Heads up! Massive Sale on Garmin, Wahoo, Tacx, Suunto, Polar, Trainers and more! There’s two huge sales going on – first is a major Garmin sale, including $100 off new Forerunner 945 and $150 off the Fenix 5 Plus. Along with the Varia Radar, Garmin Edge 130 & 1030, HR straps, sensors, and plenty more.
Plus there’s the big semi-annual 20% off sale, with all major trainers and power meters included. Wahoo KICKR’s, Tacx NEO’s, Elite Direto’s and Suito’s, Saris H3, Kinetic, R1 4iiii Fliiiight, Stages, and many more. 20% off means you’re saving $200+ in most cases. Not to mention the GPS units from Garmin, Polar, COROS, Lezyne, Suunto, Apple and others.
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:
Well that week turned out busier than I expected. Ironically, most of my time was actually spent on prep of other things as I noted last week. With Eurobike looming, there’s a lot to get tested, photographed, videoed, and written about!
Sports Tech Deals This Week:
Below is the current list of deals in the sports tech realm.
Current Deals
Product
Sale Price
Amazon
Clever Training
Other site
Sale Notes
Copyright DC Rainmaker - Updated November 17th, 2019 @ 5:19 pm
Note: I haven't gotten this trainer in to test yet. It's one I'm super excited about after trying it at Eurobike, but I have no idea on things like accuracy yet.
Feedback Sports Omnium Over-Drive Portable Trainer - Normally $399
Note: This is a random Amazon deal that will probably disappear. But, it's a great sensor for Zwift usage as it's not just dual ANT+/BLE, but dual-BLE atop that (so it can do two concurrent Bluetooth connections and unlimited ANT+ connections).
⚡ ⚡ This is the first sale we've seen on this unit, which only came out this past spring. It's also an Amazon-specific sale and is highly unlikely to last long. This is one of the main units I use for my day to day riding and testing.
⚡This is a strong deal on the Fenix 5 Plus series. This is for all models/variants. Obviously, the Fenix 6 came out two months ago, so don't expect major new feature updates on the Fenix 5 Plus - but still, it's a strong option.
Down to $399 is a substantial deal. It's the Fenix 5 (non-Plus), so don't expect much in the way of major firmware updates. But still, at that price it's solid.
⚡ This is a fantastic deal right now. The price on Amazon is fluctuating a bit, but either way - by far the lowest we've seen. Awesome if you're looking to get into triathlon or just want a really capable running/cycling/swimming watch.
⚡ This is my favorite chest strap these days (ANT+ & two concurrent BLE connections). It's never on sale, so this is basically just Amazon offering it at a discount for fun. Take it and run - probably won't last long.
This is the odd (and unheard of) Amazon sale. This strap includes Running Dynamics, but is ANT+ only. Honestly, unless you really want Running Dynamics, I'd recommend getting the HRM-DUAL instead (it's dual ANT+/BLE).
⚡⚡ These days this isn't just a Garmin thing anymore. Wahoo and Hammerhead also support the radar, with Stages coming soon! Also, fun fact: This is *by far* the most ordered item on this page on the opening day (Friday, Nov 15th, 2019).
⚡ This isn't a huge deal per se, but it is my favorite speed sensor for a commuter bike as it just quietly tracks all your mileage in the background and syncs it to your phone. Also, this falls in the bucket of 'random Amazon deals that will probably disappear'.
BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND ONLY! This is a huge deal, as the GoPro Hero 8 Black itself is $399, and then the Shorty Stick is another $40 (my favorite GoPro accessory), and the head mount in the $30 range, and the 32GB card in the $10 range. Again, deal doesn't start till Nov 28th.
⚡ This is one of my favorites, and I use it constantly for HR accuracy testing comparisons. Note that the CT VIP deal is a better deal, but since you can only redeem that for one product - this is handy if you still want a nice little deal. Deal varies based on which color you get.
⚡⚡ REI Deal: One of the top three trainers, but by far the top trainer on the market for ERG mode (so if you're a TrainerRoad user - this be the one!). Note: CT has them for 20% off, while REI has them at 25% off, the 'Other' link is REI. Enjoy!
⚡ Clever Training Deal: One of the top three trainers, but by far the top trainer on the market for ERG mode (so if you're a TrainerRoad user - this be the one!). Note: CT has them for 20% off, while REI has them at 25% off, the 'Other' link is REI. Enjoy!
This is a great little starter unit that supports full control in Zwift/TrainerRoad/etc... It's not super powerful (meaning, it won't without a 500w ERG mode session), but if you're just getting into things it's not a bad place to start at all - especially on sale. Note: REI Members-only sale.
