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!
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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.
Editorial note, item 4. on Lily links to the GoPro-story on Engadget instead!
Thanks!
Yesterday I spent 1 hour on the net looking for a AW-charging stand that allows night-mode.
I didn’t find anything I liked. Either too expensive or too ugly.
And today you write about that cool and nerdy stand! Just ordered! :-)
Hi Ray,
The survey was deliberately NOT posted to GC users (we did a separate survey on the GC forum)
It was posted to wattage, slowtwitch, here and twitter.
Cheers
Mark
Ahh, gotchya. Though, I’d argue posting to Wattage more or less hits the same target audience. ;)
Don’t get me wrong, it’s really hard to get a wide net for such a survey. The challenge with Wattage/ST – and even to an extent here – is the high-tech element of the participants. Or maybe it’s more hard-core. Sometimes one in the same.
The Blaze lights have been around in London for a while now (they even got a promo slot at the Six Day at the Velodrome!) and they are awesome. I was pretty skeptic at first, but as a bike commuter they work really well- pedestrians are less likely to step out in front of you, and if a faster cyclist is overtaking you can see. An example of Kickstarter done right.
Any news on the new Technogym $$$$ bike trainer?
link to technogym.com
Not that I am planning to buy one, but interested to know why it cost so much more than the others.
Interesting. Had never heard of it till this very post.
That looks interesting
Will be keen to see how it compares with the Neo
Went through some images and it looks rather more like KICKR with but built in optical powermeter and thin aluminium disk with electromagnets as resistance system. Aside of nice looking design It is most likely will behave like a KICKR but with less inertia (no heavy flywheel) but due to a built in powermeter might be more accurate in power measurements department.
Quick and minor correction – the beta firmware update is for the Vivosmart HR+.
What the software usage survey doesn’t seem to differentiate is active use of multiple software packages v’s passive use.
I use Garmin Connect but only as an auto upload site (as that’s the easiest thing to configure my Garmin watch / bike computer to do), I don’t actually ever really visit connect to “use” it. I just get it to auto-magically pass stuff on to TP, Strava or whatever other software I actually use to analyse or plan (or check segments against friends) on. Not saying its a big issue with the survey, but I would be interested in how many Golden Cheetah/Strava/TP etc users actually use connect for anything more than an auto-upload service.
The real point here was to identify the tools that users use, not necessarily the tools they use most often.
The key insight from that section is about the number of tools people use. They are rarely using just 1, more likely they are using 3 or 4. So anyone making software needs to ensure it plays well with others.
Mark
I completely agree. I use GC almost exclusively to upload and make courses. It also serves as a good archive since the original files are downloadable. However, I can’t remember the last time I’ve used the UI for something meaningful.
Well every vendor understands TCX format so there should not be much of a problem in understanding training results. Absence of recognized and all encompassing format for training plan and workouts is a different thing though.
Job opportunities is quite an interesting section for the Weekly Review, as long as it does not take much of your time.
Hi,
I remember a while ago you where preparing the review of 4iii and ROTOR 2INPower power meters, any chance to get them anytime soon?
Cheers,
Fabio
Have you heard anything regarding Fitbit’s plan for the Pebble Core? Alternatively, have you heard of a company developing a similar product. It’s a shame that the Core never reached reality; on paper it was a great idea.
back when the deal was announced it was said the Core was dead – hopefully it will live on somehow
If ever flying through YVR there is an airport gym associated with the airport hotel inside the arrival section of the airport. We just had a 7 hour forced layover there on our way back from Paris compliments of Air France leaving CDG 2 hours late:(
YVR is interesting because if you are entering US on the next flight you go through US Customs to a special terminal area. We had to work to get an escort out so we could get to hotel/gym. You can visit the gym for $18CDN. It has lockers, showers, sauna, endless pool, hot tub, weight equipment, treadmills and some other cardio stations. It looks out over the terminal and beyond that the city of Vancouver.
We were very glad to have the option after a long flight and almost equally long layover! Highly recommended.
Apple also lists some Health & Fitness related open positions.
Hi Ray, just a heads up, I didn’t see it on your site previously, but there has been an Firmware update for the Quark DZero power meters. Apparently a few of the earlier units were shipped with the Bluetooth turned off.
link to quarq.com
Did I miss something? It seems like you haven’t done a hands on review of the Apple Watch Series 2 yet.
I’m interested in the performance of it’s GPS and water-proofing. Also, does it support tracking lap swims and open water swims? If so, how well does the open-water GPS work?
The Apple Watch Series 2 does swim tracking. I’ve used the pool mode and it tracks laps accurately. I actually think it’s been slightly better for me than the V800, 920XT, and 735XT that I have also used. It also has an open-water mode, but I’ve not yet tried it. In addition to the built in app, there are two third party apps (that I’m aware of) that track swims indoors and outdoors as well. Swim.com and MySwimPro. Both offer a few more features than the built in app.
Beyond the swim stuff, the GPS has been fair for me. I compared it to a 920xt and a 735xt and they tended to be within a couple of tenths of a mile for me. I never went indepth to see which GPS track was most accurate though. I’ve also been impressed with the optical heart rate on the series 2. It’s worked better for me than the 735xt did, but I know optical heart rate can be a bit subjective. The heart rate does seem slow to recover from intervals, so for those workouts a chest strap is still in order.
Just my .02
Garmin released an unexpected update for Edge 510 about 2 weeks ago.
some evidence that it screws up devices once installed and causes issues. I have already noticed on mine that if I adjust backlight prior to starting a ride, the “back” button from the backlight adjust has dissapeared. Only way to cancel out of that screen is to start and cancel a ride.
Very poor quality control. suggest to all that you don’t install.
Hi Ray,
Tried to reach you but unsuccessfully so far. Would you be interested in participating as a speaker or moderator at a big annual sporting event ? You can find more details in an email I send a couple of days back.
Let me know,
Ramunas
What’s going on with the podcast ?
We’re recording first thing in the morning (well, that’s the plan anyway). Hoping all goes to plan!
.
Ever since the update, my Garmin Vivoactive HR has been acting up. It randomly stops during my runs — frequently and it also doesn’t count my activity steps towards my overall total. I wonder if it’s just me or are others having problems.
speaking of HRV,
Just noticed that Fitpal has rebranded to Puulse
link to fitpal.com
Ray, have you gotten your Kickstarter unit yet? I’m looking forward to seeing Puulse’s ability to measure HRV and pair that to other devices such as Garmins, etc.
I meant to say, have you gotten your prototype device yet?
No, I haven’t received anything there.
LOL to the VAHR “fixing getting stuck on the update spinner”. When my VAHR got this update, it completely froze on the ‘update complete’ screen and wouldn’t respond to any inputs. Had to let the battery die before hooking it back to the charger and it came back to life.
Wonder if this update will fix the HR monitor? Hasn’t been super accurate during workouts as of late. I’ve done indoor rowing and cycling on a trainer and half my workout will show my HR around 80 or so instead of 150+ where it actually is. Can’t be the stuck-on-cadence bug, at least not for rowing.
Any plans to review the New Balance RunIQ watch?
It’s got Strava.
Yup. One appears to be sitting in my US mail forwarding box, and I’ll probably ship it over today or tomorrow.
Note that the Strava on the unit is merely the standard Strava Android Wear app – so no different whether you have it on this watch or any other watch. They’re just simply pre-loading it.