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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–Feb 19th, 2017
Monday: 5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Tuesday: Riddle Me This: Running Efficiency Metrics Showdown
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) Half-marathoner cheater caught by finisher photo of Garmin watch: While most of you have seen this over the last few days, if you haven’t – this isn’t to be missed. Also take note of this follow-up post from the author.
2) In 1896 there was Strava for cycling…sort of: Interesting little tidbit on the records that used to be carried with bikes.
3) Ultra-tiny GPS tracker with cellular connectivity: This could be ideal for carefully placing under a bike seat or in a seatpost tube. But I think I’ll hold off on this one until after it’s shipped.
4) Understanding your GoPro Hero5 Black video settings in detail: Abe works for GoPro, but his (somewhat rare) blog posts are always packed full of tiny little nuggets on how to really optimize your footage. Given he’s tasked with creating the launch videos that convince you to buy a GoPro, he’s a master of eeking out everything you can from the units. While some things he notes are obvious, there’s also a lot to be read between the lines.
5) Behind the scenes factory visit at Tacx: This reminds me, I should publish some/all of the photos I took the last time I was there (which are largely different than Titanium Geek’s). Still, more than the behind’s is an interesting tidbit on why the Tacx Neo may smell like something is burning briefly if you throw lots of wattage at it initially.
6) A treadmill for ants: No, not ANT+, actual little ants. For real folks.
7) Two Garmin engineers shot, one killed: Incredibly sad – but even more so given the reported rantings of the suspect. This isn’t the America I know and love. The two engineers were part of the aviation unit.
8) Nike commercial featuring all women athletes: Given the previous item, I’m just gonna leave this here. Note you can enable subtitles at the bottom of the window if you don’t speak Arabic. (via Casey Neistat)
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.
Garmin Fenix Chronos BETA firmware update: This continues the trend of beta updates for Chronos adding in Fenix 5 firmware functionality.
Garmin Index Scale: Performance related items.
Garmin Vivosmart HR Firmware Update: Minor tweaks.
Polar M400 Firmware Update/Un-Update: The previous M400 firmware update has been un-updated. It was withdrawn.
Wahoo KICKR Firmware Update: Ok, all three of these were a few weeks ago and it got caught in the wrong e-mail folder. This is notable as it pulls in some of the KICKR2 accuracy changes to the original KICKR.
Wahoo KICKR2 Firmware Update: Ability to disable ERG smoothing (an item I raised in my review), among other tweaks.
Wahoo KICKR SNAP Firmware Update: Mostly fixes, tweaks.
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Thanks for reading!
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Great video.
Could you please say some words on the shipping situation of the Fenix 5 and Fenix 5x?
Thanks.
Everything I see shows it as on track for March, with likely mid-March initial deliveries. As noted early on, expect that certain SKU’s (there are 13 different options) will ship at different times. And as usual, expect availability to start very slow, and take at least a few weeks to ramp up.
Three people were shot, the two who were targetted for being non americans and someone who tried to help sop the shooter. Lots of detail here: link to washingtonpost.com
The Garmin attack is just terrible. It feels like a terrorist attack. Shooting immigrants—there’s nothing more un-American than that.
Gun related homicide is not exactly “un-American” if you look at the statistics but sadly, there is no real prospect for gun law reform.
Have you heard from anybody with a first generation Kickr that had accuracy problems if the new firmware has actually solved the problems? (I phrased that carefully because if you never had a problem, then it’d be hard to know what effect the new firmware has had.)
I seem to be getting more accurate power numbers when comparing it to my SRM while riding Zwift. It used to generally be 7 to 10 watts higher than my SRM. The last few rides they’ve been within 1 or 2 watts, usually below my SRM. But one user doesn’t make a scientific study.
I didn’t have any problem with previous firmware (1.4.47). I updated to the last one 1.5.63.
Erg mode (using perfpro): seems ok. kickr respond well and faster.
Zwift : terrible. watts are 15-20% higher, I calibrated, did the advance calibration too. But, I didn’t like the feeling. It feel easier for same course.
I came back to 1.4.47.
Just try it, maybe you will have more luck.
