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Week in Review–Dec 30th, 2018

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:

Saturday: Week in Review–Dec 22nd, 2018
Sunday: 5 Random Things I Did in Finland (in the Arctic Circle)
Monday: Getting the Christmas Tree Home via Bike: 2018 Edition
Tuesday: Just Got A New Sports Gadget? 34 Tips To Get You Started
Wednesday: The Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway
Thursday: First Look at The SufferFest’s Revamped App and New Features
Friday: The 2018 Sports Tech Year In Review: 12 Months in 12 Minutes

Not too shabby of a week!

Random Sports Tech Deals:

Here’s a handful of deals that are live until basically CES. I wouldn’t read too much into any of these, beyond companies just figuring that maybe you’ll pick up something as a belated Boxing Day gift to yourself.

Wearable and watch deals:

ProductSale PriceAmazonOther siteSale Notes
Amazfit Cheetah Pro - $30 off!$269
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen with USB-C) - $60 off$189I've been using these the past few months, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. My wife has already started stealing them, which means she'll probably get a set for Christmas so she'll stop sealing them.
Apple Airpods (2nd Gen) - $40 off!
$159
$89These aren't the latest anymore, that's the newer 3rd gen units. But if budget is in mind, it's hard to beat these. It's still what my wife uses as her daily driver, including tons of time on the indoor trainer/bike.
Apple Watch SE (2022/2nd gen) - $70 off
$249/$299 (cellular)
$179⚡This is now the lowest price we've ever seen the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) - a very solid deal, especially with the new WatchOS 10 features adding in offline topo mapping, power meter support, and plenty more.
Apple Watch Series 9 - $70 off
$399/$499 (cellular)
$329This is Apple's latest Apple Watch model, and did quite well in my review when it launched about two months ago. Especially notable is all the new sports/fitness features it got this year, such as cycling power meter/sensor support.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 - $70 off!$729This is really the first slate of sales we've seen on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the lowest price to date. Note: It'll show $739, and then to get the full extra $10 more off, you have to check that 'Apply Coupon' button under the price.
CORE Body Temperature Sensor - 20% off$227Both myself and my wife used these this past summer and fall, in particular as she was training for Kona and preparing for the heat.
FORM Swim Goggles (with heads-up display) - $70 off!$179This includes both the goggle, and a 1-year membership to their training/coaching platform.
Fenix 7 Pro Solar Series (7S/7/7X Pro) - $200 off!
$799+
$599⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Fenix 7 Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. The smaller Fenix 7S Pro watch has become my wife's go-to watch since it came out, for all of her training and 24x7 usage.
Fitbit Charge 6 - 38% off!
$159
$99Given this is barely two months old, this is a pretty substantial deal - especially if you don't utilize the built-in GPS side of the device.
Fitbit Sense 2 - $50 off$249This isn't quite the biggest sale we've seen, so I'd expect it to go a bit lower over Black Friday.
Garmin Epix (Gen 2) - $350 off!
$899/$999
From $449⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal, with Amazon having it as low as $449 (insane). Note that the Epix Gen 2 has continued to receive virtually all of the Epix Pro new features firmware updates. Also note: This deal is *STILL* available. Sometimes you'll have to click to show other retailers (on the right side), but it's still live.
Garmin Epix Pro Series (Sapphire Editions) - $200 off!$799⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Epix Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. I'd say this is probably my go-to watch these days (middle-sized one), with the singular reason I tend to choose it over the Forerunner 965, being the built-in flashlight for night.
Garmin Epix Pro Series - $200 off!
$899/$999
$699⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Epix Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. I'd say this is probably my go-to watch these days (middle-sized one), with the singular reason I tend to choose it over the Forerunner 965, being the built-in flashlight for night.
Garmin Epix Sapphire Titanium (Gen 2) - $400 off!$449⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal, with Amazon having it as low as $499 for Sapphire edition (insane). Note that the Epix Gen 2 has continued to receive virtually all of the Epix Pro new features firmware updates.
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Series
$549-$1,149
$329[Note: This is a renewed unit] Obviously, the Fenix 6 isn't the latest anymore, but these are still very capable watches and frankly, at $329, there's absolutely nothing from any of their even brand-new competitor watches (COROS, Polar, Suunto, etc...) that can even remotely compete with the features here. Heck, not even Garmin's own pricing for their Fenix 7 Pro can compete with this. Fwiw, all Garmin renewed units go back to the same factory original units came from. Frankly, there's virtually no difference. If you're on a budget, this is where it's at.
Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Solar Sapphire Series (7S/7/7X Pro) - $200 off!
$799+
$699⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Fenix 7 Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. The smaller Fenix 7S Pro watch has become my wife's go-to watch since it came out, for all of her training and 24x7 usage.
Garmin Fenix 7 Series (All Models/Styles) - $200 off!
$699+
$499⚡This is a strong deal if you don't care about the new optical heart rate sensor (including ECG) of the newer Fenix 7 Pro, especially given the Fenix 7 series has received virtually all of the Fenix 7 Pro's new software features, keeping them essentially identical.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$249This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!
$349/$399
$299This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics. This model also includes offline music such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
Garmin Forerunner 265 Series - $50 off!
$449
$399
Garmin Forerunner 55 - $30 off
$199
$169This is a good little running watch, though, it also supports plenty of other sport types as well.
Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: $100 off!
$499/$599
$499This is one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and this is now the lowest price we've ever seen on it. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. This is the SOLAR edition.
Garmin Forerunner 965 - $50 off!$549This is the first time we've seen the Garmin FR965 on sale since launch. While it's not a huge sale, it's something!
Garmin HRM-PRO Plus - 25% off!
$129
$97This strap is one of the two straps I use constantly for other HR sensor accuracy comparisons (alongside Polar H10)
Garmin Instinct 2 Series - $50 Off$299This is a good deal, especially considering the Instinct 2 series got Training Readiness and a host of other new features over the course of just this year alone.
Garmin Instinct 2S Solar $100 off!$199This is a great deal at $199 for the smaller 2S units, especially considering the Instinct 2 series got Training Readiness and a host of other new features over the course of just this year alone. Plus of course all the existing triathlon/power meter/etc support it has built-in.
Garmin Instinct 2X - $100 off!$349This is the first time we've seen the Instinct 2X on sale, and since announcement it's received a huge slate of firmware updates and new features. It's best thought of as an Instinct 2.5, as it has almost enough features to really be more of an Instinct 3 (which doesn't exist at this point).
Garmin Tactix 7 Pro - $200 off!$1,099This is the first time we've seen the Tactix 7 Pro on sale. Note the other Tactix 7 Pro units/variants are also on sale for $200 off too!
Garmin Venu 3 - $50 off!
$449
$399This is the first time we've seen this unit on sale since it launched a couple months ago, so this is a solid deal!
Garmin Venu SQ - 40% off
$199/$249 with Music
$149This is a so-so deal, previous 2021 and 2022 Black Friday's have put it all the way down to $119USD. So...I'd hold.
Google Pixel Watch 1 - $100 off$250While the new Pixel Watch 2 just came out a month ago, the Pixel Watch 2 got almost all the software features two weeks ago via software update. The Pixel Watch 2 does have a slightly better optical HR sensor, and better battery life, but otherwise is relatively similiar.
Oura Ring Products - Up to $100 off$269Oura has various products on sale, at various discounts, starting from $269, and up to $100 off depending on the model.
Polar Grit X Pro - $70 off
$499/$599
$449This isn't realy the best deal we've seen for this watch, as it was down to $338 last year for Black Friday. Maybe we'll see it go lower this year.
Polar H10 Chest Strap (Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) - 24% off
$89
$67This is a great dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart (with two Bluetooth Smart connections) chest strap that you'll often find me using as a reference strap in heart rate sensor testing. We only tend to see deals on it around Black Friday, always topping out around 20%. Note, the medium- size is the one on sale.
Polar Ignite 3 - $75 off!
$329
$256
Polar Pacer - $70 off!$169This is about as low as it gets price-wise for the Polar Pacer (base unit).
Polar Pacer Pro - $70 off!
$329
$259
Polar Vantage M2 - $100
$299
$197This appears to be the lowest price I have on record for the Poalr Vantage M2, which makes it pretty compelling as a starter triathlon watch!
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 - $20 off$279
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic - $70 off$330This is a reasoanbly solid deal for this watch, which came out this past summer.
Suunto Vertical - $100 off!$529This is the first time we've seen the new Suunto Vertical on sale, and especially notable given the huge firmware update it got this past week with tons of new features from the also-new Suunto Race watch.
Wahoo RIVAL GPS Watch - 50% off
$199
$99⚡ At some point, everything becomes a steal. While the Wahoo RIVAL struggles to be comepetitive with higher-end watches, at $99, it's a pretty crazy deal - especially for triathletes where Wahoo does some cool stuff around automatic transitions.
Whoop 4.0 with 1-year subscription - 17% off$199This brings down the 1-year price to $17/month, which is the lowest it's been (only way to get that is normally a 24-month membership).

