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.
Honestly, I’m not a big fan of youtube video. I’m showing my age, but I much prefer text stories mainly because I can read them at my own pace and read them during downtimes at work.
I find many you tube videos to be not organized very well and people tend to just ad lib the content instead of actually writing down what they want to say which leads to no structure to the videos. (not saying this is you BTW)
I get that is the way the world is moving and I know all the “kids” probably gravitate towards video.
But I just do not like it.
Fear not, there’s still boatloads of written content.
But there are also cases where video paints a clearer story. For example, how swiping works on the Suunto Spartan Ultra and exactly how much lag there is. It’s hard to put that into written words, versus just showing someone. Or how quickly instant pace responds on the Garmin FR735XT in different scenarios.
In most cases I’m using YouTube to supplement to tell a different side of the story. It’s also easier for me to dive into all sorts of nuances in video that writing (which does admittedly make my videos longer) – such as a complete tour of the Suunto Spartan menu system. It’s not for everyone though, and that’s fine.
I’m actually moderately surprised at how few YouTube viewers know I have a full in-depth review that accompanies the post. So I think there’s far less cross-over between the two than one might think.
Don’t get me wrong. Video is absolutely necessary to compliment things. And there are things video does that text/pics can’t do.
I watch about 1/3 of your vids that go with your posts.
But I am showing my age, as I said and I see it more and more instead of text stories. (Again not directed at you)
I do have a minor complaint. When I watch some if your vids the sound isn’t that good. Is it just me?
I quite like the YouTube stuff as you can actually see something like how you would use it properly and you can often do something else (like doing a turbo trainer ride) while watching.
I like the addition of the video, but the device screens are really hard to read.
The Garmin FR630 also got the Connect IQ app update this week, bringing the firmware to v5.20 afair.
And I believe this firmware fixed a bug where no GPS track was recorded even though it was clearly getting GPS because the elevation was fairly accurate.
Wow – Strava live segment on 735. I’ve been really keen on Strava segments on a running device, so great to see it land finally.
Looking forward to reading more about it before I press the button on buying one…
Are you sure about the FR735XT and strava live segments? It’s not mentioned in the feature list on the Garmin link?
I’ve been waiting so long for that integration, would be killer feature for a watch.
Yup, it’s there. But…and here’s the trick…the GC and Strava aspects lighting that up haven’t been lit up yet. So, unless you load Segments manually, it won’t do much.
there was something about this on the garmin forum but garmin removed these posts. you can still find some information on strava but considering garmin doesn’t want this information out there yet i probably should paste the link here
What do you think the odds are of Live segments coming to the 920xt?
I was a little hasty in my Garmin forums post on this. Expect some instructions on how to do it properly very soon.
I suspect the odds are low, but then again, sometimes random things happen.
Found this on Strava blog but did not figure out how it should/will work…
link to support.strava.com
I agree this would be a killer feature if nicely implemented. Me excited!
Strava Segments working now on 735 as of today. Just sync’d mine.
Thanks, Joe!
Can’t wait to try it out.
How good is it?
Works very well. link to strava.com is a short test run I did showing the various screens you get.
Wow, that’s impressive. I’m gettingmore and more satisfied with my little plastic watch!
Is it a new feature that my Edge 1000 updated itself while connected to my phone via Bluetooth? I remember it usually told me in the Connect App, that an update was available which it installed the next time I connected it to my computer.
The Forerunner 230 and 235 also received updates to their firmware (to 5.20) and their Display A1 firmware. The 5.20 update seems to have messed up instantaneous pace – it’s a bit all over the place.
Also, a sweet part of that 5.20 update is that music controls are now able to control any media playing app now. Finally, I can control Spotify on my 235!
This sounds really cool, would love to control music through the watch so I don’t have to pull my phone out. Any idea on how to get it to work? Is there an app I have to download for the watch?
Yes – the Garmin mobile app. Pair your iPhone and watch through the app and then the music controls on the watch should work to control whatever music app you are using on the phone.
Yup, the 5.20 firmware on the 230/235/630 totally broke the current pace metric. I ended up having to rollback to 5.07 beta. Garmin is apparently investigating the issue. I can’t wait for them to have just one solid firmware release without breaking something important.
About that vivoactive (non HR version) update:
My music player widget no longer works since the update.
Says “waiting for data” now.
First time its ever malfunctioned.
Anyone else?
Vivoactive quickly kicked out another firmware update, 4.20, to fix the music control issue.
Nice to see Garmin more responsive to customer issues.
site layout on ipad … cant enlarge videos as the right column overlays the main column.
see screenshot
How do you find Edge 820 firmware release notes? What I mean is:
– I followed the link in this article and found the web page describing version 3.00
– But I’ve never been able to find those pages starting from the Garmin site itself.
E.g. try search for “Edge 820 update download”, or try navigating from the 820 product page.
Hoping more devices will support muscle oxygen recording. Maybe the 920xt with how many Moxy and BSX users have one. Seems like it doesn’t require much change to the firmware as it just displays and records from an ant+ device.
Custom ConnectIQ apps can record, but won’t record into the FIT file at the standard location, just a custom one so harder for 3rd parties to use the data
Do you think the muscle oxygen support will come to the Fenix 3 series? Also, what about live segments?
I see Cyclops has started ads for their new Hammer trainer