Heads up! Big sports tech sales have begun! Check out the massive list of everything, from 20%-30% off all smart trainers, just $299 for the Fenix 6, $200 off the Garmin FR945 LTE & $150 off the Edge 1030 Plus. Then $240 off Garmin’s Rally power meters (including MTB edition) and $200 off the Wahoo POWRLINK Zero Speedplay power meter. Plus deals on Varia Radar, rocker plates, more watches, action cams, drones, and more. Realistically the best deals we’ll see till November. Enjoy! Full and updated list 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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And both Backcountry & Competitive Cyclist offer free 2-day shipping!In the UK/EU/Australia/New Zealand? Then hit up Wiggle at the link below!
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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 GPLAMA, 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?
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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 and Equipment 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! 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 2021 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.
Ray, could you ask Garmin, when you are there, when they fix the Bluetooth connection problems with the edge 1030 to your phone.
Even with the latest update it’s, all the workarounds, It’s a bloody mess to get or stay connected.
At that pricepoint of the edge you should expect decent software…….
+1 for this from me. The 1030 is just completely random and frustrating in terms of Bluetooth to the phone.
PS Mickey doesn’t wear a bow, that’s Minnie Mouse 🙂
RE: Bluetooth on Edge – Yeah, I agree, the dual pairing is a mess. Definitely on my list to discuss.
RE: Mickey
True on the band, however, interestingly on the ‘watch face’ itself, it is actually Mickey.
Concur GC is a mess, as my F3HR and both kiddos VFJR trackers are affected. Not a great workaround, but what I have found to be 100% reliable is to power down my iPhone then power back up with BT on and immediately open up the GC or VFJR app, which syncs immediately with the F3HR or upon initiating with VFJR every time. I know, not the most convenient, but beats forgetting the device and repairing.
What I cant figure out is why GC/BT connections have worked fine for months and now I consider it a good week if the 1030 connects 3 days in a row.
When it doesn’t connect the procedure is to unpair the phone on the 1030, then pair again in GC which finds the device right away after you select 1030. WTH.
Seems like something changed in a recent GC update if not related to firmware updates on the 1030.
At the very least they need a rescan option in GC instead of displaying a troubleshooting guide. .
See you tomorrow to kick off the CIQ Summit for 2019. Should be an interesting couple of days.
Definitely indeed!
Are you speaking at the CIQ conf ? If so, youtube ?
Maybe you can ask Garmin if they will EVER make customizing pages on the Edge series as easy as it can be done on the Wahoo?
While I appreciate being able to do everything sans phone, it is 2019 and just about EVERYONE has a smartphone… it is sooooo much easier!
Specifically what is your issue? I find it great as I can change fields mid ride with a long touch on the field.
Personally, I’d like to see some middle-ground.
Like Dave, I like being able to change fields mid-ride easily (sans-phone). However, I also like being able to configure fields on a phone. Or more specifically, being able to quickly setup a new device with fields that match an older device. Or to share fields.
“Or more specifically, being able to quickly setup a new device with fields that match an older device. Or to share fields.”
YES YES YES YES. An activity profile should be tied to a Connect account. Sure it would get weird with watches vs. head units. I have well over an hour of clicking on my 520 Plus and it’s still not set up to the same screens as my 510. Maybe one profile done and another (of 4) almost done.
When meeting with Garmin can you find out if they plan to add an update to the Watch lines to add Body Battery? Waiting to see that one – I really like it to evaluate recovery, but don’t want to have to wear two devices (VS 4 and 645).
Asked…will let you know if I get an answer!
Great – thanks!
What?!?!? You are coming all the way to California and NOT going to the Sea Otter Classic? I was so looking forward to possibly seeing you there.
Okay, wait – I did see you are coming to Sea Otter Classic (attending media) but not speaking. Looks like you will be “undercover.” Perhaps will see you there.
🙂
Yup, I’ll be around for sure! I don’t generally speak at trade shows, but happy to say Hi!
Hi, Ray. Could you please ask Garmin why for the past two months my auto tracking hasn’t work?
Every time I go for run I have to start running, open the connect app and initiate the tracking my self, if I don’t my watch show a message that reads “tracking failed” So there I go again, get the phone out, open app go to settings, Garmin devices, turn off auto tracking, press tracking . Of course I could just leave auto tracking off and as soon as I start running turn tracking on (which is what I been doing by the way) . But why? It’s their obligation to fix it! If the app and my Fenix 5 plus have that option then it should work. Anyway, thanks..
And yes my app and phone have the latest upgrades, I had tried deleting the app and reinstalling also resetting watch.
In general Garmin seems to slowly leak beta software out at the moment with 1 or 2 problem fixes – and even fewer “release builds” for Fenix 5 / Fenix 5+ series.
There are so so many bugs that has not been fixed in release versions
1. Power Meter peak readings
2. Watches loosing / resetting settings (this one keeps coming back – had it on 3HR, 5x and now 5x+)
3. Wi-Fi (often) not working error 500 etc
4. Bluetooth connection issues (Fenix 5x plus seems worse than 5x was) – very short range.
5. Watch resets during activities
And so on and so forth.
I think they have spent all their time on the Marq series – which has left the 5 and 5+ series in a vacuum. And I think communication between the Connect App-, Express app- and watch-developers is “lacking” to put it mildly.
But when you look at the directory structure on a Fenix 5 watch – it is clear that some effort is needed to clean up and streamline. It is a MESS with all kinds of left over bits. And when directory structure looks like it does – the source code will probably look a lot worse. So I’m not surprised.
And every time one mentions the issues – one gets told Garmin runs “Agile” development procedures so it is “allowed” (it is not btw)
But I wonder how MARQ customers will take the many bugs and the “lack” of bug fixes on watches costing $1500 and above. One can hope bug fixes from Marq trickles down to the rest of us.
I think that Vivofit Jr. 2 step count is way off – I observed my godson to take 10 steps and Vivofit Jr. added in the range of 20 – 30 every time.
Yay, geitenboerderij Ridammerhoeve! You can access it by car from the south edge of the Bos; there’s even a small parking lot. Kids and kids! And soft-serve goat’s milk ice cream!
Will my Apple Watch ever interface with Connect? Multiple devices is such a pain… would even consider paying a subscription like Strava.
I don’t like that vivofit jr requires a separate app. My daughter would love to have the garmin app on her tablet and look at her own stuff. I think they really missed the boat here. They could have had a kid mode in the normal garmin connect and plenty of stupid little games the kid could do on the tablet and then on the watch and made it really interactive.
I know that the whole topic of ‘How a child grows up to a real account’, has come up before. I don’t know where it stands though, I’ll ask today.
I think though that for the most part, at the younger ages, Garmin actually really nails it here. Way more than I thought they would. Where it gets messy is when the kid starts finding the games too childish, at which point…yeah.
Minor concern are you teaching Peanut #1 to be like one of Pavlov’s Dogs? The watch beeps and she goes to the loo?
She’s a 2 year old, she still ignores things just as well.
That view from one of the ORD United Clubs unfortunately looks way too familiar.
Now that I see Ray and Shane will be at Sea Otter I’ll be looking out to say hi when I’m out and about at the expo