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Week in Review–Feb 19th, 2017

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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–February 12th, 2017
Tuesday: Apple Watch Series 2 and Nike+ Edition: Sport & Fitness In-Depth Review
Friday: 4iiii Precision Pro Dual Left/Right Power Meter In-Depth Review

DCR Podcast!

Here’s a handful of the topics discussed in this past week’s podcast:

– It’s a 43-minute long episode!
– Posting schedules and posting regularity
– Upcoming products I’m unboxing and how I do photos/videos of them
– Fashion models mid-podcast
– The whole (business) world of unboxing videos online
– The Apple Watch Review
– Getting back someone’s stolen HR strap
– Power meters for single chainrings
– The DCR Analyzer is out!
– We end with about 10 minutes of hilarity from a conversation of ours recorded pre-podcast

Listen to the full podcast here on the Podcast player, or just download the audio file from the same spot.

February Sports Tech Sale Continue:

In case ya missed it a week or so ago (details here), here’s the list of active sports tech deals going on over the next week or so.  One new one found this week is the Polar M450 GPS cycling unit for $129.  That’s a sweet deal!  Apparently, it had flirted sub-$110 a bit over the last few days too.  Just some random Amazon.com thing.

ProductSale PriceAmazonOther siteSale Notes
Apple Watch Series 9 - $106 off!
$399/$499 (cellular)
$292I have no idea why this specific Apple Watch Series 9 combo is on sale this much more than the other editions (which are on sale to $320), but hey...the one I've linked to is the Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Loop, and is currenetly listed as new at $293. Else, it's $329 ($70 off).
Garmin Epix (Gen 2) & Sapphire - $300 off
$899/$999
From $549⚡ This deal is back, and at $549 for the base edition, and a mere $599 for the Titanium/Sapphire editions, it's a very strong deal. Sure, not as stong as Uncle Amazon back during Black Friday at $449, but those days are gone. Also, this Epix series just got another huge slate of new features this past week, and continues to get equal new features to the Epix Pro units.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$249This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!$299This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics. This model also includes offline music such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
Garmin Forerunner 55 - $30 off
$199
$169This is a good little running watch, though, it also supports plenty of other sport types as well. This is the normal sales price.
Garmin Forerunner 955 - $100 off!$399This is one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and it's back down to the lowest price ever. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. Note this is the base edition without solar. It'd be hard to find any better deal in sports watches today, from any company (given this has full mapping, tons of new features even this week, etc...)
Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: $100 off!
$499/$599
$499See everything I said above on the Forerunner 955 base, except this one also has solar.
Garmin Index S2 WiFi Scale - 20% off
$149
$119I use this scale, merely for the weight tracking functions (not body fat). It works just fine, and integrates with the rest of your Garmin data. If you aren't in the Garmin ecosystem, there's plenty of cheaper options.
Garmin Instinct 2 Series - $60+ OffFrom $238⚡The Instinct 2 base is from $238 (on Amazon), a very solid deal - especially with all the major software updates it's had over the last year. It's also from $249 at REI.
Garmin Instinct 2X - $50 off$399This is the second we've seen the Instinct 2X on sale, and since announcement it's received a huge slate of firmware updates and new features. It's best thought of as an Instinct 2.5, given the slightly different internals compared to the rest of the Instinct 2 series.
Garmin Instinct Crossover - $50 off$349
Google Pixel Watch 1 - $150 off$199While the new Pixel Watch 2 just came out last fall, the Pixel Watch 2 got almost all the software features via software update. The Pixel Watch 2 does have a slightly better optical HR sensor, and better battery life, but otherwise is relatively similiar. In fact, the Pixel 1 just got another pile of software updates last week.
Polar Pacer - $70 off!$166This is about as low as it gets price-wise for the Polar Pacer (base unit).
Polar Pacer Pro - $70 off!
$329
$269
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 - $50 off$249
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic - $100 off$299This is a reasoanbly solid deal for this watch, which came out last summer.
Tacx NEO 2T Smart Trainer (+ Free Motion Plates) - $400 off!
$1,399
$999⚡ This deal is back, except now they've sweetened it by adding in the $300 Tacx Motion Plates for free (via rebate). So, in the event you didn't pick up before, go forth.

