Heads up!!! Here’s your massive Cyber Monday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $619, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) 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.
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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 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?
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- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
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- What kind of camera do you use?
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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.
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.
Hi Ray – the firmware update is to the Edge Explore 1000. No updates right now to the regular 1000.
That said, thanks for posting these each week. Very helpful!
Ahh, thanks!
I can’t wait for all the new Garmin Forerunner announcements and your first hands-on coverage this week!
I assume Garmin will present all the new 945/245 features to the developers during the CIQ Summit this week (April 9-11) but also hopefully have some units on display during the Boston Marathon Expo this weekend (April 12-14)!
Also, the Beta update for the Vivoactive 3 is for the Music version.
I’ll find out if the VA3 non-M is getting one too, I suspect so as they almost always release concurrently.
Amazon UK deal of the day, forerunners 235, 735, fenix 5, and one fenix 5 plus
A Lezyne GPS update was expected end of last week, I’m hoping they roll that out in the next day or so.
Hi Ray,
Can I ask to transcript your podcast?
I mean, an automated process of course, because even if will be not perfect at all , is better than understand 2 word every ten ;-)
Thank you
ANdrea
It’s honestly tough.
We tried transcription services in the past, and for the technical topics we discuss, we found that the quality of the transcription was really really bad. We’d end up spending more time to fix all the errors than it probably would have been to just write it out manually. :-/
My hearing has deteriorated to the point that I can no longer listen to podcasts when driving. There are some new technologies out there, but like Ray says, the quality is pretty poor. When he has a good clear mic, the autocaptions on his YouTube videos are decent. When there’s wind, airplanes, crowd noise, etc., the quality quickly sinks. The next thing I plan to try is Google’s “Transcribe Live”. It’s still in beta, but is pretty good at transcribing a person talking in a relatively clear background. Hoping it will work when playing one of his podcasts of interest. It won’t save the transcription though, so you have to use it while listening over speakers. (and yes, this precludes “listening” while driving!! The good ole days.)
Hopefully technology continues to move on so we can get better results.
My Suunto API access was only approved last week, having applied on launch day so hopefully that will start to ramp up more quickly now that they’ve opened the gates. I always thought their 2 week estimate was a bit hopeful for launch day!
Sweet! Let me know when you’ve got that Dropbox app I was asking for all completed. ;)
Still waiting for the actual invite to gain access unfortunately. Once I’m in it ought to be easy but getting access is a toughie :)
Is it Garmin Vivofit Jr. III coming?
You going to Sea Otter? If so…what are you going to be looking for?
Yup, will be there Fri/Sat/Sun.
I’ll be looking for great trails to ride. :)
Along the lines of (but probably with less impact) the Microsoft HeathVault shutdown, Zone Five Software has sent an EOL notification for SportTracks 3, its Windows desktop app. Last-time buy is end June 2019, end of support is end of March 2020 (which includes “provide any support infrastructure for online services related to the ST3 Windows PC application operation”, so presumably that includes the connection to sync with the could-based SportTracks app. Presumably it will still be possible to bring data into the Win app past the EOL, as long as you can bring activity files to it.
I hope the “fix for crash with cadence sensor” is what’s been wonky with my 1030 since the 7.2 update.
Xert ERG workouts on their IQ app have randomly been cut short — after months of working just fine.
The crash in this case is the app closes suddenly and Garmin Connect ends the workout prematurely.
Pretty frustrating since you can’t resume the workout where the crash occurred.
Is there any update on the Avio PM, they’re been on sale a while now? I tried one a few months ago with mixed results so it would be good to know if it’s improved at all.
Aerofly is back link to kickstarter.com
Still not sure how it calculates power but….