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!
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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.
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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.
very nice! looking forward to stac FC info. also “despise” not “despite”.
Ray…I don’t think that you ‘despise BB standards’. What you despise is *so many* BB ‘standards’. I mean, if there are an unlimited number of variants, is it really a standard? Back in the day…yes, I’m that old…there were really only three BB standards and they were all the same size, but different threading. Now we have variants on variants: BB30, BB30A , BB30-83 Ai, anyone? Bleh.
+1 Bleh
But being able to swap BBS in minutes takes you out of the amateur category and into the semi-pros….whether you like it or not.
—Cheers
That’s true. I guess more generally I despise everything about that portion of the bike. It just shouldn’t be this screwed up. Imagine if water bottle cages and water bottles were that non-compliant?
I had a boss once, who (on the subject of offshore engineering standards) enthusiastically exclaimed: “The wonderful thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from!”
You should put some power meters on the cargo bike!
Yeah, I plan to stick on a power meter pedal at some point to see what things look like for fun, primarily between the different e-assist modes (or none at all).
The bosch motor should be 250W, so actually I am really curious too to see the assist mode power too.
Unfortunately I don’t think you can pair garmin devices to google wifi (at least my forerunner 935 fails). Not the biggest deal bc I can still upload through my phone but mildly annoying.
See here for details – it’s the same issue with Skybell devices: link to support.google.com
Huh. I’ll have to poke at that. A quick test of the Fenix 5 sitting on my desk does seem to work and just transferred successfully.
I had configured it previous to doing the swap, and then used the same SSID/password for the Google WiFi, so it probably doesn’t know any better. Will have to setup a new device and see if there are any troubles.
It used to be dependant how you configured. Typing in the ssid allowed roaming but auto discover used the mac of the router so wouldn’t roam. This is back on the Fenix 2 but Garmin rarely fix the obvious stuff so probably still the problem. One day we might get sport specific units too…
ahh interesting I’ll try setting it up on a different network with the same SSID and pw and see if it fixes my problem.
no luck! But I’m not sure that my iphone mobile hotspot broadcasts in 2.4Ghz, so still need to check another router probably.
We have an LvH Bullitt E8000, but the Urban Arrows we saw in Berlin recently looked very well designed and the details seem well thought out. We look forward to hearing more about how the modern cargo bike works for you.
Hello ray I am a longtime reader of your blog I think about 8 years still when you where in Washington ….
I actually have sneering for 1 week in amersfoort near Amsterdam arriving the 10 and flying back the the 17 , a couple of quick questions do you know if there are places to rent a tri or road bike ? Where is a good place to buy electronic and bine stuff was thinking of buying the garment n bike radar
Are you town would love to meet you if possible ..
Perhaps you could drop a message to get in touch …
Hi Marc!
Good to hear from you. I presume you’re talking in June? If so, that’s a bummer! I’m out of the country those days. :(
I don’t yet know of places to rent road/tri bikes. However, there’s a massive number of comments on my previous Amsterdam ‘Moving’ post, and one of those was someone looking to do the exact same as you. :)
Here’s the exact link to the comment with recommendations on road bike rental spots: link to dcrainmaker.com
For electronics, I’ve been going to Media Markt, which others recommended as well. Similar to Best Buy in the use, FNAC in France/Europe.
Sorry to have missed you!
What ‘standards’ in bottom brackets?! Another bike industry marketing scam.
I wonder if that prototype is the 4iiii power meter that is already behind schedule? Their communication as a company sucks. I feel like I’m part of a kickstarter.
I put my bets on Avio’s power meter.
Was it the Avio Powersense? I’m still waiting on a review for this thing…
I can’t find anything on the Avio anywhere…:(
Friends don’t let friends set up network / Wi-Fi without Ubiquiti gear :)
@Annonymous:
Does the UBNT stuff still require Java to run their administration tool?
I opted for the new Eero system once they (finally!) added IPv6 support. As set-and-forget as my AirPort Extreme, except with better coverage.
Yeah, I used to fall into the land of geeking out the home network….and in certain slices I still do.
Back in the day I had my own Active Directory forest (even with a separate root domain), as well as all computers on said forest, even used Group Policies to apply settings…because, obviously. And of course, there were a few legit servers too. Working at Microsoft certainly helped enable this warped reality. :)
Networking-wise that of course led to all sorts of fun devices, both hardware and software. Remember DD-WRT builds?