And of course, using any of the links above helps support the site.  Enjoy!

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) How Science Works – Techniques and Challenges of Doping Control: An interesting look behind the data and science of how dopers get caught, and how labs go about testing.

2) Outdoor Retailer set to leave Salt Lake City: While OR has historically flirted with such temptations in order to get better deals, this seems like a much more permanent thing – in large part because it’s more the key exhibitors rather than the organizer itself.

3) Bike computer meets action cam meets lights: Basically, everything but the kitchen sink.  DCR reader Gunnar asks ‘What do you think?’: So…while their main site is a dearth of information, I did find one YouTube video they shot which actually shows some promise in terms of being more functional than their site lets on.  So that’s good.  It’s an interesting concept for city bikes, though would be too beastly for most race/road bikes.  However, their use of Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter is a huge red flag.

4) The SHEcret Pro: On Australia’s Summer of Cycling. For those not familiar, this is the women’s version of the famed ‘The Secret Pro’ series. Always interesting.

5) Sports Tech Jobs: Notable this week is Saris (of PowerTap/CycleOps) is looking for a few different folks.

6) Garmin Connect ‘Import’ Option Missing? At first, you might think so. But in reality it was just moved to the big “+” icon in the upper right corner.  Hard to know if it was UI cleanup, or designed to break 3rd party apps leveraging it for various uploads.  Either way…at least it’s still there thankfully.  Almost had to pull out my ‘Watch what happens when DCR gets really pissed off!’ card late last week over it.  It’s a feature I often use, because I don’t necessarily link all of my Garmin devices to Garmin Connect automatically (mostly because I hit the max allowable), so this allows me to manually upload files to share on occasion.

7) I’ve got no more items. My ‘Notepad’ list of items for the week was wiped out last night when my computer decided to restart.  And no, I didn’t press save.  Sorry!

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.

CycleOps Magnus Trainer Firmware: This came out a week or two ago, but I forgot about it.

CycleOps Hammer Trainer Firmware: Same as Magnus – definitely worthwhile if you’ve got either

CycleOps/PowerTap Virtual Training App: While I don’t normally include apps here, this is specifically notable because of the changes to displaying PowerTap P1 advanced metrics.

Garmin Fenix Chronos BETA firmware update: This continues to include updates for the Fenix5 series into the Garmin Chronos series.  Again, this is a BETA firmware.

Polar Loop 2 Firmware Update: Minor bug fixes and phone compatibility fixes.

Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT Firmware Update: Increase in data fields per page, change in fonts, few other items.

Thanks for reading!

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46 Comments

  1. Sam

    Still using windows I see 😉

  2. TR

    > when my computer decided to restart.

    Sounds like the lovely new Windows update policies. ?

  3. Timothy F.

    I noticed on the bike computer video they never showed the screen other than a lock bike screen. So I would say its safe to assume at this point all they have is a box with two lights and a horn.

  4. MAGNUS

    I was going crazy trying to figure out how to manually upload a file… I was checking the GC Status page, forums, etc… Took a while but eventually found it in the giant “+” button.

    Also, where’s the gimbal review?

  5. Stephen M.

    Google Sheets/Docs/Slides/Keep!

    Never click save again!

  6. gm

    WRT Garmin, the most frustrating thing is trying to load a course onto a device. The only way I’ve found is to import this as an activity, then save as a course (and then delete the activity, hopefully before it syncs to Strava).

    They could’ve added intention actions on Android/iOS to open them in Garmin Connect and then sync to a device, instead – a huge mess.

    • Yup, 110% agree.

      It’s funny that when the Fenix series first came out (what, like 4+ years ago?), I noted at the time that the whole route/course creation process was far too dependent on a desktop computer, you couldn’t just create a Garmin Connect route on the mobile app and push it to the watch.

