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!
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–November 13th, 2016
Monday: 5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Tuesday: Hands-on: Zwift and their upcoming running mode
Thursday: GoPro adds data overlays to the Hero5: Here’s how it (sorta) works
Friday: Fitbit Charge 2 Activity Tracker In-Depth Review
More tech deals on the way!
Keep an eye out on Monday (on this page) for the latest round of sports tech details and plans for Black Friday/Cyber Monday to hit! At the same time, a bunch of Garmin deals end Monday as well. They are:
Garmin Expiring Monday Nov 21st
| Item | Regular Price | Sale Price | Savings | Sale End Date | DCR Post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garmin Vivofit Jr. | $79 | $69 | 13% | 11/21/2016 | Not DCR Post Yet |
| Garmin Vivosmart HR | $149 | $119 | 20% | 11/21/2016 | DCR Post Here |
| Garmin Vivosmart HR+ | $199 | $179 | 10% | 11/21/2016 | DCR Post Here |
| Garmin Vivoactive HR | $249 | $199 | 20% | 11/21/2016 | DCR Post Here |
| Garmin Edge Explore 1000 | $449 | $337 | 25% | 11/21/2016 | DCR Post Here |
| Garmin Edge 1000 Bundle | $599 | $449 | 25% | 11/21/2016 | DCR Post Here |
Again, all of which is found on the deals page here.
YouTube Videos I Published:
Here’s some YouTube goodness that I published this past week:
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) Dog races mountain biker: Seriously, this is impressive. Both this year’s video, as well as last year’s video. Both the dog and the rider have got skillz. (via JMW)
2) Samsung Gear S3 will allow Samsung Pay on other Android phones: This is the sign of another company expanding contactless payments. I’ve gotta believe we’ll see the fitness majors (Garmin, Fitbit, and maybe Polar) expand into contactless (i.e. NFC) payments. The ease of use on wearables, such as the Apple Watch, is silly simple.
3) Training Peaks rolls out workout builder: Somewhat interesting, especially with the ability to plan forward looking load. Similar to what other platforms like Xert can do. However, it doesn’t appear to let you transfer these workouts to devices such as your Garmin unit.
4) Intel looks to be shutting down wearables division: Or at least, some element of layoffs. While Intel denied parts of this (and certainly, I’m hearing plenty from the Oakley Radar Pace folks), I’ve found that in general where there’s smoke…there’s fire. Plus, this would certainly go inline with everything else we’ve seen since the Intel acquisition of Basis and Recon.
5) Barbed wire stretched across mountain biking trail: A rider went through it, and the wire ended up in his throat. Really disgusting stuff. Though, I’m almost more amazed/saddened at the half-ass response from the various city officials. Their comments seemed more like “It’d be nice if someone didn’t do that again” versus “We plan to charge this individual with attempted murder.” (via Slowtwitch)
6) Amazon Italy to offer car purchases: I only note this because if you’re in Italy and plan to purchase a Fiat via Amazon, it’d be much appreciated to use that nifty Amazon Italy link on the sidebar first. Deal? And for everyone else not purchasing a car, you’ll see both the main US link, but also all of the Amazon country links right below it on the right sidebar of DCR!
7) Athlete completes every Ironman race in the world: Yes, for real. Impressive stuff.
8) ASO attempts to justify shortened and moved La Course event for this year: Sorry, I just don’t buy any of these excuses. Moving to a shorter stage in the mountains is not what anyone wanted. They wanted to see a multi-stage race (even just 2-3 days). There were many proposals last year on how that could have occurred. I see this as a cop-out, and likely the end of La Course after this year.
9) GoPro gives Karma drone owners free Hero5 Black for recall: This is actually a very solid gesture on their part, especially as it’ll include the Best Buy Karma purchasers, whose drone only came with a Hero4 Black. Of course, all Karma purchasers had to return the drone + the camera, and only bundles had been sold to date. Now ideally, once GoPro starts selling the drones again, they’ll actually allow people to buy just the drone vs the whole package including camera.
10) NY Marathon settlement over lottery system: In the event you participated in the NY marathon lottery, you’ll want to check out this page for details on how to get something out of it.
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 are 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? Oh – and if you want to get a head start on things, this page is a great resource for watching Garmin firmware updates.
Wahoo ELEMNT Firmware Update: Add sweet new routing features. Trying to get a post out on this later in the week, as I think it’s super cool.
GoPro Quik Desktop Software Update: Adds in ability to do dashboard overlays onto Hero5 Black videos (see my post above)
(Yes, a quiet week in the sports tech realm. Phew!)
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Thanks for reading all!
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Hey! Just wanted to thank you so much for all the work you’ve put into your reviews – they’re all so informative and I’ve benefited a lot from them!