This is a simple bundle of the Wahoo KICKR 2018 + the KICKR CLIMB, for $1,599. Pro Tip: Keep in mind that if you have two people in your household, both CT VIP members (which is free), you could achieve this same thing for less by purchasing both units individually at 20% off. However, if you lack friends, then this is a solid deal!
⚡ This is a great little deal on this unit, which now as of recently also connects to the Garmin Edge devices plus the Forerunner & Fenix devices for sending urgent messages sans-cell signals
Not a lot this week, and I don’t expect much more till we get to September.
With the Tour de France in town last week I had a small gaggle of visitors to the cave. For example, Cycling Maven and Hannah came through and we had a chat at a café as well (the full interview will be published a bit later), but there’s a short tidbit in here in the meantime:
And then the folks from the Zwift Podcast also stopped by as well. We chatted about trainers and what to expect at Eurobike. A second and longer section is coming up soon as well:
2) Why UCI’s detection method isn’t all encompassing: This is a pretty cool video and highlights some of the challenges. Note that I don’t believe however some that say using heat is the answer either. There’s just too much radiant heat on a hot summer day in many places that it likely won’t show up (all thermal images I’ve seen of bikes with motors are taken on cooler fall/spring days). But, happy to be proven wrong there as I do have a thermal imaging camera but lack a motorized bike. Maybe at Eurobike I can find one to demo on a hot summer day. In unrelated news, the YouTube channel this video is from is geek heaven. Not totally sports-tech geek, but like 10GB Ethernet adapters geek. Never seen it before, but definitely subscribed now!
4) Man swims to work each day: And the kicker? He’s not living in a warm place either! And he even takes his laptop along. (via Matt)
5) Las Vegas-Reno/Tahoe now wants the Olympics: Not content with just getting Interbike in 2018, they want the Winter Olympics in 2030. Yes, I said Winter. Btw – they’re almost 500 Miles/700 KM miles apart. If there’s anything I hate more in any Olympic games bid is where venues are spread on the other side of the country. It’s a *city bid*, and thus events should be roughly in that city. Drove me nuts at London 2012 that you had to take a train more than 2 hours away out of the city to see a football match. Or that in Beijing 2008, some events (equestrian) was held in Hong Kong – 2,000 KM away. Grr…
6) Wanna be a Quarq product manager? There’s now an opening for you. This position wears a lot of hats. It’s the person that actually works with me to get me products, hear my feedback (which is really your feedback), as well as deal with other media too. It’s a pretty cool job. The previous person moved out of state, opening this position. (Note: I often include interesting/unique sports tech job positions in the Week in Review, if you have one, send it along.)
7) Deliveroo using GoPro’s due to acid attacks: First of all, WTF!?!, who is acid attacking bicycle delivery people? Don’t f with my Phad Thai delivery girl please. But second, GoPro cameras to catch the people (hopefully). Interesting.
8) US Army issues order to immediately cease DJI drone usage: Due to concerns around how the location and photo/video data is being streamed back to DJI (live or delayed). This is actually totally understandable, and perhaps this action will lead to DJI offering more options to consumers in the same vein. I think DJI would be mistaken to take this action lightly, as this is something that could quickly spiral out of control for them from a PR standpoint. A few national newscasts about it, then every local TV station is mentioning it (because they love to talk about fear of drones), and before you know it other governments are issuing the same thing. (via Sunny)
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 FR935 BETA firmware update: Umm…balls that’s a massive firmware update. It more or less matches what the Fenix series has had over a while, just in one gigantic drop. Seriously, just go read the list.
Great stuff again Hi Ray, lot’s of rumours around the upcoming Garmin Edge 1030 release. Any chance that we’ll get news/insights from you on this anytime soon?
Indeed. Crazy reading about the average depth of snow (5cm) in that region the ski areas are going to be made. link to businessinsider.fr
Still, I see this more of an IOC issue than a Beijing issue, as odd as that may sound. The fact that there were only two bidding cities is core to it – the entire ‘thing’ that is the Olympics has become too big, primarily due to commercialization – not necessarily athlete/spectator aspects (especially the winter games).
And I think IOC sees that too. With them doing the dual-awarding of Paris 2024 and locking in LA for 2028 – that’s them saying ‘Please someone take 2028, else we’re hosed’.
Having been to a number of Olympic games now (2002/2006/2010/2012) – you see just how much waste and overhead goes into the entire sponsor aspect. Both in terms of money, but also just space. All of these supposed sponsor events take up space, which in turn require more housing/hotels and more people to support it. It’s an endless cycle. All of which then requires bigger and bigger cities. The number of athletes in the summer games actually hasn’t much changed in 20+ years (roughly 10,000).
On the man swimming to work, the interesting point would be to find out if he got fined or anything after the news article, since there was a sign stating that swimming was not allowed.