These days though, I generally value the ‘just works’ factor, and that I can focus on the things that actually are core to my business (writing/shooting content). Which isn’t to say I don’t occasionally geek out. I’m sure there will be a day where I can’t do something I want to on Google WiFi, but I realize over time how little I end up messing with the WiFi router side of things. As long as it’s fast and I can walk The Girl through basic troubleshooting, that’s my core requirement today.
Does anyone know of a good mesh WiFi solution that can use wired backbone? All the ones I’ve seen use a wireless backhaul which in my scenario is pointless. Power line backhaul would work fine though. I also now fit into the want it to just work category but the crossover between that and the features I want and need seems rare
I realise this isn’t the best place to ask but Rays readership know everything!
In looking at this Google WiFI support page, seems that doing an Ethernet back-haul is permitted: link to support.google.com
I’d argue that article could use a diagram or two, because their text based diagrams suck. But, should work just fine based on decoding that article.
That’s frustrating. Now I need to decide between good WiFi and good privacy. Not a fan of Google at all but I really really want mesh WiFi in the house, garage and garden!
Is it really a mesh network if you wire the APs between themselves? Then it’s just a regular network with several APs no? I thought mesh specifically meant the APs serve as wireless relays… Or am I misunderstanding something?
If it’s about just connecting APs to a network, you could try PoE APs and switches, this way you just have to put up network cables. Makes it look less messy. There’s even some PoE-enabled PowerLine adapters apparently, so you could even dispense with most cabling and PoE switches, if those adapters are compatible with the APs (do check this though there are different standard PoE levels)…
But it will cost a bit, and I don’t know if it fits the “just works” definition. You have systems that are easy to set up software-wise, but you’ll have to put up cables, so you will definitely spend time on it…
Yes it still does require Java, but actually I run their software on a docker image on my Synology so I don’t care, it just works :)
You could also invest in their usb controller key which I haven’t tried.
I cleverly hard-wired up my house sometime with cat6 cable predicting the smarthome of the future and even linking my glamorous shed up to the e-world. Downside: I somewhat failed to predict the rise of wifi.
my retrofit wifi solution has been to re-use my collection of routers as wifi access points at various ‘hard’ network access points around the house.
that’s a sort-of free solution but is a complete PITA to configure and maintain. The out-of-the-box firmware on nearly all the routers seem to disallow the setting of an internet gateway. however they eventually find the gateway/internet automatically (usually, maybe, when they feel like it).
apart from no deadspots, even in the garden, this solution has the benefit of being able to grant kids/guests the access to just one of the access points – this keeps them huddled around it and it can be more easily controlled to add restrictions without affecting my wifi access.
@Gordon yes you are misunderstanding something fundamental about how the network operates. For routing purposes each WiFi point knows the MAC addresses connected to it, and tells the central router which it has and their IP addresses. When a packet is sent this is how it ends up at the right access point to get to the client.
Traditional APs didn’t know you’d moved to a new AP so didn’t update those tables. A loca packet would therefore not forward to the main router. The new AP would tell the router it had the device and often cause a reconvergence event during which no traffic moves – seen as a pause in WiFi traffic to devices.
Mesh allows all APs and routers to update in real time as well as proactively push clients to new APs for better signal or to balance traffic. Corporate kit has had this for years but it’s been pricey.
Using wireless backhaul is useless where wireless doesn’t reach, making it basically a wireless extender. Using wires means you can be certain of seamless signal throughout the property. Also wires means the bandwidth is all used for clients. Wireless uses a WiFi band to backhaul so reduces throughput.
Hope that explains it, it’s not complex but there are some important and subtle differences that break certain scenarios like mine.
Ahh, how did I miss this post? I’ll have to Ctrl+F next time. Big fan of UBNT gear myself.
I know exactly what you mean about wanting stuff to just work these days even if you compiled kernels back in the day, but he’s got a point about the Unifi access points. I’ve installed two AP AC Pro’s at home and the setup was really easy, and it’s been working perfectly since then. Seamless device roaming, perfectly stable and really really fast. And relatively cheap.
Dave:
Netgear Orbi also supports an Ethernet backbone with the last firmware – it’s the way I setup mine.
Was also unwilling to go the Google way on this one, Orbi works well for me (but is also horribly expensive).
Gordon:
A mesh network also allows seamless transfers of portable devices from one AP to the other (they all use the same SSID) – I never managed to get this working with independent APs.
