Week in Review–February 9th, 2020

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!

Sports Tech Deals of Note:

For whatever reason, the sports tech deal train has rained down upon us starting this weekend. Many of the major companies have either made permanent pricing shifts, or we’re seeing some mid-Q1 sale pushes to try and drive numbers. I wouldn’t overthink *any* of these sales as indicators of new products (save the Pioneer thing obviously being clearance). It’s not the right time of year for any of the products below to get refreshed.

	Product	Sale Price	Amazon	Sale Notes
	AmazFit T-Rex 3 - $40 off	$240	Amazon
	Amazon Echo Dot Kids - 42% off	$34	Amazon	Despite being a tech-focused dude, our kids don't actually get much tech in their lives. However, we got these two years ago for them in their rooms, to play music. They do lots of other things, but our kids mostly just use it to play music (from Spotify and Apple Music too), and occasionally they ask it questions. It has all the parental controls I want, so it locks it down from bedtime/etc...For $34? Solid deal (The coolest 'nice touch' feature is that if you whisper to it, it'll whisper back...in the owl kids voice it has.)
	Apple 11" iPad - (Wi-Fi, 128GB) - $70 off!	$279	Amazon	⚡ This is an awesome deal. I use my iPad primarily for TrainerRoad as well as Zwift when not with a larger display. I also occasionally use it for other apps, namely Indievelo, Kinomap, Rouvy, and Peloton. But I pretty much test every smart trainer app on it. For all these cycling apps, the graphics capabilities is really pretty irrelevant, so having the absolute top-end/latest model won't make any difference. I prefer the budget options.
	Apple AirPods 4 - $60 off!	$119	Amazon
	Apple Watch SE (2022/2nd gen) - $100 off $249/$299 (cellular)	$169	Amazon	It's really hard to beat $169 for an Apple Watch. Again, like the other Apple units on this list, the SE3 was announce last month - which adds an Always-on Display, among other features. But at $169 with otherwise all the same software features as the higher-end Apple Watch units, this continues to be one of the best deals in smartwatches out there.
	Apple Watch Series 10 - $120 off $399/$499 (cellular)	$279	Amazon	With the Series 11 out last month, you'll see sales on the Series 10. That said, there isn't a huge difference between Series 11 and Series 10. So if you were looking at the Apple Watch SE3, this might be worth grabbing instead for the added features.
	Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $150 off	$649	Amazon	With the new Apple Watch Ultra 3 announced last month, it's time to clear some Ultra 2 inventory. This is pretty much the 'normal' sale price for the Ultra 2.
	DJI Mini 4K Drone - $60 off	$239	Amazon	If you're looking to get into flying with a DJI drone, this is a solid place to start. Of course, moreso than that, the days are very limited for how much longer you can actually buy at DJI drone in the US. So, grab them while you can.
	DJI NEO - $30 off!	$159	Amazon	This is the lowest price on this drone, and is a great option if you want a follow-me drone that's pretty hard to kill, at a price point that's still super reasonable.
	DJI OSMO 360 - $137 off	$412	Amazon	NOTE: This is not sold by DJI directly via Amazon. DJI itself is NOT selling the OSMO 360 in the US, and WILL NOT support/repair it in the US. That said, it's a solid deal if you're ok with those risks.
	Garmin Edge 540 - $73 off	$267	Amazon	⚡At $267, it's pretty much impossible to beat this deal in terms of bike computers. There's no competitive option that beats it on features/battery/etc at this price, or frankly anywhere near it. Sure, it doesn't have a touchscreen, but it's not as bad as it used to be (I did a stint on it this winter for a week or so, and was fine).
	Garmin Epix Pro - $250 off! $899/$999	$499	Amazon	⚡ This is avery solid deal! The Epix Pro has the latest optical HR sensor in it, and thus has full ECG support as well. Note, this is for a 'renewed' model. In Garmin lingo, it means it went back to the (same) factory in Taiwan, and went back to the assembly line and is effectively a new watch again. I wouldn't have any concerned with a renewed model, but some might.