Also wondering if there’ll be a Garmin FR35 review?
I’d venture a guess that he was wearing it when he wrote this post or on his latest run, and it should be out soon
Hey Jeff! I’m hoping as much too, especially since he used it against the Fitbit Charge 2
Yup, it’ll be my next In-Depth Review released, sometime this week.
Thanks for the update! FYI … the Vivoactive jr discount is not registering on CT? It’s still listed at $79.
Weird. Though, just wait till Friday. It drops in price further to $49.
(Part of my updates I’ll be adding in today when I land)
Thank you for the clarification on the TrainingPeaks Workout Builder.
What is the point if it does not transfer to indoor trainer? Doesn’t that just mean I have to build the workout twice?
“However, it doesn’t appear to let you transfer these workouts to devices such as your Garmin unit.”
Coming soon according to TrainingPeaks comments on Facebook
Sweet!
I have a Apple Watch Series 2 as well, and it will not map with GPS if I am using my Garmin Edge 820. It will log a workout with HR and time data, but no speed or route data(map). If I use the 820 without pairing to my iPhone 7, (no LiveTrack) and upload after my ride, the Apple Watch works fine and logs everything just fine. Is this a Bluetooth issue??
Dang it, meant to put in the 5 random things blog. Sorry!!!!
Regarding the TP workout builder:
This would be the perfect opportunity for Wahoo to implement structured workouts into the Elemnt,considering their history of 3rd party collaboration.
Btw:the new routing features of the Elemnt are great!i’m curious what you think of them…
Enjoy your time in zurich, the second-best city in Schweizerland. In case you want to have some good schweizer croissants, the best place to go to is called “Gnädinger” and located at “Schaffhauserplatz”.Feel free to give me a note in case you’d be so close to my home 🙂
Will Amazon Italy deliver the cars with drones?? 😛
Any chance you will be reviewing the Whoop Band or Lifetrak Zoom HRV? They both offering continuous HRV monitoring. I have not been able to find reviews for either product.
i think scam or fraud company because (by the moment and after one week) they only know collect from credit card when you place the order. They dont answer any email or tweeks about order or any info.
I may try out the Whoop. Seen a growing number of requests in the last few weeks.
ZOOM HRV is no scam. Lifetrak developed it and those guys have been design HR longer than anyone. Continuous HR and HRV off the wrist, HR and cadence from the ankle and HR underwater. I have one and had no issues buying or from customer service……
The ZOOM work’s great for me at 60% less than the price of WHOOP. The HR is spot on! The HRV reading is very help for rest and recovery insights
I’m interested to hear more about your experience with the Zoom HRV. Especially the accuracy of the HR readings in and out of the pool. Mainly pool swimming , biking, walking and runnning
I’d appreciate a Whoop review.
I’m interested in the whoop and the lifetrak reviews as well. I’m getting older, and the Army life is starting to take a toll. Adding in biking to my running and I’ve become zombie like! I’m hoping to see something on the puulse (fitpal) as I was very interested in the ampstrip before they sent our money back. Did the buyer ever get revealed on them?
I’ve also been interested in the WHOOP now that the 2.0 version is out.
8 days ago I contacted them with a presales question from their web site. Still haven’t heard ANYTHING from them. If that’s there idea of customer service I’d be concerned. I’m super curious about this device, but super skeptical too …
I’d also be interested in a Whoop and Lifetrak review.
Also would like to see a Whoop review
Another person here who would appreciate a WHOOP in-depth.
Yup. I bought one in late July, and it was set to ship out around now-ish (they’re a bit backordered). Because of the type of device requires a much longer review cycle (to assess recovery/etc…), I’d imagine the soonest a review would be out would be late-Sept or early Oct.
Add my name to the list… although I already ordered a Whoop sans DCR review…
Nothing against the lady who has done every Ironman brand race worldwide, because that is a real achievement – but an even larger achievement is that of Susan Haag of Jacksonville, FL. Earlier this month at Ironman Florida, Susan finished her 100th iron distance race (a world record, BTW).
See an article here (link to jacksonville.com) though any Google search will find a bunch more.
That takes bad-ass to the next level!
The woman, Elizabeth Model, who has done every Ironman is married to the guy who has done more Ironmans then anyone, John Wragg, now over 200. She also has run over 75 marathons. Amazing stuff.
What? No more podcast?
So Ben really couldn’t be bothered…for months.
Ray, Thanks for all your work on reviewing products. I can’t imagine how you get it all accomplished.
Any chance you will be looking at the Whoop HRV system? link to whoop.com
They have a new pricing scheme that looks attractive. I’ve never had a coach and this looks like it might provide some guidance to hit the “sweet spot” in training volume and intensity.