Cycling Gear & Trainers:

ProductSale PriceAmazonOther siteSale Notes
4iiii Precision Ride-Ready Power Meters - $100 off!$235This is for their non-drive power meter, in either the 'Ride-Ready' config (they send you a completed unit), or $50 off for the factory-install (where you send in your crank arm). The Ride Ready option is really a solid deal, considering you get a reliable power meter for $235. Ride Ready R7000 - 30% off Ride Ready R8000 - 20% off Factory Install - 20% off
Garmin Edge 1040 - $50 off$549This is a modest deal, but hey, a deal is a deal.
Garmin Edge 1040 Solar - $50 off$699This is a modest deal, but hey, a deal is a deal.
Garmin Varia Radar (RTL515) - $50 off$149This is Garmin's standalone radar+taillight option, and $149 is pretty much the standard sale-price.
Hammerhead Karoo 2 - $140 off!
$399
$259⚡The Karoo 2 is down to $299 ($100 off), but you can use DCR coupon code DCRAIN40 to get an additional $40 off, bringing it down to $259!!! A very solid deal given all the software updates it's received!
Lasko High Velocity Pro-Performance Fan (U15617) - 23% off$73This is one of the most popular indoor trainer fan companies out there, which rivals the Wahoo Headwind fan but cost a fraction of the price. Of course, it lacks ANT+/Bluetooth integration, but realistically if you really want that you can add a smart outlet for $10 to toggle it on/off from your phone if need be. I've actually got this fan in the DCR Cave recently on advice of many people.
Stages Power Meters - Most 20% off units$267Stages is offering 20% off most of their non-drive-side power meters.
Wahoo BOLT V2 - $50 off
$279
$229This is a good little deal on the Wahoo BOLT V2.
Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM V2 - $80 off
$399
$329
Wahoo POWRLINK ZERO (Dual-sided) - $200 off!
$649/$999
$799⚡ This is a very solid deal that happens twice a year, if you were looking at the Wahoo power meter pedals, grab these before this disappears (and it usually disappears). As with the Garmin Rally pedals, I continue to use Wahoo power meter pedals for accuracy testing of other brands/units.
Wahoo POWRLINK ZERO (Single-sided) - $130 off!$520⚡ This is a very solid deal that happens twice a year, if you were looking at the Wahoo power meter pedals, grab these before this disappears (and it usually disappears). As with the Garmin Rally pedals, I continue to use Wahoo power meter pedals for accuracy testing of other brands/units.

Action Cameras & Drones:

ProductSale PriceAmazonSale Notes
DJI Avata Bundle - $300 off!$899The DJI Avata is DJI's smaller form factor FPV drone, and one of my favorites to fly. I don't use it all the time, but more for very specific things requiring a bit more agility (whereas most of the times I'll use the DJI Mini 4 Pro, Air 3, or Mavic 3 Pro).
DJI Mini 2SE Drone - $40 off!
$499 ($549 combo)
$299There's definitely something cool about seeing a sub-$300 drone. And there's nothing wrong with this drone, it's very good. Just be careful though, because it's lack of 360* obstacle avoidance means it's pretty easy to get yourself in a pinch for a beginner drone.
DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo with DJI RC - $100 off!$699
DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo with DJI RC-N1 Bundle - $60 off$659
DJI Mini 3 Pro with DJI RC - $150 off!$767Up till the Mini 4 Pro came out, this was my go-to drone. It's what I shot almost all my drone footage from, and is great for both cycling and hiking (or trail running with a hydration pack to hold it), as it's super lightweight and includes everything you need.
DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo with DJI RC2 - $140 off!$959⚡ This is the first time we've seen the DJI Mini 4 Pro on sale, for a product DJI rarely discounts so soon after release. This is a great drone, and my go-to unit now for most trips.
GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini - $100 off
$399
$249This is the lowest price we've seen on the GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini to date!
GoPro Hero 12 Black - $50 off!$349This is the first time we've seen a sale on the GoPro Hero 12 Black. It's not massive, but hey, it's a good start!
GoPro Hero 12 Black Bundle Combo Kit - $100 off!$349This is a solid little bundle, with the GoPro Hero 12, two Enduro batteries, a floating handle, a head-mount, and a carrying case.
Insta360 Go 3 - $20 off$379I actually quite like the Insat360 Go 3 and the combo of tiny form factor when you want it, and screen-box when you don't. I'm not sure $20 off is a sale worth jumping out of your seat for, but hey...a sale is a sale.

YouTube Videos I Made This Week:

Here’s what hit the tubes over on the You of Tube, definitely don’t forget to subscribe there to get notified of videos the second they hit!

Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:

Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet.

1) Peter Sagan – Why So Serious? A bit of a look at the person behind Peter Sagan. Somewhat of an unexpected clip coming from GoPro, but definitely worth a quick watch.