	Garmin Varia Radar (RTL515) - $50 off	$149	Amazon	This is Garmin's standalone radar+taillight option, and $149 is pretty much the standard sale-price. Even despite all the new radars out there, this remains the most accurate option on the market. Now, only if Garmin would just re-release it with USB-C. C'Mon Garmin...
	Garmin Venu X1 - $100 off!	$699	Amazon	This is the first time we've seen the Venu X1 on sale, since it came out this past summer. This is a good deal, though, I do wonder if it indicates the original pricing wasn't quite right here.
	Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way) - $40 off	$360	Amazon	This is a pretty small deal for this product. This is my defacto satellite communicator when out of coverage area, and I've used it on a number of major treks over the past two years when well outside of cellular service, both in a 24x7 tracking mode for friends and family, but also there in case of emergency. Would strongly recommend for anyone doing anything in the wilderness.
	Garmin inReach Messenger Plus - $100 off!	$399	Amazon	This came out last fall, and is the second time this has been discounted. The key difference with the new Plus model is that it adds the ability to send photos and voice messenges via satellite. I've used it a bit, and it's pretty cool because it makes it a lot faster to just say something rather than type it out, but the $499 price seemed excessive. $399 makes it slightly more palatable.
	GoPro Hero 13 Black - $50 off	$349	Amazon
	GoPro Hero 13 Black Bundle (extra battery/SD card/floaty) - $100 off!	$379	Amazon	⚡ This is a very solid deal. It's a Hero 13 Black on discount, but then an extra battery tossed in, then an SD card, and then a floaty.
	GoPro Hero 4K - $20 off	$199	Amazon	While the new Hero Lit was announced a few weeks back, which includes a front LED light, for the most part it's the same camera inside. Note I'll have a full comparison shortly though between the GoPro Hero Lit, DJI OSMO Nano, and Insta360 Go Ultra.
	Google Pixel Watch 3 (45mm) - $70 OFF	$229	Amazon	The newer Pixel Watch 4 came out last month, and will start shipping this week. I see the Pixel Watch 4 as a pretty substantial hardware upgrade over the Pixel Watch 3, notably due to satellite SOS, as well as a user-replaceable battery. Still, this is a solid deal.
	Insta360 X5 360* Action Cam - $50 off!	$499	Amazon
	Polar H10 Chest Strap (Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) - $15 off $89	$84	Amazon
	Polar Verity Sense - 15% off $99	$82	Amazon	I use this as one of my reference devices for heart rate accuracy testing.
	Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) - $100 off!	$549	Amazon
	Samsung Galaxy Watch8 - $35 off	$314	Amazon
	Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-frame Mirrorless Camera w/ 28-70mm Zoom - $400 off	$2,398	Amazon	This is the main camera I use for still photography and video b-roll. I recently wrote about all the photography gear I use, linked at side here.
	Suunto Run - $50 off! $249	$199	Amazon	This is a very solid deal. It's got virtually all the software features of Suunto's higher-end watches (minus the app store), and just came out this past May.
	Suunto Vertical - $120 off!	$379	Amazon	While the new Suunto Vertical 2 just came out last week, if you wanted to stock-up on MIP-based display watches before they disappear, here's your chance.
	Suunto Wing headphones - $30 off	$119	Amazon
	Wahoo ACE Cycling GPS - $90 off! $599	$531	Amazon
	Wahoo BOLT V2 - $30 off $279	$237	Amazon
	Wahoo KICKR 2022/V6 - $155 off! $1,299	$894	Amazon	⚡This is actually the lowest price we've ever seen on the KICKR V6. Wahoo says we won't see a new top-end KICKR this fall, with them instead focusing on the new KICKR Bike Pro, KICKR CORE 2, and all their new bike computers/radar/etc...
	Wahoo KICKR Core Smart Trainer - $75 off! $499	$427	Amazon	This is basically the lowest price we've ever seen for this trainer as far as I know. It's still a very solid trainer, and the cornerstone to the new Zwift Ride bike as well (it uses the KICKR CORE as the base). It works with the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB too.
	Wahoo KICKR Desk - $30 off	$199	Amazon
	Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $130 off $599	$569	Amazon
	Wahoo ROAM V3 - $70 off!	$395	Amazon	This is the first time we've seen the ROAM V3 on sale (notably the BOLT V3 is not on sale, though the larger ACE is).
	Wahoo TRACKR Heart Rate Sensor - $15 off $89	$84	Amazon

