Heads up!!! Here’s your massive Cyber Monday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $619, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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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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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Do you have a privacy policy posted?
- Why haven’t you yet released a review for XYZ product you mentioned months ago?
- Will you test our product before release?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
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- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
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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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Curious if a 935plus will be on your other wrist soon. Currently all major stores seem to have no or very little amounts of the FR935 on stock and some even report a 3-4 weeks ordering time. I know there is NDAs etc but would you recommend to buy a 935 right now? ;)
The 935 is a truly excellent watch, if you need one buy one. If there were a plus version in the works, it will cost more than the currently discounted 935 anyway. Summer is quickly running out in the northern hemisphere too, and with Garmin’s typical stock constraints at launch you’d be looking at Christmas before you got one probably! If it exists.
All in all Ray, it sounds like a nice week. I’m envious of that pristine cycling path. If I tried to take a shot over the handlebars of my ‘nice’ cycling path, it looks akin to one of those “don’t text and drive” commercials with a blurry car coming right at you. Good for the reflexes, bad for the blood pressure. Hey, being that you’re a fellow USAT member – I didn’t know if you know Jim Hix, but he passed this week while competing in the USA Triathalon. link to tulsaworld.com
Haha…yeah, more than a decade of taking photos while riding helps. :) That and Lightroom…
I didn’t know him, but it wasn’t a good week for triathletes – both on and off the course. :( Sorry to hear of his passing.
I think it’s also a lot to do with the roads. Any road ride from my house has to include a stop at the one mile mark to tighten up my headset and handlebar bolts lest I end up with my handlebars pointed at a 45 degree angle from my front wheel (which I must admit gets some interesting looks from oncoming vehicles) You don’t know how good you have it friend.
It has been a pretty rough week for triathletes at large with the Michigan current issue, Hix’ passing, and the myriad of other issues; but Ryf crushed the 70.3 record with a 3:57:55 (!!!) which is great for the sport (if not a little humbling as most of us wouldn’t mind having Oly’s with that time!) and then there was the toddler Tour De France in Boulder, so maybe Peanut 1 can start following in dad’s footsteps a little earlier than expected.
link to triathlete.com
More arts & crafts to do :D :
I made a comment about sound traps on youtube last week. They are really easy to make. Take some Rockwool boards and build a frame around it – usually 1x wood, 2x if you want thicker panels. Wrap it in an acoustically transparent fabric. Here Guilford of Maine is often used, but I don’t know if it’s cheap and available in Europe: link to guilfordofmaine.com
You can pick cool colours or silk screen on some DCR branding. Cut down the echos.
link to acousticsfreq.com
Yeah, that’s definitely on my list – though not so much for the downstairs portion likely (where the red pallets are). It’s simply too massive (sorta like a small aircraft hanger) to do anything meaningful on.
Most filming/etc will happen upstairs (where the TV’s are going). For now, the downstairs portion is mostly just me toying around until construction is complete upstairs.
Quick, cheap and effective option is to spray damping material on that metal ceiling. Works well to reduce the echo, downside is that it makes the ceiling of your cave look like a 70’s pizzeria: link to youtube.com
Also you will need permission of your landlord.
Any update on the actually selling the Thing?
No, that’s a long way off from what i gather.
They had two units that they sent over to Eurobike. This is the backup one that wasn’t on the show floor. They asked if I wanted to provide feedback on it longer term. Obviously it’s a beast compared to the eventual production ones in terms of materials/design, but, it’s fun to stick a CLIMB on. :)
That’s exactly what I’m interested in doing. I have a basic rocker plate that I made already. I’m buying the Kickr Core and Climb as soon as the Core is available. I’m planning on making a big rocker, but if it was being released anytime soon I would have saved myself the hassle, especially since I’m sure they can do a better job than me.
The pizza oven is trending. Hope you can get your hands on it eventually.
Off topic: any chance the extravaganza giveaway will be back?
have you been to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction? it’s close to the airport and would be a fun outing. that building is massive
My first memory on flying into Schipol many years ago, were those trees (and indeed, many similar trees around the country) planted incredibly uniformly, and manicured to the point of being nearly identical.
Several other places around the Netherlands, there were trees ‘trained’ for specific purposes – a canopy, narrow and nearly 2-dimensional along busy Rotterdam streets, etc.
It felt like their was a Dutch person care-taking every single tree in the country.
Clearly they value every inch of their land.
When you releasing the kickr climb review? I thought I read somewhere in the comments last week it was going to be out last week.
Tomorrow morning. Timezone depending on how efficient I am at grabbing the last photos in the morning.
Appreciate it. Have a slightly older snap that I love and might have to upgrade to the newer snap to get the climb. I love the convenience of wheel on and am a huge a Wahoo fan and live in Atlanta.
That’ll be why it takes me almost as long to taxi at Schiphol as it does to fly there from London! Nice airport though.
Hi Ray
As someone who is also in the middle of putting 2 TVs side by side in a pain cave, what height did you put the bottom of the TV at ?
Was it the same height as handlebar height ?
Looking for some guidance as always….
Thanks
It was a touch bit higher than handlebar height, mostly because I’m a touch bit taller.
a guy on zwift riders put numerous versions of zwift on one tv and computer. He just used a number of different ANT+ receivers and a couple of graphics cards. Get a 60 inch screen or project onto wall then you can split screen or add more to it when necessary.
How about a shoot out between mid priced tri watches, could include 735, suunto trainer, coros pace, Amazfit Stratos….
Looks like you, The Girl & peanuts got out of town in time!
link to bbc.co.uk
“One particular urinal, which has been placed near Notre Dame cathedral and overlooks passing tourist boats, has been singled out for criticism.”
Yikes. I’m not sure what to think of that. On one hand, peeing in the streets is a very real issue (we constantly had men walk up and pee on the side of our building/windows at night when they thought we weren’t there). It’s an accepted norm.
Looks like a good weekend.
By the way, looks like you “saved” not only those pallets but also around 50€ a piece, since that tends to be the deposit on those things. But I prefer the way you use them now and they sure look a lot prettier.
Huh, that’s good to know. I’ll have to ask the construction folks if we get debited that somewhere. Hmm…
Thanks for the post and update on Coros. For someone wanting a altimeter of some sort and considering the Suunto Spartan Ultra is on sale right now for $370 would it be silly to not go for the Spartan vs the Coros pace? Thanks for your advise.
Yeah, that’s a good bet for sure, especially at that price.
No fast bike routes, but LHR does see some interesting landings. From my Fly 12.
link to facebook.com
That’s flippin’ awesome!
You couldn’t have timed that as perfectly again if you tried 20 times in a row. Dang!
I wonder how the proximity compares to Gravelly Point in DC:
link to youtube.com
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