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
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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.
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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.
Don’t see a lot(any) Suunto 9 updates. Are they making any effort in fixing the bugs you found.
The cycling helmet guy is a typical example of somebody using wrongly interpreted statistics to come to a ridiculous conclusion. It’s just scary that this guy uses foul arguments to convince people not to wear a helmet.
I think it is a thorough and sensible write-up. Funny that you think he is using “foul arguments”. Did you read it all and follow the links in the article? Did you know that there is plenty of research that concludes that helmet laws can make cycling more dangerous? Apart from the adverse effect on general health.
There is plenty info to find on one of the sites that the author links to: link to cyclehelmets.org
So you didn’t actually read the article. Too bad.
I think we can agree that helmets are more protective than your skull when you hit the ground with your head. Now go back and read the article again.
I did read the article and have certainly noticed some things riding here in the US:
-when riding kitted out in spandex i.e. training for road cycling or triathlon: cars on back roads tend to get frustrated quickly if delayed even the slightest to pass but while riding solo they take even more risks than when riding in a larger group with multiple witnesses…people sometimes just aren’t patient and the consequences for hitting a cyclist are very lax…since a car will win in a collision, many folks (myself included) tend to ride the trainer more, mountain bike more, riding in groups more often, or ride more on bike/run trails w/o cars
-when commuting to work, I wear a reflective vest or jacket depending on the weather and interestingly enough, cars tend to give me more space…I have no law or mandate to be seen other than front and rear lights at dusk and dawn but I want to be as visible as possible
-“the automotive industry trying to push responsibility onto cyclists’ shoulders” is a huge argument with a lot of nuisances to it…right or wrong the car industry is huge and wields considerable influence but one of the key realities is that people drive very distractedly and then we call crashes resulting from this ‘accidents’ even if they ran over a cyclist
-we all accept a certain amount of risk in our daily lives and hobbies, I can certainly understand that wearing a helmet may make some people take extra risk/go faster because of a perceived safety net…people should accept the consequences of the risks they take…in our ever hurried lives maybe cars and cyclist should slow down a little to reduce risks…
-in my opinion, wearing a helmet is a preventative measure for my big ol brain no matter what speed or surface I’m riding on and so I just wear it…at the same time, I know a car will always win and so I work to be visible and work towards safer infrastructure for cyclist (bike lanes, separate bike paths, etc.) and I try to ride as if I was invisible so even a car aiming to cut me off with a right hook or someone opening the door of a parked car cannot hit me
Wow, those suggesting that reading the whole article and looking at the studies would not lead you to the conclusion that this guy is like those denying climate change are not right. The studies he references Do Not say what he says they do. For example, a supposed study that compares eight countries use of helmets with traffic fatalities – if you follow the links they don’t even say where there data comes from, but is almost certainly from non comparable sources and even if somewhat true is likely attributable to other causes then the use of helmets. One of the studies he links to in Scientific American refences a small, somewhat anecdotal (I.e., only one persons helmet use) study that suggests that drivers give slightly wider berth to those riding without helmets, but even in that article SA references a real study that reports that in 97% of bicycle fatalities in NYC cyclist were not wearing a helmet. Most of the article is him complaining about being called out for not wearing a helmet. Maybe it should be personal choice, but suggesting that riding without a helmet is not more dangerous is just plain wrong! I wonder if this debate isn’t being spurred on by the bike share folks, who have a financial interest in changing the laws, health outcomes be damned.
Can’t wait for the helmet article comments.
This is an article about:
– an individual’s impressions after not wearing a helmet (feeling more cautious and feeling cars being more cautious with him), it’s NOT A STUDY
– the ill-effects on focusing on helmets and policies about helmets while the real topic should be proper cycling infrastructure (key and important topic)
– the topic of each individual’s freedom versus the risk he’s facing, and how ridiculous some of the backlash towards cyclists who are not wearing helmets can be in comparison of the much greater dangers everyone is facing on a daily basis
I don’t like the fact that it looks like he reluctantly points out the multiple surveys showing that yes, in an event of a crash, wearing a helmet can diminish by 40-70% the risk of death or serious head injury (solo crashes, if I recall correctly it has little to no impact in case of a collision with a vehicle) which are the most important data points one should consider when thinking about wearing a helmet or not.