DCRAINMAKER.COM Posts in the Past Week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week:

Sunday: Week in Review–February 2nd, 2020
Monday: 5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Tuesday: Pioneer Exits Power Meter Business as Shimano Buys Their Cycling Business
Thursday: Garmin Vivoactive 4 Smartwatch In-Depth Review
Friday: Bikes, Beer, and Tech Live Podcast/Video from TDU Posted!

YouTube Videos This Past 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!

FIT File Podcast This Week:

Episode 99 of the podcast is up!

0:00 – Bikes, Beer, and Tech Explainer
1:50 – Introductions
5:40 – The impact of less accurate power meters in the pro peloton/athletes
15:30 – To Murray: What was the most difficult Wahoo product feature to develop that you thought would be easy?
19:50 – What has surprised us in the last 12 months in sports tech?
26:00 – Do pros and elite athletes use indoor training apps/devices the same way as consumers?
28:00 – Why can’t we just plug our trainers into WiFi?
31:35 – To Wahoo: What’s Wahoo’s power meter plans for Speedplay (since acquisition)?
32:25 – To Neal: As an elite coach, what do his athletes screw up the most?
34:14 – What do we expect with Zwift’s entrance into trainer hardware?
37:35 – Is reliance on tech taking away from riding a bike?
41:30 – To Neal: What does he see with mental health in the pro peloton/elite competitors, and coping with pressures?

Listen here, or four options for where to find the podcast:

A) iTunes: If you’ve got an Apple device, we’re there!
B) Google Play Music: Yup, we’re here too (and on Google Podcasts app)
C) Spotify: Of course we’re on Spotify now – you can even cache it on your wearable too!
D) RSS Feed: Follow along using the direct RSS feed

Stuff 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 (and in this case, some of these are from the past few weeks…as my backlog is a bit longer):

1) The impact of music lawsuit on Peloton, from their head of music: This is way more than just the lawsuit, and was a surprisingly interesting behind the scenes look at how the music bits of their business works. Not so much from a ‘how they got sued for hundreds of millions’, but more the specifics of how they select/process/think about music.

2) Understanding all the wonky broken bikes in Amsterdam: Title says it all, this helps you decode for each scenario what exactly went wrong. (via Dutch Cycling Embassy)

3) How ski films have changed dramatically due to social media: Super interesting, though, I’m betting the industry is oddly more financially sustainable for smaller outfits now than it was back then.

4) Zwiftcast ‘Ask me Anything’ annual edition with Eric Minn: While this is on my to-do list to listen to, you can get a jump start on digging through the nuggets.

5) The backstory on triathletes in Facebook Super Bowl Ad: Yup, they were real triathletes.

6) The battle against crowded ski hills: Having grown up going to Crystal Mountain to ski a few times a year within the race circuit, the concept of having traffic stretch that many miles away is unfathomable.

7) What you need to know for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials (for US athletes): Definitely a worthy read if you’re trying to get caught back up on the pro marathon scene ahead of Tokyo.

Sports Tech Device 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.

Garmin Edge 530/830/1030 BETA Firmware Update: Bug fix around stability issue

Garmin Fenix 6 Series & MARQ Series BETA Firmware Update: Bug fix around wifi issue

Garmin Fenix 5 Plus Series BETA Firmware Update: Same bug fix as Fenix 6/MARQ

Garmin SWIM 2 Firmware update: Mostly performance improvements and bug fixes

Stages Gen 3 Power Meter Firmware Update: A few new features related to cadence & magnets, as well as bug fixes

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Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great week ahead!