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.
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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.
Hi! I noticed Garmin released three new watches, D2 Delta this week. Will you review them?
No, I don’t plan to. While I have a huge love of aviation (which is what the D2 is for – pilots), I just wouldn’t be able to really accurately review it without an aircraft and lots of PIC time.
Thats a pity!
Because Ray does not have a plane??
A friend has one of the older models and it’s identical to the normal Fenix in every way except that it is able to auto-detect a flight take off and start an activity. Other than that it’s just a watch face and an extra app. He said it was good for flying but given the other instruments that are present in every plane the main use for it was automatically logging flight hours rather than doing it manually from other instruments.
Pity, because he will not review it.
So, you’re not going to discuss the publicly available images of the Wahoo Rival? It looks so bulky
Also, Polar is coming out with a new watch. The high tier will be the long awaited replacement to the v800. (And it’s going to be round) Is that not newsworthy?
Ray has NDAs so isn’t able to comment on unreleased watches until he’s told he can. You’ll notice that TFK generally also avoids this more now that he’s getting review units. That’s the whole reason the rumour site exists, and that’s often wrong because these companies (Wahoo excepted) have really tightened up their security in recent years. Polar have always been pretty tight lipped until release day, and manage the FCC process well. Garmin always leak a few weeks in advance, usually through a retailer “accident” but they used to put pics on their own site months inadvance which could be found with Google. Garmin also used to be hopeless at FCC filings but are improving which means not much advance info unfortunately.
Wow that Climb sure looks shaky. Is it supposed to move that much side-to-side?
Yup, it’s specifically designed to be able to rock a bit (all sides of the base taper up).
Great to hear the scosche R24 review is nearly ready. Very keen to hear your thoughts on the swimming sync issues
935 beta updates may not be so minor- it seems the 935 update that added Gallileo May have broke open water swim (perhaps like the new Fenix series?). The beta claims to improve this.
Any confirmation from you that the 935 is indeed broken, or if the beta does fix it?
Cheers!
Tim
Yeah, Garmin sent over a Fenix 5+ firmware update that was supposed to address the swim issues I saw. I haven’t had time to try it yet in the water.
I had hoped to last Friday, but other reviews got in the way. This week for sure.
Any chance of a amazfit stratos review?
920XT also had a firmware update:
link to forums.garmin.com
…and people say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
+1 more on your YouTube subscriber list! Have a great week!
Awesome, thanks!!!
I’m looking forward to your Suunto 9 review!
Hi are you going to review the new explova x5 evo anytime soon ? Thanks I love your in depth reviews.
Eric, the CEO of Pebble states “If you make an excellent long-lasting product, you will not earn another dime from that customer for a while”. I now understand Garmin marketing strategy?
About “1) There’s a Tour de France video game: And apparently it really sucks. Neat to see this article written by someone who seems to be a legit cycling fan.”
Disappointing to have such a comment Ray :-(
If your read carefully the test, it doesn’t suck as you say… maybe the tester thought that with a niche game you can afford to make a FIFA-like with 1/100 of the budget, but there are just more to see behind the visual appearance.
He give bad feedbacks on 3D/tech but still it’s far more various and technically better than a Zwift for instance.
We (developpers) are fan of the sport, also (real) cyclists ourself for many of us.
If you want to join one day to our office (Nanterre, near Paris), we’d be delighted to show you how we work and what we do :-)
Hi Clément-
The challenge is that consumers (such as this reviewer) don’t care about your budget, nor should they. You’re competing for the same consumers dollars, no matter the competition’s funding.
In re-reading that review, I struggle to find much positive in there except the 45 minutes of button pressing as a good proxy for becoming tired. I’m not sure how else I could have phrased it. A game that doesn’t account or have any crashes? Crashes are *the epicenter* of how the TdF shifts leaders throughout the stages, either directly or indirectly.
I’ve no doubt there’s a lot to recreate over the course of of 21 stages, and I totally get reusing of assets. But ultimately, that’s sorta the challenge with trying to take-on a game that covers so much land – and the ability (or inability) to execute that.
Cheers.
Thanks for your answer Ray, that’s nice to do it.
I get your point and obivoulsy i understand well that consummer don’t care about the budget but what you miss probably on this point :
– first our game is not in the same price range as a FIFA (+/- 70-80€ vs 40-45€. so yes budget matters a bit (like if you pay 450€ vs 800€ for a smart trainer you don’t get exactly the same experience/techno behind…)
– second, comparing what a football simulation and a cycling simulation provides is a bit tricky. If there were a AAA cycling game that would be FIFA-like, it would be possible to say what you said. Actually it’s a bit like if you would like to want to compare a movie like Avatar and a romance movie.
Lots of players are very happy with this game (some are unhappy too, but you can find dozens of unhappy players too for FIFA or whatever AAA game).. It’s not an ON/OFF thing, you have nuances between. And there is a real story by playing this game.
A video game is not just like a competition of the most beautiful thing, it’s an experience, there are game mechanics and a story that you can write yourself by playing.
The final message i get when I read your stuff is a bit like : don’t give a shit to this game, it’s a trap. A lot of cycling fans could love this game and unlike the original test (that you trust without having yourself tried it), they won’t care that graphism are not “GTA-like”.
About the falls : there are falls, unlike what the tester said! First if you come too fast in a corner without turning you fall (so what the tester said is wrong…sorry) and for other falls like touching another rider, just try to reflect 30 seconds about why we didn’t make that ?
And even the tester say that and understand why we didn’t take this path in the gameplay : ‘Some of this, I suspect, would be tricky to implement in a video game. Who wants to spend an hour summiting Alpe d’Huez, only to tumble from a bottle thrown by an angry spectator? It would feel worse than a blue shell in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe”
The falls are random and sometimes make a bit of drama.
As long as you start a review by “The biggest problem is the visuals” it means (in the video game industry) that the game is not that bad, otherwise you would start elsewhere. It’s really the same as saying : god the biggest problem of this bike is the color paint choice.
From “The basic gameplay” to “unless you tap one of the bumper buttons” it’s quite good/positive but you don’t get it.
Then “can be boring” => yes as a real cycling race => that’s exactly why you have the possibility to make fast acceleration so the race never really last 45 minutes but 10-20 minutes of main actions :-)
For the landscape, even if there are a bit of repeat, it’s really not like said in the test, we have so many environnements, buildings, trees, fields, lakes, from south to north, specific items (like Champs Elysées)….
Again if you want to see yourself one day during the developpement of the game, you’re welcome we can explain and show you what’s behind the scene :-)
As a tech/geek sportguy you should enjoy how all this stuff is process.