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 and Facebook, 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!
Notable Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales Post Updates:
In case you haven’t been following along on Twitter every 26 minutes, there’s been a crapton of additions to my Black Friday & Cyber Monday post. I expect more *new* sales tomorrow (Monday), so be on the lookout for those! In the meantime, here’s what’s been added since Thursday:
– Suunto Ambit3 deals (as low at $199)
– Withings WiFi scales for 33%+ off
– Withings Aura sleep system for 50% off
– Basis Peak, Misfit, and Jawbone deals
– GoPro deals
– Mio Fuse deals
– Training Peaks and Best Bike Split deal for tomorrow
– Power2Max US deals
-and a bunch more…
And then of course, you had previously, these deals that end Monday:
– Garmin Fenix3 for $100 off all units
– Crapton of other Garmin units (i.e. Vivoactive, Vivosmart, Vivofit2, etc…)
– PowerTap 20% off (trainers too!)
– Wahoo RFLKT for $49 & KICKR SNAP deals
Again, I continue to update the main page here, with all the deals. You can find the little Holiday Deals image on the sidebar at any time.
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.
Sunday: Week in Review–Nov 22nd, 2015
Monday: 5 Random Things From A Week in The Arctic Circle
Tuesday: Verve Infocrank In-Depth Review
Tuesday: My Winter 2015-2016 Sports Gadget Recommendations
Wednesday: Garmin Forerunner 230 & 235 In-Depth Review
Wednesday: Black Friday Sales Kickoff: $100 off Fenix3, Withings Scales from $69, and more (Update: +Suunto Ambit3!)
Thursday: November Giveaway Winner Selected!
Friday: A Weighty Decision: Deciding on a WiFi Weight Scale
The DCR Podcast:
Here’s the low-down on what was covered this past week in the DCR podcast:
This was a bit of a longer one this week, as we are rambling on a few different topics at length.
– We talk a short bit about the last few weeks here in Paris
– We dive into some of the reaction on my LIMITS power meter piece
– We discuss what makes a site a news site vs magazine vs ‘blog’, what is a ‘blog’ anyway?
– How to take your dumb trainer and make it…not so dumb.
Now, there was one minor issue with some of the audio recording after the above question, which we’re working to salvage for the remainder. So in the meantime you can download this instance as part of TRS Radio Podcast, and hopefully tomorrow we’ll have the other questions ready to roll and posted to the usual DCR Podcast feed. Sorry!
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) First major Paris running race cancelled due to security concerns: This was the Santa Clause costume race here in Paris (roughly about 10,000 people I believe), I’ve run it every year since moving to Paris. I did think the outlining of expenses they’ve incurred thus far was interesting (at end of piece). It’s in French, but is easy to translate to English with Google.
2) Man completes marathon in Amish attire: Oh, and ran pretty darn fast too.
3) How to take good photos of your bike: A superb guide to taking better bike photos. I try hard to hit all of these for photos during reviews and Instagram, though sometimes may miss a point or two.
4) Ironman becomes part of Wanda Sports: Obviously, the purchase is ‘old news’, but the re-org is the news here. While some might cringe at Blatter family ties, I think it’s best to judge him on his work (he’s completed 15 Ironman’s himself). Plus, everyone has the odd uncle they aren’t fans of or associate with.
5) Why your outdoor gear is expensive: Apparently it’s all about thumbholes. Go figure.
6) LIMITS power meter announces delays: Details here and here.
7) Two crowd funded/startup power meters start shipping this week: Both PowerPod and WatTeam have announced shipping first units this past week (via Twitter and backer updates). I got a tracking number for my PowerPod already, and the WatTeam folks also reached out and a unit should be on the way in the next few days (if not already). Looking forward to testing both! In related news, you’ll likely see the PowerTap C1 & 4iiii Precision reviews this week.
8) Paula Radcliff talks about blood doping testing and the allegations some have raised: Worth a read if you’ve been following this story for a while. (via Sporting Intel)
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 Fenix3 Firmware Update: Fixes recently introduced battery drain issues.
Garmin FR230/235/630 Beta Firmware Updates: Addresses some pace stability concerns.
Polar FlowSync updates: This is the desktop updater that got a few updates.
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Are the 235 pace improvements pertaining to instant pace?
Has Garmin said yet if they are working on smoothing of HR data during runs in particular?
My understanding is they are indeed around instant pace. They have no said anything on pace smoothness to me (I suspect I’ll get any feedback from my review on Monday, once they return to work following the holiday weekend).
Awesomeness. If they get the instant pace rectified, that would solve 50% of the issues. Let’s remain hopeful the HR smoothing is easily solvable as well.
1st treadmill run with the 235 after logging just about 25 miles with the 235 outdoors. Pace all over the board, HR also spikey. In short, similar behavior to outdoors (Lap pace did appear to be much more stable than instant pace). Bring those bug fixes on Garmin!
Any word on when the Garmin Edge 810 will be compatible w/Varia rear radar/light?
So far only the 520 and the two 1000 units support it. Don’t see that changing as the older units aren’t getting new features anymore
HEY PEOPLE! See that cool gold bike by my name? You too can get one! JOIN this site for a mere $20 (the cost of a decent pizza). Plus, then the site is ad-free. It’s win-win!
(NOTE: When I no longer read this site, I will return the bike. That’s just the way I roll.)
What’s you’re point here? If you don’t want to support, read ads or go elsewhere. Life isn’t free
Or maybe you are. I can’t tell. Sorry if I read wrong.
I believe he’s encouraging people to support this site. Those who support it with a $20 donation have a golden bike by their name.
Haha love it, but I do have to ask what’s a bike? Cycling just seems like hard work. I suppose anything is hard if your not enthusiastic about it. So I’ll just keep to putting one foot in front of the other as fast as I can
I don’t want a golden bike
I want a golden runner !!
May be i would subscribe for this ?
😉
Or a golden cupcake
Mind you I can’t see any golden bikes, runners or dogs at the moment…
Funny nugget of the day: I didn’t even know about the golden bike until the next day. I had asked the developers for some sort of ‘badge’, but totally forgot to tell them what. They’re cyclists themselves, and decided on the golden bike. 🙂
Is there a way to subscribe without posting a comment? I can’t see anything on the site…
However I am subscribing on this comment 🙂
Just seen it in the subscribe box as I submitted – doh! 🙂
The latest podcast has not shown up on my end. Maybe Canada is blocking it.
Blame Canada… link to youtube.com
Stryd updated the firmware for their device this week as well.
Garmin forerunner 610 is only 110€ link to amazon.fr ad it’s a fantastic device! (I used mine for like 4 years)
I’m glad Garmin brought the 5.10 update, because both issued did not seem very potential. They occurred.
Sorry to hear the Santa race has been cancelled. Safety first.
The podcast has some sound quality issues. I was particularly interested in the answer on “How to take your dumb trainer and make it…not so dumb”, but couldn’t understand the answer…
Yeah, it’s why the rest of the questions aren’t up – they weren’t very good quality sound. 🙁 Not sure what went wrong there, the first time we’ve had sound issues.
Good thing there is Decathlon for non-expensive thumbhole windstoppers!
I had to re-read the Blatter comment, I thought Sepp had done the 15 Ironmans….
It wasn’t mentioned in the article, but the most impressive thing about the amish kid, was actually his shoes. The clothes he is wearing are made for being in the sun farming all day, so they are not quite as oppresive as they look. However, he was basically wearing farming boots as well, which hurts my feet just thinking about. Definitely got the biggest cheers at the finish line.
Any word on the full review for the Garmin 630?
nice