      Ironically, then they had/released a standalone app to do roughly just that, except…not in Garmin Connect. That app eventually died as opposed to integrating it in.

      And now here we are in 2017 with the new Fenix5 and mind-bogglingly still no way to quickly create a route via mobile phone in Garmin Connect and then transfer it easily to the watch.

    • loshko

      You could use dwatch, – though it’s 3rd party

    • Freek

      When making a course I usually create it on an iPad using the Garmin connect webpage (saving often), then go to the garmin connect app on my phone just to send it to my phone.
      It’s not hard but a little weird. Also that there is no garmin app for the iPad.

  7. Peter

    I had an update come through on Saturday for my Wahoo Elemnt. From what I can see the fonts have changed on the screen with the addition of a symbol above the speed indicating whether the current speed is above or below the average for the ride (not that useful really). Not sure if much else has changed.

    • Ahh, good catch. Looks like the update notification went into my ‘Clutter’ folder. Grrr…

      Details here: link to support.wahoofitness.com

    • Dan Kothlow

      The triangle symbol used to act as a decimal point in the speed field, as part of the data itself. Take a look at some of the marketing screenshots, and you’ll see it in the data field itself. Now it’s moved to the label. IMO, it’s less useful there, I look at data when I’m riding, not labels.

      Also, the full width 4th data field is now gone, with the addition of the 11th data field. Some liked the full width 4th data field, some didn’t. I guess the “didn’t” were more vocal to Wahoo. I think that it was something that made the ELEMNT distinctive, at least visually. Now, it looks more like the others.

      If you want to be different, you have to be different.

    • I honestly just wish I could have a static layout, period.

  8. PeterF

    Is Garmin’s import of Fitbit data working for anyone? It accepts my files (after some editing, ie removing the “body” or “activity” line from the CSV), but the data does not show in the Connect dashboard.

  9. Fabrizio

    Hi Ray, there’s also a Bepro firmware update:
    link to bepro-favero.com

  10. rodrigo link

    Adidas killing miCoach to focus on Runtastic?

  11. Phil

    With Tapiriik I’m not able to synch activities anymore from strava to Garmin Connect… in tapiriik dashboard it says is synched but it’s not in my GC activity page.
    is it so also for someone else? 🙁

    thanks

    • vince Cammarata

      Same here. Stuck on TrainerRoad workout, and now the server is offline. Just reupped my yearly subscription. Bummer

    • Yeah, it’s likely due to the Garmin re-positioning of that button that’s killing those apps. They’re likely using that behind the scenes up fake an upload of data to your account. Garmin *really* hates it, but I have zero sympathy for them there. They’ve had years to implement an API for uploading files from other platforms, and keep stalling at every turn for reasons that defy any logic. It’s all about the platform.

      What’s funny about it is that someone thinks it’s bad to allow other devices to upload to their platform. In reality, it’s the best marketing thing ever. Just think about it: What company wouldn’t love to have a ready-made database of all of their competitors customers? In this scenario, when a Wahoo customer (for example) uploads an ELEMNT file to Garmin Connect, it’s telling Garmin that the customer is on the ELEMNT. So why not display subtlety targeted ads about how your product is better than the competition (if it is)? It may also tell Garmin that the customer is on the ELEMTN for cycling, but uses three other Garmin products for running, action cams, and hiking. Maybe there’s a reason for that? Maybe they’d trend the data and see that the customer is spending more or less time with the Garmin product vs their competitor, and maybe they’d proactively try to understand if it’s a meaningful trend.

      The ‘cost’ of hosting those files is laughable, because the numbers are just so small. It’s likely a few bucks in storage costs at most at the end of the month (in total). But heck, let’s for fun pretend it was something totally fake and unreal like $30K a month for all customers (it’s not, really, it’s not). That’s nothing for a company of Garmin’s size to spend on marketing or an ad buy. By enabling data uploads for competitors, they not only get to ensure the right audience sees the ‘ads’ (or promos or whatever you want to call them), but heck, they know all sorts of useful information about that customer.

      Sigh…it’s an argument I have every time I chat with them in person.

