thought not…
What do you mean when you say the fly12 will integrate with strava?
Thanks for the post Ray. Here are some answers to the comments:
WBF: Fly12 can access your Strava metrics and place an overlay/dashboard of three metrics (like speed, power or heart rate) onto your footage from the smartphone app allowing you to share the clip on social media.
John: I think you will find you were not watching the footage in the full resolution or YouTube had applied some compression to it. Even if it has you can still see number plates….or at least we can!
Thanks for the comments & feedback!
I’m guessing the ANT+ Bike Lights device profile is still not final as its not available to download :(
Hmm, I’ll ask about it. Might just be a site oversight. Both Garmin and Bontrager use it at least.
It’s available for Alliance members but not public yet. It’s complex stuff and the simulator is not ready yet so supporting it is awkward at the moment. Sadly it will not currently support my MTB use case where you have the head unit control the light level with a none stepped type intensity level. I have a homemade setup from a few years back with a bar and helmet light with Betty type lumen levels when on full. The helmet light being controlled wirelessly by a custom ANT protocol the bar light with a cable connection the home made head unit. The head unit controls the intensity based primarily on speed (ANT+ or GPS). So when going downhill quick you have full power when crawling uphill you cut the power right down to say 1/8. Batter life goes up 2 to 3 fold and you don’t loose the brightness when you want it. Having the head unit do the control rather than the light itself allows for lots of fine-grained control over the control parameters based on what sort of ride you are doing. I raced my setup at the UK 24 hour MTB champs some years back. it’s what got me into ANT and hence IpBike.
You had trouble spotting the lights? The lights weren’t visible? har! I’ll be here all week.
On the Vario light- you show the taillight operating, but the headlight is still a mockup, right? I mean, it looks like there’s a bubblegum wrapper there instead of a reflector.
Looking at other images of the Varia around the web (image above from the Clever Training website), I think what you’re seeing in Ray’s picture is a reflection of the visual chaos that tends to make up a tradeshow, not a bubblegum wrapper.
Indeed, there was just a lot of random stuff nearby causing that.
About the brake lights: Lupine has one too, the Rotlicht. It has motion and light sensors that take care of the brake light functionality and turn up the brightness to match the situation when the lights of the passing cars may impact the visibility.
That is an accelerometer based brake light, Lumicycle also makes an accelerometer based brake light. Not sure how many others there are
For the record; the Lupine Betty will deliver 5000 lumen (measured, not calculated) and not 4500 as you mention ;-)
Most reviews that have measured it put it in the 4600-4800 range. The number I gave is spec, because if you say 5000 and someone gets 4600 instead, they get all bent out of shape. ;)
The light shootout lists it at 4280, though that was a 2014 model so maybe they switched to brighter led modules now.
link to roadbikereview.com
It’d be great if the Garmin light was user configurable to come on at a set speed or maybe even a set speed but while coasting, I’ve got a dynamo set up and it’s really good but when descending about 23-24 mph it can get a bit hairy, especially if it’s a steep road! If this thing would come on as a main beam it’d be awesome!
The auto chain lube’r is one of the top 5 dumbest cycling products I have ever seen.
I won’t rule it out – i rely on a chain oiler on my motorcycle
Scottoiler have tried a few times before to get in to bicycles, but I’ll try it before ruling it out …
It all depends on if is actually makes the hole cleaning/lubing process easier or not. When you lube so much to have excess oil flung away with the dirt you also get the mess on the bike.
They are recommended by Graham Obree in his book, the Obree Way, principally as a way of saving power wastage. He makes a good argument. Given that he was a world champion and held the hour record I suspect he is not the one who is dumb.
I guess I just don’t get the idea of smart or ANT+ or BT lights. I just turn mine on and off when necessary. It’s not a big deal at all.
Maybe when I see some in action I’ll change my mind.
Hi Ray,
Congrats for being nominated one of the 50 most influential people in running by RW.
Well deserved and keep going the great job at dcrainmaker.com
Thanks Paulo! I just finally saw it last night when the Apple Newstand app updated, cool stuff! Will grab a copy on Sunday when I get to the US.
I installed the Sigma break light a couple of weeks ago. I concerned that its not going to last for the long haul, but for $9 it is a good deal. I know that other cyclists notice it – in fact I got asked about it yesterday (from someone who was following me).
The only issue I’d have with the Sigma light is that I rarely use the back brake if I’m just scrubbing off speed, i.e. matching pace in a group. Judging solely by pad wear, I probably brake 67% front/33% back. Not that I couldn’t adapt, but the law of primacy says the tendency is to revert to ingrained habit, and I wouldn’t want someone behind me depending on that light to know I’m slowing.
