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…
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!
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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?
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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.
“Suunto Ambit3 Peak Sapphire: $399 w/o HR strap, $445 w/HR strap ($100 off)”
Seems like the peak sapphire is listed for $600 on clevertraining.
You need to click on the item to reveal the “real” price.
Polar’s programme reminds me a little of firstbeats old athlete in nature, I’ve loaded one up for a half marathon in October, run durations are appropriate to the distances I’m already covering for this months Belgium 20k. My only concern could be the pace of intervals against what I already do, as I do end up in hr zone 5 and clicking on a dozen or so future workouts I’ve not yet seen a scheduled zone 5 entry
How does of can a firmware update improve the battery life in subzero temeratures?
Probably they reprogram less current draw by decreasing sampling intervals. For altimeter every 3second instead of 3x per second. And that for more sensors. At low temperatures batteries can handle constant low current draw but not high current peaks. A bit like starting your car in winter.
Enjoyed the video… I happened to be knee deep in a loch earlier this week and it was definitely COLD. Followed by BTTIGO… Spring has only just arrived in Scotland, certainly not summer!
Any thoughts to whether this Suunto deal is a random promotion – or whether it’s making way for a new Ambit? (I know, I know the Vertical aka Ambit 3.5 was just released.. But one can dream)
Yet again the Suunto firmware updates are missed – almost as reliably as the Garmin ones are never missed.
Its because there’s an RSS feed for both Polar and Garmin updates, making it simple to double-check . No such feed exists for Suunto.
If you know such a feed, then feel free to be helpful.
Ben didn’t play my full question on the podcast! You missed all my hard work off the end… one of your previous podcast replies, with a little editing, fitted the question perfectly but you stopped it too soon! :(
Anyway – here it is:
link to drive.google.com
Hi Ray,
I thought I would let you know (as you were an early proponent of the Mio/Magellan Cyclo 505) they have updated the software for the Mio to include Live Strava segments.
V4.4 improvement list 2016-05-03 07:48:24
– Support Strava Live Segments;
– Support Benelux “knooppunten” (Node Network) under Routing settings;
– Support Shimano Di2 remote control for switching Dashboard pages and start/stop recording;
– Support “Ferries” option under Routing settings;
– Fine-tuned map colour scheme to improve visibility when navigating tracks in the forest or woods;
– Added ability to disable “Movement detected. Start recording?” reminder under System – Alerts setting;
– Fixed time zone issue when 1st time device boot;
– Dashboard Info 1 page now is configurable;
– Added 2 extra info fields to Dashboard screens – Info 3 and 4;
– Support of GPX file including multiple tags;
– Update crankset and cassette values for Shimano XTR M9050 Di2;
– Fix minus values in History – Totals and unrealistic value issue in History – Summary;
– Fix “no average speed or distance in history page” issue for indoor training;
– Change Trainer name “Elite” to “Elite Qubo Digital”;
– Settings menu restructure – system related settings integrated into System settings;
Well I guess Ironman is scared as hell to find a big part of their pro athletes being mechanically doped. Oh, and , I got some strange heartrate monitoring (192 bpm while rather easy cruising) while biking after the firmware update on my fenix 3. I was so shocked I fell of my bike -Well, partly due to that.. Too bad I live in europe.
I suspect the numbers are fairly low in the pro ranks, but, I’d also agree that there’s probably a few floaters. And, I’d agree that there’s certainly more than enough rumors to quantify as smoke* in terms of IM covering for various pro athlete doping suspicions. And that’s ignoring the whole Lance thing.
(*The whole where there’s smoke, there’s fire.)
But I still wish they hadn’t announced it, but just started doing it.
Completely agree with you, would have been a lot of fun I guess. I think they announced it so everybody using it so far can still put them off off their bikes -leaving the Ironman-brand virgin-like (in contrary to the pro bike sports where there’s much more smoke than in an indian resort communicating with smoke signals).
got something wrong here- May you delete the shitty picture there?(just saw the Gravatar link) Sorry for that.
-M
No prob!
Are you not doing the crowd-funded projects of athletic note section anymore, or has there just not been something interesting enough to make (athletic) note of?
I add it in when I see things of note. I think I’ve slowly raised the bar on what makes the list, so there’s definitely a lot less. Plus, a lot less sport technology stuff as of late.
For example, there’s tons of random Kickstarter projects for activity trackers. Unless they’re doing something really cool (like making you fly), I’m kinda glossing over them, as it’s just more of the same.
I have the Fenix3HR but still on version 3.0. Is there supposed to be a new update to include the 7.0 updates?
3.0 should be the latest for the F3HR, which should include all the 7.0 non-HR features. Just different numbering scheme: link to www8.garmin.com