I’ve seen no conclusive study(including the one linked) showing that user behaviour (riders/vehicles around) compensates that extra security provided by a helmet
The conclusion on that topic to me is:
– it is demonstrably safer to wear a helmet than to not wearing one in case of a solo crash, but nearly useless when a collision with a vehicle occurs
– however it should be up to each individual to decide and that individual should not be judged/berated for his choice in case he does not wear one
– political debates should not be centered around helmets, but rather around infrastructure
It was an interesting opinion piece and I read it as such, I didn’t even draw any conclusion from it.
I also agree up to a point, that it should be up to individuals to decide and we should have a civilized debate around personal responsibilities. My caveat is if a country decides to enact helmet wearing as law, then the place to discuss it is with politicians. eg Australia
I’m personally a big believer in wearing a helmet, having come off second best with cars, trees, and wildlife over the years. But I also don’t think it is easy to compare results from one country with another in the discussion as the infrastructure and driver attitude varies hugely.
Netherland is IMHO probably the best example in the world with very clever streetscape design and intersections design to reduce risk and encourage cycling.
I don’t think helmet author contributes much to the overall debate. I have a feeling he is quick to believe what he wants to – he is quick to dismiss “flawed” studies that suggest helmets are safer but is quick to accept studies that align with his views. There are too many examples in his article to quote but he is as guilty of misrepresenting studies as the ones he derides.
This article about Tesla is so devoid of critical thinking it’s funny. But seriously, I’m not sure I like when a carmaker decides to make bikes.
I feel like, because they make cars, they have a clear incentive to not make great bikes! To an extent, bikes and cars compete for people’s time (e.g. for commuting), so how would a carmaker – which goal will always be to have people in cars as much as possible – actually find solutions that put people on bikes? Particularly a luxury carmaker – surely it would require selling more than a hundred bikes to make the same margin as a single Tesla car!
But the reason this annoys me even more than Porsche or BMW making bikes, it’s that there seems to be an underlying thinking which is that Tesla is a “clean” company, so well suited to make bikes. But that’s BS. They’re not clean. They’re just slightly less disgusting than other car companies. They still rely on extremely polluting manufacturing processes as all heavy industries do, and they still take all the space in cities, and they’re still putting pedestrian lives in danger, and still preventing people from exercising…
It’s like petrol companies investing in wind power. At best it looks like hedging, and at worst like a PR stunt. You get a serious media following on this Tesla story, but no one asks why they’d even do it!
If anything, if history – and the tone of the article – is to be taken in account, it only leads to over-engineered prototypes that no one can afford and even fewer can do maintenance on. In order for people to cycle, you need cheap bicycles and simple solutions, and I don’t see how Elon Musk could deliver this.
If some Chinese-government-funded mega-factory said they aimed to start mass-producing e-bikes, I would be much more likely to believe in a ” paradigm shift in the industry” than this, because it would look much more like the paradigm shift that happened with the car industry after WW2 when governments everywhere started to subsidize carmakers to make cheap cars for everyone.
I think something like the Hovding is the “helment” solution for bicycling going forward. There’s no visible helmet so cars will still keep a good distance from you and assume you don’t have a helmet. And not feeling a physical helmet on your head might stop you from riding recklessly.
if it worked. Not so sure it works that well: link to helmets.org
Spotify coming to the Apple Watch is great news, BUT, so far even the beta is just for controlling playback (which can already be done in a more limited way with the regular playback control) and not for off line download. Hopefully this will presage a more full featured app like those on the Garmin.