What would be really awesome (and also really expensive) is if my Garmin could detect the deceleration and light up a back light automatically via this new ANT+ standard for lights.
My Lupine Rotlicht has a built-in accelerometer that allows it to be used as a rear brake light. Much, much more expensive than this Sigma though…
Why wasn’t masterlock’s manual code “up, up, down, down, a, b, select, start?” ;)
Forgot the left, right, left, right…
I rushed out and bought two of the Sigma brake lights.
It’s a really great idea. However, when it came to the business of fitting them, I found that they were extremely poorly thought out.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s experiences.
I had bought the second one as a gift. The first one I tried to fit started jamming on and in fact as you push the little plastic/switch down, you can hear a clicking as something sticks and it doesn’t return when the pressure is off.
The second one doesn’t seem to have this problem and might be better. However, there is an overriding problem and that is that the way that it attaches to the brake cable is extremely basic.
The Allen screw tightens down directly onto the cable. This means that as the end of the screw touches the cable and you start to wind it tight, it in fact has the effect of winding the entire little light up the cable so that it touches the brake adjuster and comes on – and stays on. It takes a lot of strength and finicky finger work to hold the light down to the end of the cable while tightening up. Most of the time, you tend to find that you have screwed the Allen key home but it hasn’t tightened on the cable so that the light is actually completely loose.
It might be that the only solution is to mount the light upside down so that hopefully it will spiral down to the bottom of the cable – but I haven’t tried this and anyway in the rain the unit would fill up with water.
Now I understand why most cables are not fastened by the Allen screw directly but rather the Allen screw pushes a small metal plate onto the cable and it is felt that way. If you tighten a screw directly onto a braided cable then it will automatically engage and climb along the cable in the direction of the winding.
I have to say that with one non-functioning Sigma light and a second one seemingly impossible or at least extremely time-consuming to fit and to have properly positioned, I gave up. Maybe I’ll try another day. I’m trying to work out how to fit a small piece of metal in between the Allen screw and the cable so it stops winding, but I’m not sure that there’s any space for it.
I’m interested to see that two people here seem to have had a good experience with it. Did you not find the light climbing up the cable as you type from the Allen screw?
My conclusion for this unit is that it’s a great idea but it needs a lot of work and it should probably cost more than it does as a result.
I wonder why people would want a Fly 12. I backed the Fly 6 and wanted a forward facing version at that time. This seems to be targeting people who want to record their rides, to have high quality images and the possibility of overlaying data, like they want to compete with GoPro and Virbs.
Since I’ve had the Fly 6 I have only looked at the images once (to check it worked), and not just because it is larger than a small mammal. Maybe more people than I think believe their cycling is interesting enough to need recording. I know mine isn’t. If it had been lower quality/cheaper and designed for use in the event of a crash I would have backed it. Hopefully they will do a cheaper version.
I use the $140 gopro to record my rides. In the city, it’s pretty much every other ride where something slightly insane happens and I make a snippet of the footage. Mainly it’s mounted for the legal protection.
On more ‘epic’ rides it’s neat to clip together a 5 minute summary, though it’s for my own entertainment.
Design for use in the event of a crash requires a camera good enough to pick out the plate of the car that hit you and hopefully the driver too
I bought my Fly6 because I live in Paris in France – which contrary to popular opinion is not cycling paradise but rather where is is the home of aggressive. poorly trained drivers – who tend not to care and who seem to be supported by a rabble bunch who call themselves the Police Nationale Francaise and who have a reputation for being dangerous, racist, boorish. French drivers kill pretty well more people per year than anyone other country in Western Europe. (about 18% more than last year. 335 in August alone this year). By the way, France has about the same number of cars as the UK – and it has about 2.5 times as many roadspace to avoid each other in – but they still manage top run into each other and kill each other.
They even have a class of motor car which doesn’t need a licence or insurance and which some rental companies advertise as the ideal car to drive around in while you are working through your licence suspension period, (for drunk driving, for example)
They have a rate of uninsured drivers at about 2.5% and they are currently debating the reduction of penalties for uninsured driving or unlicenced driving to a mere fine. /end_rant/
I bought my Fly6 after having been rear-ended 3 times – once by accident and twice on purpose by honking drivers in a narrow road. The taxi driver reversed quickly when he saw me try to get a picture with my mobile phone.
The driving instructor got out and threatened to hit me and when the police arrived, they refused to take details, asked me why I hadn’t simply gotten out of the way until the driving instructor passed and the proceeded to share cigarettes with the instructor and have a chat.
I had to walk my bike back home and pay for the damage myself.
I’m pleased to say that since I bought the Fly6 I’ve had no more trouble – but in a way, I look forward to the next time because I intend to treat myself to a very delicious revenge. (not much Zen there!!)