Here it is explained: link to youtu.be
My experience on first gen vs Garmin Vector 2S: more accurate/in line with Garmin. Before that there was a reading with much more difference even after spindowns.
@deven: did you perform also the advanced spindown? This will deactivate on gen 1 kickr the strain gauge (value reports 65535).
My Kickr earlier showed 10%+ too high figures. After the update power is within 2W in comparison to Quarq. Fantastic fix!
Interesting. Have to give it a try. Thanks, all.
After the 1.5.63 update I had to drop my FTP from 260 to 220, so that’s a 15% decrease. I have no PM to compare it too but it seems quite a big jump. Hard to know what’s right
I’ve seen a difference between the Kickr and my Garmin Vector 2S of about 30-40Watts, where the Kickr measured more power than the Garmin. As I’ve got more trust in the Garmin, I now see much more in line, even after spindowns and additional external calibration with the Kickr calibration weights.
Interesting…
@Niels: I did perform the advance spindown (value reports 65535). I tested it. I also putted back the strain gauche (wahooligan code), but to the feeling isn’t good. Really not the same as 1.4.47.
@Chris : Erg mode seems OK for me. I’m having problems on a profil course. 300w feels something like 250 (easier).
I’ll try to start all over and see what happen. Thanks all.
Funny i got the same value on the advanced spindown Offset = 65535. Not sure what it means.
How do you reactivate the strain gauge?
I think it’s the value reported when the trainer is not using the strain gauge to measure power (firmware 1.5.63).
Does anyone have a link for the wahoo secret swipe menu instructions please?
Hi DC,
Please, when will you show the Watteam Powerbeat G2 review? There’s a lot of expectations out there.. Thank you
Hi Gil-
You can find it here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Enjoy!
That tracker looks ‘interesting’. Such a shame that the Pebble Core got ditched – it would have been this, and so much more. I’m amazed nobody has come up with a similar device that can stream (and cache) music, as well as tracking location and communicating with the outside world.
Loved the post about the half marathon cheat. I love reading these stories – kinda like a good Sherlock Holmes mystery. And the photo of her watch with the incriminating time – priceless.
Lol, yeah. Sure Nike. They’ll say you’re the next big thing. Right before they rape them and cut their head off. Nice virtue-signaling though.
Ray,
I think the America you know is still alive and well. Generally, middle America is the most peaceful and safe place to live in the world. Look at the crime rate for Lincoln, Nebraska for instance, not all that far from Kansas City and about 400 percent less crime than Paris. Most of us here, actually are terrified by the violence and terrorist activity we see in Paris to the point my wife now refuses to travel there. That said, Kansas City is extremely dangerous having recently made the top 10 most dangerous cities in the U.S. Probably far more dangerous than Paris. Certainly this incident is unfortunate. However, Kansas City’s reputation is far and wide. I’m 6 hours away but know very well where not to go in Kansas City. Particularly, there are certain late night areas you just shouldn’t be in. My daughter has softball tournaments there a couple times a year and you simply don’t stay in cheap motels or certain parts of Olathe and Kansas City. My skin color would keep me from safely going to certain parts of Kansas City after dark. I’m a wasp. There is no one to blame for this senseless act other than the accused but just like traveling to any major city in Europe or elsewhere, you better use some common sense about where go and what time of day it is.
I won’t go projecting Ray’s implications when saying that this is not the America he knows and loves. My interpretation is that his comments were pointed in the direction of the comments made by the man who pulled the trigger.
Yes, parts of Kansas City are dangerous, but that can really be said for just about any major metropolitan city in the America. As for Olathe itself, it’s probably one of the more safe communities in the KC metro area; having lived/work there.
My specific comment is that the America I know and love doesn’t go around shooting immigrants based on the color of their skin or their nationality.
Regrettably though, the America I know and love…still loves to kill each other otherwise with guns every day.
There was another Nike Women video last week, and it got viral in russian-speaking countries. I’d even say it was quite a success for Nike.
link to youtube.com
On that Tacx behind the scenes it mentions how the neo can rock back and forth by 5 degrees. Is it only the neo that has that and not their lower end trainer? How are other trainers in this regard? Don’t remeber seeing any comments on how much side to side movement other trainers have (well beside the rock and roll)