2) TrainerRoad starts to leverage historical data to tweak structured workouts: Some interesting tidbits in here, including looking at failure rates of certain workouts and tweaking those workouts to make them more sustainable. They go through a massive pile of workouts and explain what and why they tweaked with all of them.

3) How scammers manipulate Amazon: The second of two semi-similar pieces I’ve seen in the last few weeks talking to this subject. The other being a well written NYT piece on such practices. Interesting stuff. Note that I wouldn’t necessarily lump this into a ‘China’ problem. It’s happening from all sorts of countries.

4) Awesome wonky endurance sports records: From the fastest marathon dressed as a hot dog to the most miles run on a treadmill – and plenty more.

5) Peloton (the indoor bike/treadmill company) backs down from legal action against GP Lama: Thankfully Peloton saw the error of their ways. Though, I can’t help but wonder what Peloton Magazine thinks about all this. They predate Peloton by a number of years, after all.  Still, the general stupidity of a company to legally go after a core/key reviewer in their specific space for simply using a common cycling word/term is astounding.  I get that it’s all just contracted lawyers likely acting on their own, but certainly people being paid that much per hour would be smart enough to think through the ramifications of such a move without at least double-checking with their ‘client’. Not to mention attacking one who is followed by much of the cycling tech industry.

6) How to ask Alexa about upcoming Zwift group ride: Yes folks, for real.

7) Yoga Pants to Detect Poses: I saw this a few weeks back and it got lost in the shuffle. I’m not sure what to think to be honest, but, I figured maybe you’d know what to think.

8) Sports Tech Job Openings: Looks like Quarq has an opening for a software engineer on a cycling focused web platform. FYI in case you want to move to Spearfish.

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 and a few other firmware updates.

(Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find any software firmware updates of products released this past week. Mostly because most companies would be super hesitant to release a firmware update going into Christmas as people are unboxing new things. That’s just a recipe for disaster – and returns.)

With that – thanks for reading!

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7 Comments

  1. Roger

    If I were Peleton I might be more worried about the inverse, having their mark be cancelled as generic. In any event it is clearly a weak mark

  2. ReHMn

    Garmin finally fixed the “Keep me logged in” issue in Garmin Connect. Took them cca 1 year…
    The weight categorization is now correct, even if this is used for nothing, it was weird that the 84kg human was categorized as 90+ kg…
    If the issue fixing will continue within this pace, my grandchildren could enjoy the GC how I always wanted…

    @The5kRunner
    You mentioned earlier that the FR 645 is not been recognized as a flash drive. That device has a setting for that, pls try to check:
    Settings –> System –> USB mode

  3. Still waiting for my Smart (yoga) Mat 🙂

  4. Party

    I’ve stopped personally following ‘GP Lama’ on social media, too much of ‘i’m the victim’ followed by endless swearing.
    Also, by following you, what’s the point of watching someone who is delivering the same content. The digital news was an interesting concept, but if you follow sports tech, you are already over what’s aired, and it’s too ‘GCN’ like!

    FWIW

    • It’s easy to blame the victim. It’s the thing to do these days.

      But in these two situations (Peloton & YouTube), both companies have admitted they were wrong. And both companies are multi-billion dollar entities. While it’s also easy to simply dismiss it as ‘not my problem’, the reality is that for small creators, you can’t fight these things yourself. As both instances showed – community support were instrumental in pushing back.

      I actually don’t find any similarities to GCN. GCN doesn’t cover the same content, and it seems like almost all of GCN’s content is sponsored these days. As for duplication with me, I think having different people have different views is a good thing. Our views differ on many things, and I think it’s good that consumers have multiple sources to hear from.

    • Dave Lusty

      Duplication?! Ray gets things working first and then starts the camera or post. I assume it sometimes takes him months to do so. Shane has a go on camera and sends it out to the world whether it works or not. While I assume Ray does swear and throw tools at the floor, that particular brand of comedy is saved for the Girl.
      I find the content quite different between the two and very glad to have the two different approaches.

      As for the swearing. Those people ruined his xmas in a big way. Personally I’m surprised how restrained he was. You also have to understand these guys have a global audience. The US (for instance) don’t have such a swearing culture as places like the UK or Australia but that doesn’t make swearing a bad thing, it just means that some people take offence where none was intended – that’s just language. I’m not keen on church talk but I wouldn’t unfollow someone if they ended a podcast with a “bless you for watching”.

  5. Remco Verdoold

    Pfffff and I have a flat tire. Peleton is a general word used in many European languages indicating a group of… (E.g. firing squad / vuur peleton, and many more the most know is indeed the link with cycling). But also Specialized trying a cafe to change their name because it is called cafe Roubaix. They really don’t know Roubaix is a town. Then also ask all cafe Paris in the world to change their name. Idiots.