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.
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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!
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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.
The AccuWeather CIQ sounds useful. Went to the CIQ store – my watch is supported, yea! Ah, I’ve seen this before and thought about downloading – until I saw the 2.5/5.0 star rating. Bleh. And this is a CIQ that Garmin is ‘drawing attention to’? I’d hide it – or fix it!
Have a look at the actual reviews – you’ll find the vast majority of them are 1 star reviews from people who are from locations that aren’t supported – sadly I’m in one of those locations, but it doesn’t make me want to rate the app poorly just because I can’t use it.
Tyler,
Thanks for the report. I notice you’ve put down Stryd as an IQ app. I remember during Ray’s review of the footpod he had said stryd is poorly equipped to work with Garmin devices as it functions only through the stryd app and doesn’t record running power with the native running/hiking Garmin activities. I haven’t seen an update on that since October, so not sure if they ever sorted it. Is this due to change with the updated app/Garmin 5?
Thanks,
Sam
It actually went out around that timeframe. So now it’s both an ‘App’, as well as a ‘Data Field’.
I personally use the data field variant, since then I can use the native Running app and all the goodness there. Been working great for me.
But if you’re using the data-field, then it doesn’t record the power data, right? Or at least that’s how it used to be…
The Stryd App is OK, but the field layout is fixed, so you have to make it work with what’s given (for now at least).
Yes, the power field does record power and other Stryd generated data as well. It all shows up in connect as IQ data.
I can also confirm that Garmin watches record power data when you use either the Stryd CIQ data field or the Stryd CIQ app. The power and running dynamics data is brought into Garmin Connect, and if you have auto-sync set up with SportTracks, the data is available there. too.
The main problem I have with the Stryd data field is that it doesn’t show up at Training Peaks when synced from Garmin. I heard rumors that TP was planning on supporting Connect IQ data fields but no timelines. I’d much rather use the data field but at least with the Stryd App power shows up in Training Peaks without any problems.
Stryd Power fomr the datafield shows up fine for my in Training Peaks. When was the last time you tried it?
@Sam/@Clark:
Thanks for the info! I’ve re-installed the data field. (When the Stryd Pioneer came out, the datafield didn’t record the power.)
@Tanner:
I can see the power data in TP as well. Unfortunately, the Power Profile chart cannot be filtered by sport, so that metric gets a bit skewed, but hey – you can’t have everything….
It’s been a few weeks since I tried so I’ll try again. Are you going directly from Garmin Connect to Training Peaks or are you sending it to Stryd and then to Training Peaks? I tried inserting Stryd between Garmin Connect and Training Peaks earlier last year and Stryd puked all over my Training Peaks and messed up all my fitness numbers so I pulled it out and will not be doing that again. The Connect IQ app inserts the power into the fit file such that TP can read it correctly but the data field required sending it to Stryd first. I’ll try it with my run this evening to see if I have different results. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I am with Stryd
Hi Tanner,
I have more good news. You can connect Garmin directly to TrainingPeaks now. The activities from the data field will display power in TrainingPeaks.
We are happy to support any follow-up questions via the live chat on our website or our email at support@stryd.com.
Best,
Angus
I wonder if this is a sort of an attempt to jump on the Andriod Wear 2.0 train or did I miss something?
a app for using Uber, is that what it takes to make it to a DC post ?
I may have missed the point of significance or I may not know I need a smart watch… But so far a post without content
Brilliant summary of an useless information
It’s significant because it marks the first major app for Garmin Connect IQ app platform. Most of the other apps have been sorta fitness/hobbyist focused. This is essentially a turning point in the platform, such that a major entity in the tech world (Uber) recognizes the need for an app on Garmin’s ecosystem.
Just happened to find this article today, and I was curious if you still thought this was an indication that Garmin was going to make Connect IQ a serious competitor to the Android and Apple platforms? Not intended as a criticism, just wondering if you have a different view of the world with several more years of experience.
(I really am curious. We all say and write things based on what we see at a point in time, and rarely go back and revisit them. I vaguely remember you once saying something like: Garmin’s problem is that Apple may get better at sports faster than Garmin gets better at everything else. Wonder what you think about that statement as well from today’s world.)
:-D
Really wish Garmin would have adapted Android Wear instead of making their own proprietary app store with crappy apps. Or at least they could offer some kind of incentive to get developers making decent apps that we want to use and aren’t buggy as hell.
Battery life. If you want a 24 hour GPS/OpticalHR watch, you are simply not going to be able accomplish that with an Android Wear device (as of now). Also, it’s meant to be an awesome GPS watch that allows you to use simple apps, not for browsing Instagram or using Tinder on your wrist.
The great thing about Garmin watches is that they focus on the most important app … bring a watch. You shouldn’t have to charge a watch after a day of moderate use.
Android Wear, Samsung Tizen and Apple watches don’t have good battery life. If they want decent battery life I suspect they will need to create optional “charge on the wrist” backup batteries that work in a similar way as battery phone cases.
Polar make the M600, which runs on Android Wear … and has a short battery life
link to dcrainmaker.com
Seems like the Join app is something that Garmin Connect or Strava should already do.
The cool thing about the Connect IQ platform though is that it lets third party developers like us tie together the APIs offered by Strava et al with the watch platform, meaning the end user gets access to much greater pool of innovation than a more closed system.
Mappicus | dynamicWatch | dwMap | routeCourse
Ray, sorry, but how can you actually report most of this as news? Half of the Apps listed were availabel for months already (Accuweather, Stryd, Strava LSS) and most of the others are not really useful (Gu Gel App, Nuun Active Hydration????).
Pretty lame announcement from Garmin. They are stuck somewhere between Suunto and Apple. Not easy to develop for like Suunto is, so not a lot of user Apps and they don’t have the broader API and appeal of Apple.
You’ve got one of the most popular services in the world – Uber – paired with the most popular watch company I review – Garmin. Seems like pretty obvious news to me. Even yourself seem to acknowledge that this is a broad appeal app ala Apple Watch, thus the importance of it.
As for the other apps, they actually haven’t all been available, nor did they have all of the Connect IQ pieces. For example, I continued to get a lot of people asking about the Trek app, which just came out. Mostly the list is included because many of them I talked about in beta formats some time ago, and I find often people don’t realize things are finally out. That’s all.
There’s other app news from other companies I’ll cover this week, rarely are posts at CES super-deep.
Obviously, the main Garmin news here was the Fenix5. But this didn’t really fit into that post without making it even longer. The secondary Garmin device news is some new handhelds I’ll lightly cover later in the week.
Hi Ray, seems like a few followers are a little cranky today. I appreciate you and your small team providing the info you provide. Keep up the great work, Australia awaits! Nick
I think some of the readers of this blog need to go out for a run, it certainly makes me less cranky when I do.
Hi Ray,
Interesting feature thanks for the heads up. I use google authentication to sign-in to Uber, however I noticed (on the Android Garmin Connect app) that only password and Facebook authentication is available. Do you know if Google is something they have missed or is coming soon?
Cheers
No other Garmin wearables besides the Fenix? I was looking for the next FR 235 :-)
I got an email stating they are pulling the app, no other reason given but does anyone know?