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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:
Monday: 5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Tuesday: Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT In-Depth Review
The rest of the week? Out skiing. Obviously.
Fear not, stuff planned for almost every day this week, including the Garmin Fenix 5 In-Depth review!
YouTube Videos I Published:
Here’s some YouTube goodness that I published this past week:
Handful of Sports Tech Deals
Two minor sales of note:
Garmin Forerunner 25 – $20 off (now $119) – My detailed post here
Garmin Forerunner 35 (optical HR) – $30 off (now $169) – My detailed post here
Garmin Forerunner 235 (optical HR) – $50 off (now $279) – My in-depth review here
All sales run through April 1st, 2017. I’m not really expecting anything of note here beyond Garmin continuing their newly rolled out 2017 mantra of ‘always have something kinda-sorta on sale’. Basically, following a page from the TomTom playbook.
Also – I’d point out that unless you’ve got some very specific FR235 features you want, the Vivoactive HR is really the better buy.
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) Adidas has a new fitness plan: But I don’t think it’ll work – for the same reason that Under Armour’s digital health plan struggles. You need 1st party devices. Sure, MapMyFitness (UA) is great and all – but that’s totally on a different level than Adidas. Adidas isn’t even in the same ballpark here.
2) SHFT is up on Kickstarter with a new unit: You’ll remember I highlighted the company in my Running Metrics roundup a few weeks back. In case you’re trying to figure out the difference between this Kickstarter and that version, basically the version I tested is a two-pod variant, whereas this version on Kickstarter is a one-pod variant.
3) GoPro editing tutorial (from a GoPro employee): While there are countless tutorials on YouTube, none are put together by one of the GoPro leads that works on many of the promo videos. Abe’s content is always awesome, and this course is taught internally to GoPro folks. I’d love to see more of this type of stuff!
4) Lily says they still plan to refund…but haven’t yet: My bet here is that they never do refund. At this point they’re in Ch 11 bankruptcy court, and I find it hard to believe that backers will somehow get priority over what are likely larger entities owed money. Still, I filled out my little form nonetheless.
5) 10 Streets to Cycle Down in Paris: Not sure I totally agree with these being the top 10 – but it’s still a good list. Given the list was put together by a bike tour group, they’d have an aim for choosing streets that are super-safe to ride, versus just normal streets that more athletic cyclists would ride.
6) Super League Triathlon Goodness on YouTube: If you haven’t been following this, you can jump right in with a two-hour long video on YouTube from the first day. Cool stuff. Interestingly, this is the same tiny little island I stayed on in January while in Australia.
7) GoPro lays off another 300 staff: 🙁 Hopefully this will wrap up the layoffs. Though I don’t think it would surprise anyone that the organization was just too large for the number/variety of products they were making.
8) Apple to include power meter in next Apple Watch: Probably not, but patents are always fun. Would be semi-interesting to know how this was granted, at least in comparison to longstanding patents for very similar technology from Velocomp (maker of the PowerPod and iBike).
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 Vivofit 2 Firmware Update: Minor tweak.
Garmin Fenix Chronos BETA Software Update: Incorporation of the Fenix5 features into it.
Lezyne Updates: A slew of updates went out this week for much of the Lezyne bike computer range.
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Thanks for reading!
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apparently apple and velocomp worked quite closely together in the past. tut tut apple. I’ve been doing some digging on this.
I think the shft has new innards
adidas or Adidas-not sure they even know.
adidas: “She says the goal will be to make fitness EXPERIENCES that are tailored for each individual,” personalisation is a great idea. I think they are talking more than just about a tailored plan. but you’re probably right about the end-game scenario.
Yeah, there was definitely some early-on collaboration between the two.
But I got the feeling that has since fallen apart like a couple breaking up. Either way, definitely interesting. In many ways, what Apple is doing reminds me slightly of Arofly in terms of potential target market.
It’s too bad on Adidas. They’ve got some smart folks, but as Under Armour has said – if the end goal is to sell clothes, then it’s not the same end goal as a tech-focused company.
The Apple thing is still an application at this point. Would be interesting to see how they deal with the prior art that’s out there.
News on Arofly? You had indicated that you received a unit, and expressed much doubt about it given the shady marketing. Did you try it out?
It’s broke.
Or, they say it is. It doesn’t produce cadence or power, but does produce speed. So they’re sending me another one. They had sent a note prior to me receiving it that it could happen.
Either way, I just don’t see this as anywhere near viable. For example:
A) You *MUST* keep the app open the entire ride. You cannot lock the screen, it’ll stop recording.