It’s a shame you couldn’t make it for last year Rio Games (for obvious reasons). All events were inside the city, even rowing and sailing which usually are held far away from Olympic city. Everything in my backyard was just perfect.
On the other hand, if you stay in Paris until 2024 it will be in your backyard. 😀
At Beijing the equestrian events were in Hong Kong for quarantine reasons.
All Olympics have events outside the city when you look at the football competition, although you would have thought with the number of stadia in London they could have managed to keep that event just in London. For London’s case, I think taking the football tournament around the country was a sweetener for the UK tax payer who had to foot the bill….
Football in the Olympics though? That’s a whole other argument….
I wonder wether there are any other sports which have mechanical doping issues.
I’m watching the London 2017 Worldcup atletics especially the Javilin Trow (I’m dutch and we call it speer-trouwring thaught it was the same in english) . I noticed how the speer was not floating nicely. I’m not technical or so but can imagine a weight which can move and stabilize the whole thing…
@Bogdan: In F1 racing Renault used a “mass damper” which was basicly a weight suspended by two springs. It was tuned so that it prevented the car moving/vibrating the car in vertical direction. With a little bit of ingenuity one could build a miniature version of that in a javelin, keeping the total weight the same of course. It was later banned.
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Ray – there was also a Garmin Forerunner 935 BETA firmware update on August 4th – link to www8.garmin.com
Many thanks.
Ahh, nice catch. I had written the post on Friday (and then realized it didn’t actually publish Saturday evening), so didn’t catch that one. Thanks!
A long list of updates but nothing particularly exciting. I’m hoping they add the 24×7 stress tracking mentioned in Ray’s Vivosmart 3 review soon.
Great stuff again Hi Ray, lot’s of rumours around the upcoming Garmin Edge 1030 release. Any chance that we’ll get news/insights from you on this anytime soon?
I don’t think Ray has ever taken the bait on this type of question 😉
Correct
Ray – Don’t get too cross but for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm five months earlier…
I rest my case.
Test to pay my $20!
Looks like you have 2 items labeled as #2 in the “Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs” section.
Sweet! Now I’ve got more items in my list!
You’re going to ‘love’ the 2022 winter Olympics. In Beijing …
Indeed. Crazy reading about the average depth of snow (5cm) in that region the ski areas are going to be made. link to businessinsider.fr
Still, I see this more of an IOC issue than a Beijing issue, as odd as that may sound. The fact that there were only two bidding cities is core to it – the entire ‘thing’ that is the Olympics has become too big, primarily due to commercialization – not necessarily athlete/spectator aspects (especially the winter games).
And I think IOC sees that too. With them doing the dual-awarding of Paris 2024 and locking in LA for 2028 – that’s them saying ‘Please someone take 2028, else we’re hosed’.
Having been to a number of Olympic games now (2002/2006/2010/2012) – you see just how much waste and overhead goes into the entire sponsor aspect. Both in terms of money, but also just space. All of these supposed sponsor events take up space, which in turn require more housing/hotels and more people to support it. It’s an endless cycle. All of which then requires bigger and bigger cities. The number of athletes in the summer games actually hasn’t much changed in 20+ years (roughly 10,000).
It looks like Power2Max has sales in both Europe and North America right now.
On the man swimming to work, the interesting point would be to find out if he got fined or anything after the news article, since there was a sign stating that swimming was not allowed.
It’s a shame you couldn’t make it for last year Rio Games (for obvious reasons). All events were inside the city, even rowing and sailing which usually are held far away from Olympic city. Everything in my backyard was just perfect.
On the other hand, if you stay in Paris until 2024 it will be in your backyard. 😀
At Beijing the equestrian events were in Hong Kong for quarantine reasons.
All Olympics have events outside the city when you look at the football competition, although you would have thought with the number of stadia in London they could have managed to keep that event just in London. For London’s case, I think taking the football tournament around the country was a sweetener for the UK tax payer who had to foot the bill….
Football in the Olympics though? That’s a whole other argument….
I wonder wether there are any other sports which have mechanical doping issues.
I’m watching the London 2017 Worldcup atletics especially the Javilin Trow (I’m dutch and we call it speer-trouwring thaught it was the same in english) . I noticed how the speer was not floating nicely. I’m not technical or so but can imagine a weight which can move and stabilize the whole thing…
@Bogdan: In F1 racing Renault used a “mass damper” which was basicly a weight suspended by two springs. It was tuned so that it prevented the car moving/vibrating the car in vertical direction. With a little bit of ingenuity one could build a miniature version of that in a javelin, keeping the total weight the same of course. It was later banned.
link to formula1-dictionary.net
I hear good things about its features.