    • Eli

      Seems like there isn’t much effort in general to use the data or everyone uploading to figure things out besides some of the stuff strava does.

    • Eli

      Thinking the algorithms that golden cheetah, training peaks, etc use the figure out fatigue from wattage

  12. Reed

    I am curious why you think that the use of indiegogo is a red flag?

  13. Todd

    I also noticed that the Garmin Import had moved.

    Is there somewhere that Garmin announces these kinds of changes, or do they just leave us to figure it out? It is interesting how much new information I get about exercise tech from DCR rather than the companies that produce the product.

    • No announcement method I’m aware of. They have a Garmin blog, but it’s rarely used for stuff like this. More just random PR announcements and occasional Garmin Connect IQ stuff.

      I found out the hard way when it disappeared. Then I got increda-angry. Then I did some digging on the Garmin Forums and found said solution. Then I was happy again.

    • Todd

      I wasn’t angry, just confused. I found it by accident before reading your blog, but find it interesting how much better you are at distribution of news of their changes than they are.

    • Chris

      Big thanks for the hint…. I nearly got crazy finding the Upload-Button !!!

  14. Lee

    Hi ray. When is the definitive review of the tom tom runner 3 coming out. Waiting on your review befor I take the plunge and buy one

    • Working on it!

      Overall, it’s a nice little unit. Though basically it’s just a Spark 1 with a few minor tweaks, so if you generally like the look of that review, then this will likely check the boxes. Since that initial review though there has been changes/adds like the daily RHR readings.

  15. Alex

    There was a firmware update for the KICKR released on 3rd Feb 2017 which I can’t see listed anywhere in your week in review posts.

    I applied it to my Gen 1 KICKR and found that it no longer broadcast power/cadence information on ANT+ or BLE. I had to roll the firmware back to 1.4.26 to get it working again. Not sure if you know anything about what happened there? Should this only be applied to Gen 2?

    • This one? link to support.wahoofitness.com

      It should definitely be Gen1. I haven’t heard anyone else note that issue. Maybe try applying it again – and then fully restart the unit if you didn’t (power off)?

      Good catch on missing that one. I had some of the Wahoo firmware alerts end up in the wrong e-mail folder, so missed them unfortunately.

    • Alex

      Yes. That’s the one.

      Interesting. I certainly did restart it (pulled power out). And then tried to find it again using the Wahoo utility app on my phone and then ANT+ on my laptop with TrainerRoad.

      I guess I’ll try it again at some point and see if I have better luck!

  16. Scott

    As for deals, I’m seeing the Powertap GS hub at $299 on their site. Is that a fire sale or what? Being discontinued, or nobody wants straight pull spokes?

    • It’s been that way quite some time.

      Basically there’s a few reasons:

      A) You’ve got the cost to thread it onto a wheel, which will cost you at least $100-$150 at most LBS
      B) It doesn’t support the new G3 BLE or dual ANT+/BLE caps, so also a bit limiting there.

      Still, ignoring those issues – if you can get it threaded cheaply, it’s a fantastic deal if you’re on ANT+ (i.e. Garmin).

    • Scott

      yeah, I seen now that it’s been a few months. The specs say it is dual ANT+ & BT smart and I figured it would be good-to-go for connecting w/ my Polar V800, so I assumed it would work. Am I wrong/ in for a nasty surprise?
      no better way to pass the time when the snow flies than to lace up some wheels!

    • Huh. Weird, I wasn’t aware of them making a dual capable GS. I’d want to double-check that with them.

  17. Eli

    New trainer on kickstart? link to kickstarter.com
    (or maybe I missed your post)
    But something seems wrong with the design as the flywheel is tiny and other things seem off

  18. Phil A

    You should give Onenote a try for your notepad docs. It syncs to OneDrive and can be used across all your devices (Windows/Android/Apple), so that no matter where you are you can add something to it.

    • Oh – I love Onenote (after all I worked for Microsoft for more than a dozen years). For me, I like Notepad as it’s the great equalizer of things like fonts/text size/etc… It’s also instant.