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…
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.
You'll support the site, and get ad-free DCR! Plus, you'll be more awesome. Click above for all the details. Oh, and you can sign-up for the newsletter here!
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.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.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
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?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- 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?
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
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.
Congratulations, Ray!
A well deserved one.
Thanks Neo!
Was just thinking about the time – years from noew – when your kids will explore the internet and find then some “old” stuff from you, making fun about the strange gear was used in the old days and how you may have changed over the years …
Gratulations from Vienna!
Haha…there’s some wonky posts and videos out there for them to find one day!
I was wondering what the shiny thing with the YouTube logo was in the background of your Marq video, now I know!
Congratulations Ray.
Indeed, it is a wee bit shinier than I expected.
Congratulations! Keep up the good work!
Thanks, appreciate it!!
Well done Ray, well deserved
I’m far from a Youtube fanboy, and your channel is one of a very few that I subscribe to. Have you looked at how many subscribers you have compared to other similar channels?
You are probably secretly delighted to be ahead of both GPLama (80k subscribers) and Desfit (36k subscribers)?
But interestingly GCN has 1.6m subscribers and GTN has 181k subscribers. I’m a little surprised that they both have more than you – surely most of their viewers are consumers of sports tech?
Keep up the good work. And onwards and upwards to the next award…..
Nah, Shane and Des and I get along awesome and are all rooting for each other. We’re even crashing the same Airbnb together at Sea otter in a few weeks.
All three of us have different approaches. Des posts a bit less than I, but his videos are so deep with information. It’s cool watching him prep the script for them. Every word counts and there’s so much detail. I’m the inverse and just turn on the camera and hope for the best. Sometimes I miss things I meant to say, etc… Shane meanwhile is throwing down serious amounts of content as well each week, all just as detailed as my reviews here. It’s cool.
GCN is somewhat in a different league than all three of us from a resources standpoint. Last I checked they have roughly 100 staff or so including all their channels. It’s a machine. The reason their channels have so many subscribers is heavily because of the quantity of content they can produce – most of the time 2-4 videos per day. It’s impressive, but again, with 100 employees, they should absolutely be able to do that. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy lots of their content as well.
Fyi GCN at 140 staff late Jan 2019 and targetting an extra 200 following Discovery buy-out (see link to techspark.co).
Dang.
Congratulations Ray, you’re a fav of mine!
Thanks Adam!
You know I bet there was a point where The Girl was all like “there’s no way you’ll need that massive heavy crystal in Europe, just leave it behind” :)
Haha… it turns out most of our awards are still at our friends house, and my parents house. This was a box of more recent awards that came with us. And in the case of the Microsoft one, I got that one after moving to Europe. :)
Funny video. Congrats on the award.
Congrats Ray, always enjoy your videos!
Nice little bonus! Good work Ray. Just curious if there is a youtube subscriber number that equal some revenue? In other words, does You Tube pay you once you get to certain subscriber level? I heard some top Youtubers can make a living off of their channel.
Revenue on YouTube is totally 100% video view based. So as long as you’ve hit the min thresholds (1,000 subscribers and some number of watch hours per month), then it’s purely how many views you get.
Technically there’s some nuance to that – for example you can more than one commercial per video if the video is more than 10 minutes, etc.. And you have content that certain advertising companies bid higher for. And you could be on partner networks, etc… But by and large it’s just views…and only views.
So I can have 100,000 subscribers and potentially have the same revenue as a low-output (video-wise) 1-million subscriber YouTuber. Inversely, someone with 50,000 subscribers but outputs daily videos could easily top me. I generally do 1-2 videos per week (usually one), which is kinda on the low side. As such, my revenue from YouTube would be below minimum wage if I dared think about how much time I spend on it versus what I get out of it (pure $/hour equation).
You can use free sites like Social Blade to get guesstimates of revenue for various YouTubers. The middle ground of its estimates are usually about on target, some months higher in that range, some months lower.
Amazing! Congrats Ray! How old is your channel?