Heads up! The big Garmin annual spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8 (first sale to date!), $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965 at $499, the Forerunner 265, the new Instinct 3, and countless other Garmin products including inReach Mini 2. Plus the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium is on sale, and some Suunto & Wahoo product deals too. Full list & thoughts 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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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!
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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!
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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?
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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 2024 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.
Great work on the videos recently – the windy drones tests, the short videos for new Strava features and the amazing Wahoo TICKR video – I don’t remember the last time I laughed so much watching a tech review video! :)
Btw do you have any news on when the podcast is coming back :/ ?
Wahoo ELEMNT fixes have been coming thick and fast recently. Live tracking totally broken, iPhone pairing broken, and on my device at least, ANT+ drop outs that last minutes. I hope they get this figured out. This is the worst my ELEMNT has been in 4 years of ownership.
I’ve been looking to upgrade my Forerunner 235 for a while and the Fenix 5+ has just gone on sale here in the UK for £349.99 (roughly $440). I’m just wondering if it’s worth it at that price, or if there’s likely to be a further sale on the horizon in the coming month(s), seeing as I don’t need an upgrade urgently? Or, should I just be looking at the Fenix 6 at this point? Thanks
The Fenix 5+ series pricing in the UK would be driven retailer-driven sales at this point. By and large, Garmin doesn’t dictate sale pricing in the UK (only the US), so retailers dance to their own beat in the UK (due to MAP pricing type stuff that exists in the US but doesn’t exist in Europe).
Still, that seems like a pretty good deal if you ask me.
Of course, with the Fenix 5+ series you shouldn’t expect any feature updates at this point. Whereas the Fenix 6 is still getting them. But, if you’re happy with what you see on the F5+, go forth!
FWIW I’m using a Fenix 5 (not even a 5+) and I haven’t seen any compelling reason to update to a 6. If the price is right…
Mine Bolt stopped ca. 3-4 weeks ago automatic syncing activities over home wifi (no problem to update firmware so it’s not a fault of the network), so I have to sync via mobile app :(
Anyone has the same behavior?
I had the same behaviour with my Bolt a few weeks back after one of the latest updates. But after 2/3 days it started syncing again. Have you tried a factory reset?
I’ve had similar janky behavior with my Bolt. There have been a lot of firmware updates in the past few weeks and ever since they started, syncing has gone to crap. And tonight, just as I was at the trailhead and ready to ride, my Bluetooth connection failed and I had to completely re-pair the Bolt to the phone. C’mon Wahoo, did you hire the Strava devs? I would love to roll back my firmware a couple of weeks just to have a properly working head unit again.
– nick
Have also experienced this with my Bolt in the last few weeks.
My Edge 1000 seems to have updated to 15.40, not sure what this contains as the firmware page lists 15.20 as the release that dropped June 5th
It contains magic beans.
link to forums.garmin.com
I just got emails from Western Bike Works and TriSports.com with an offer to pre-order the Garmin Edge 130- and 1030 plus. Any official information on those?
When I click on the link, the website says that the offer is not available yet.
Same from biketiresdirect.com this morning. They even had live preorder links up for a while. I suspect someone jumped the gun.
All the same company.
Can we expect Fenix 7 announcement any time soon?