DD-WRT builds? Buffalo still sells gear with built-in DD-WRT (“AirStation Open Source”.) Not awesome, as it’s still DD-WRT and baseline features like IPv6 are a PITA to set up.
For mesh, I’d go with AmpliFi and shy away from Eero (heard too many stories, and the layoffs don’t instill confidence.) For wired backhaul, UniFi APs (and a Cloud Key) against an EdgeRouter PoE box. Once configured, it’s fire & forget, apart from the security patch installs. Best bang for the buck / euro at the moment.
These GoPros must be getting pretty complex. SD card? Check. Battery? Check. Oops, battery not charged. D’oh!
Maybe you need to be an astronaut to figure them out. Hang on, even astronauts get it wrong sometimes.
Some of my best training for epic climbing events is 1 hour rides at ftp into a major headwind ;-)
If you’re riding at FTP why do you need a headwind? I guess it adds that unpleasantness factor but surely the effort is the same with or without wind, why else spend £1000 on a power meter :)
Best bang for the buck for a cheap and efficient mesh network infra the Google Wifi, good choice! (I work in the industry)
Every time Google do something free/cheap/good value you need to ask where their revenue stream is. Chances are you’re the product, not the customer.
To be fair…at over 330EUR for the thresome, it’s definitely not cheap (or free!). And I’m not even sure I’d consider it a good value.
What I would consider it is a functional easy button. :)
Thanks Ray. The high cost actually makes this more attractive for me as it suggests they might not be monetising my data :) if you think I’m paranoid ask someone with an Android to show you the “where have I been” calendar. Scary!
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After yet another higher-end commercial router started getting flaky on me, I gave up and bought a Ubiquiti access point (UAP-AC-LR-US 802.11ac). Note that it’s just an access point, you still need to connect it to a router. It’s supposedly enterprise grade and you can have a bunch of them around the house, all powered over the cable (PoE). It’s been working completely hands-off for half a year, handles 2.4 and 5 GHz devices seamlessly, and resolved all my interference issues. A coworker of mine got the same AP recently and thanked me for the tip.
I bought it because I used their point-to-point radios at work and liked the ease of set up and reliability. Impressed by their software too.
Also, saw someone on an UrbanArrow today with 2 kids in the basket and an empty seat in the back. Cool ‘bike’.
P.S. You call that a SMALL ice cream cone? It’s half her length! My daughter goes nuts for ice cream, it’s like the most amazing thing in the world for her. So yeah, ‘exciting situation’ is right.
Welcome to the Netherlands, where there’s lots of wind even on windless days! When you ride often you sorta go take a look at wind apps like windfinder to see which way you want to ride to first, best start with headwind. And you finally can start to philosophize which is the greater evil: rain or headwinds when you go cycle ;)
I hope your office hunt / cavehunt is going better. Looking forward to see what you end up on.
I just got google fiber and on wifi it maxes out at 250 mbs, but wired it is supposed to get up to 1000… Have you tested performance of this google wifi router by distance from the device?
Put on your helmet jackass. Your kids won’t enjoy growing up with their dad a vegetable or dead.
Cause I see, the picture above: damn I got my Edge 130 last week. Bought it for races, because the Edge 1000 is 100g heavier, and … its new. But for races there are some things missing, like Power Data every second or zero averaging, because I use this all the time on my racing data, and during mtb you have a lot of zeros while downhill riding.
All in all, its a good racing computer, and ideal for races. A nice upgrade is the drinking timer, I often drink to less during races, and this will save me against cramps.
First race tested, got 7th overall at a MTB Marathon, happily he worked the whole race.
Actually, I am surprised you brought the smart trainer out to the deck. I tend to train mostly on my balcony during the winter months because of having a small apartment, and the temperature there is cooler and was postponing getting a smart trainer because I was worried that increased humidity outside would damage it. What is your take on this?
I don’t think there are any issues for taking it out for a short stay. I wouldn’t keep it outside year round, or anywhere when it was raining. But for a nice sunny/dry/cloudy/whatever time – no issues.
Hey Ray welcome to the Netherlands, unfortunately you live in the flat part. But close enough to visit for example the Schoorlse duinen, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Nationale Veluwe Park (including the must see Posbank), the Hevea stuwwal or the N70 trail near Nijmegen. If you like to beat the hills and take small tracks these are the places to visit.
Keep up the good work with your site
Ray is that the Avio PowerSense you tested? What did you find?