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.
2
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!
3
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.
4
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!
5
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.
Yay, it’s back! Can’t wait to listen to the new podcast!
I love these trail projects. I just hope they happen during my lifetime.
Some of the recent garmin FW required an updated sensor hub. (eg specifically mandated when using the betas)
Are there any interesting developments in the sensor hub?
For me the most interesting development is that I’ve switched the GPS of my Garmin off. With Stryd I have as good distance, better pace and way less battery use….
I’m not aware of anything in the sensor hub that’s of note.
I know in one of the line items it says there was something to parse sensor pairing error codes. So maybe something tied to that.
The Shrainmilker Podcast? Look forward to it.
Yeah, Girona is a great destination for cycling. One thing though, we ended up renting a car to get out of Girona, most of the roads directlly out of the city are busy and boring. Other than this, there are cool rides to do in every direction for sure.
Awesome that mr Miller is onboard, this will be totes sweet. So, guessing you’ll both be reviewing the Tacx bike and iqsquare pedal dongle vapourware stuff!
If not, still ok. Kinda
finally a new podcast episode :)
how long will it take for the itunes link to work?
podcast app gives me an error :(
Hopefully today sometime.
Interestingly, my existing subscription in the Podcast app on my iOS device updated perfectly. However, if I try and click on that link or find it in the iTunes store – no luck.
Either way, I have a ticket in from yesterday to Apple and they say within 1 day. So hopefully today. One of the main reasons I haven’t widely announced it yet, while we get some of the stuff sorted out.
Thanks!
I have some weird issue with the libsyn RSS.
I think it’s an issue with my app though. If i load the rss in the browser, i can see the new episode in the XML, but the app only goes as far as #64 and nothing I try so far seems to reveal #65.
Off to try alternative Android podcast software to see if they are the same.
Hmm, that’s odd indeed. Sorry!
Is that the Libsyn app? I’ve honestly never used it. Will have to poke!
I’ve been chatting with Libsyn support today already on getting things shifted/updated, so it’s plausible that’s causing some quirks, but I don’t think they’ve touched anything yet on that.
I’m hoping by tomorrow morning both Libsyn and iTunes tweaks will be done and we’ll be able to quickly get it onboarded onto all the other platforms.
After having heart palpitations from watching the White Line, I’ll rest up and listen to more podcasts!
Perhaps the following name/themes could be incorporated: “The M&M Show (Maker/Miller): Bikes, Tech & Everything (nearly) In-Between”
confirmed as an app issue. tried 3 other podcast apps and they all worked fine. old app removed and new one installed based on what works :-)
Thanks Ian, sweet!
As for M&M…hmm…that’s tempting!
The Hammerhead Karoo is venturing in to an area that can be covered by the cell phone that I already have. Just about everyone has an iOS or Android phone so why develop for the Karoo when there are apps already working on phones. Sure, the Karoo cost less than my iPhone X but I already have my iPhone and Quad Lock case to go with it.
I agree, though with a twist.
I think in general having a bike-specific form factor makes a lot of sense. Most people don’t want to put their real phone on their handlebars. Usually battery life isn’t optimized for always-on screen and GPS. So that’s tough for anything longer. Also, a lot of people (including me), want my phone powered for emergencies or regular contact with friends. With phones getting more and more expensive – people are even less wanting to put them on handlebars.
Now, Hammerhead’s issue with apps is more challenging. They’ve decided to roll their own Android variant. So it’s far behind current. Further, they don’t allow you to just leverage the Google Play store. I get why, as that’d make for a cumbersome experience for users. But I think there’s also something to be said for that, in going towards maybe a bit more of a different angle.
As noted above – no 3rd party apps are going to develop for something that’s under 0.5% market share.
Would Hammerhead even be allowed to bring the Play Store on to Karoo if they tried? It’s up to Google to decide who gains entry into the GMS ecosystem and when your device does not fit the usual phone or tablet patterns, chances are they won’t allow it. The Android compatibility definition for handheld devices for example requires a microphone, Karoo does not have one. On top of that, how much pre-installed Google smartphone stuff would we accept on a bike GPS? A Google search box on the start screen? All those power-hungry background tracking things that every single smartphone builder would just *love* to disable by default if Google ever allowed it? That’s the kind of freedom you’d have to give up (and likely more) to have official Play Store access. It’s just not a viable base to build a company on, you’d always be at the mercy of some anonymous Google middle management who roll the dice about your future without even realizing (because you’re not even a blip on their radar).
Interesting, good point – not sure on that.
And indeed, it’s another reason why one argument against allowing the store is prudent for bike GPS units. That said, I’m not sure forking your own is the best choice either.
It sounds like Sigma found the middle-ground there.
Now you are piquing my interest: what difference do you see between the approaches Hammerhead and Sigma are taking? Never touched either device, but I had a Karoo on order then canceled and have been a happy pre-GPS Sigma user so I am watching both quite interestedly. From what I have seen they are both pretty much equally close or far from stock AOSP, it’s just that Hammerhead used to talk a lot about their Android lineage, whereas Sigma just released a product (naturally without pre-release hype, to not cannibalize predecessors). Granted, their approach to the screen/battery conflict is quite different but this is unrelated to the software (the almost-smartphone approach of including as much battery as required for vibrant colors vs getting only as colorful as possible without requiring too much backlight/battery).
The real difference is between Hammerhead/Sigma on one side and Wahoo on the other, who have kept their Android base even tighter under wraps than Sigma and also apparently did not build on regular Android but on Android Wear, which comes with that rock-solid Bluetooth uplink already included by Google, for which Wahoo is now famous for and which both Hammerhead and Sigma claim they they don’t even want (I’m not buying that…).
My memory is fading, since it’s been basically a year since I had the conversation with both parties. But essentially Sigma was saying they were taking stock Android (almost straight off the market phone) and making virtually no tweaks to it. They watched what Hammerhead had done and realized that the long-term play there was tough to support internally.
Whereas obviously Hammerhead has oft talked about how much they customized their Android platform to make it super unique. But again, things are getting a bit foggy at this point.
Just finished the pod-pisode. You guys have to record your own audio locally and get someone to edit the two files together. Lots of people use Audacity: link to audacityteam.org
This one sounded like Shane hosted the recording and your voice was transported halfway around the planet ;)
Yup, we both recorded locally and merged with Audacity.
Weird, sounded pretty similiar to me (we actually even used the exact same mics too). Though, might still be some echo in mine.
Weird, sometimes it sounded like you had quite a bit of digital distortion, but I’m listening through chrome until they show up on Spotify. I didn’t listen close enough, but I can remember a few times after Shane got long-winded it showed up when you started talking.
Not sure where to leave podcast comments so I’ll just do it here: It would be awesome to get an “current state of running power” post or podcast. It just seems like something that is lurking in the background with no real movement or innovation.
Loved the return of the podcast. You 2 have good chemistry.
Good idea!
I tried listening to the PodCast with iTunes, but when I click the link, it tells me, that the Podcast is only available in the US. And I cannot find it by searching for podcasts either, so it does definitely not seem to be in the danish version, which I am using…
Yeah, it went all sideways last night when Apple tried to move it over to our account. They just completed that about 20 minutes ago, and then it takes supposedly another 24 hours for it to propagate into the system. :-/
On the bright side, it is now available in Spotify!
Podcast revival name — Cavemen Speak or Cavemen Speek or CaveSpeek(tm) ;-)