B) You can’t export the data in any way, it’s just a number on a screen.
C) And of course, it’s not a BLE standard/ANT+ standard power meter, it only works with their app.
I don’t get it.
Nonetheless, I’ve got another unit coming to me. It arrived in my US forwarding box last Friday, and I’ll be sending stuff over again this week to arrive by this Friday in Paris.
Speaking of patents (and patent trolls), Adidas has been going after everyone (UA, Asics, etc.) the past couple of years for infringements on 10 patents that pre date all the gps running cycling apps. UA settled and is now paying royalties, Asics probably has to settle too.
Article: link to worldipreview.com
You can look up each patent on Google’s patent finder. These are generally pretty obvious “inventions”. Just another datapoint proving the patent system is broken when it comes to software.
Haha can’t wait for an in-depth review of the Arofly. TBH, I am surprised that product shows even speed.
On the Lily question. Unsecured creditors are right at the back of the line when a company is in bankruptcy so unless the assets can be sold for at least as much as the total debt, secured and unsecured, the unsecured creditors will only get cents on the dollar, if anything.
Just signed up for the DCR VIP program at Clever Training and am just waiting for your full review of the Fenix 5 before pulling the trigger! I almost want to just buy it straight away since I know I’m already behind a long line that’s already growing bigger…
Also as a relatively new time follower thank you so much for your super detailed reviews – the size comparisons and weights have been super helpful in helping decide on my first fitness watch. I actually used several caps (from milk caps to cumin) filled with quarters and screwdrivers strapped to an old safety-goggle velcro band. I slept with it and took it to the gym a couple times as well. As a first time buyer and somebody who NEVER used to wear watches, that gave me a LOT of ease of mind. It’s pretty scary to be spending that much money without even knowing if you’ll hate it during actual exercise.
Lastly thanks a ton for your race reports – I just started reading through them this past week. For a year now I had been telling myself my goal was to be an Ironman someday, but it was slowly turning more and more into “someday.” You inspired me to sign up for my first half-iron this fall, and I plan to sign up for a full Ironman next year.
Thank you so much for your hard work and helpful reviews, tips, and race reports. You rock! 🙂
For some reason my wonderful milk cap didn’t load. Also just realized that the questions I’d left on previous articles didn’t have the “notify me of followup comments” checked… still figuring this thing out. Anyways thanks again!
Awesome – appreciate the note, as well as the support through Clever Training.
And fear not, more down to earth size comparisons are on the way shortly! I spent an excessive amount of time in the cookie and candy aisle last night. And bought an excessive amount of things I shouldn’t eat.
Anybody know it the chronos fw will work on a Fenix3 HR? Or be made to work.
And maybe even on the straight Fenix 3.
They are more or less the same hardware, AFAIK…
The chronos has a much more powerful cpu, not the same hardware at all
I have to assume Fenix 3 firmware support is finished from now on? Not that I miss things at this moment.
Excellent question.
Good question indeed. I think the buck of ‘introducing new stuff’ stops here for the Fenix 3. But we will likely see minor tweaks for a little while longer. It’s obviously a best-selling watch and I’m sure folks won’t be amused if all support would end now.
I think Patrick is about spot on.
If only they’d release a fix so that it would stay connected to my pixel phone. I have to restart the watch and phone every day if I want it to stay connected.
Am increasingly noticing that Garmin are highlighting the 735xt over the FR630 in adverts/promotions. Is this the end of the line for the top-end Forerunner?
end-of-line?
I strongly suspect not.
It is due for an upgrade, maybe.
It’s nearly Spring. Perhaps there will be an upgrade/replacement soon 🙂
Who knows?
Cycleops is promoting a “trade in your trainer” event where you get 20% off a magnus or hammer trainer if you bring in your old trainer to one of their dealers. More info here: link to cycleops.com
Probably not ideal for someone who bought a trainer in the last year or two, but definitely worth it for someone like me whose trainer is worth less than $200. The deal ends March 27th.
So could even buy a trainer for less then $100 right now from performance and then trade it in and still save money
I though the sub 2 hour test run was interesting. I got caught up on the Nike plan to beak the two hour mark. Not sure I’m on board with the pacer strategy though.
link to runnersworld.com
Speaking of cratered kickstarters whatever happened to Limits powermeter?
They actually sent out an update today. They’re still ever-so-slowly shipping. But the general consensus (backed by lots of people sending me test results, plus my own results) is the units they’re shipping are better used as paperweights.