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Week in Review–September 6th, 2020

WeekInReview22

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:

Ok, not much left this week. Sorta a lull. But hey, if ya need a GoPro Hero 8 Black or AirPods, it’s still on sale!

ProductSale PriceAmazonOther siteSale Notes
Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ Deluxe Kit - 30% off!$125⚡ Let's be honest: This place runs on Nespresso (or, well, the knock-off pods we buy). But, the machine is Nespresso. Without it, reviews most definitely would not get done (and certainly not on time). This is a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
10th Gen Apple 10.2" iPad (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - $90 off!$249⚡ 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.
AmazFit T-Rex 3 - $45 off$234⚡ This recently announced watch is a very solid deal. I'm almost done with my in-depth review on it. It's definitely budget in terms of some of the polish, but has a ton of features.
Amazon Echo Dot Kids - 50% off$27Despite being a tech-focused dude, our kids don't actually get much tech in their lives. However, we got these last Christmas 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 $27? 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.)
Anker 737 Battery Bank (24,000mAh) - 47% off$79⚡I've been using this on my hikes/treks/daily life since lst winter, and have been super happy with it. I can charge drones from it on treks, as well as just a crapton of other devices (wathces/action cams/etc), but it's not too terrible on weight. For day to day life, I use it on planes and such as a laptop battery bank (supports 100w charging). Super happy with it.
Anker PowerCore III 10K Wireless Portable Charger with18W USB-C - 48% off$28I've been using this unit for a long time as a quick grab and go charger. Best as a day-use thing, especially with the wireless charging when my phone gets wet at the beach/pool/etc and needs wireless charging till the charging port dries out.
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen with USB-C) - $100 off$153⚡ Both myself and my wife have been using these since last fall, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. Sure, they're good for sports, but frankly, I use them on planes, editing, and such more than anything else.
Apple AirTags (4-Pack) - 26% off!$72⚡I make no secret how much I utilize AirTags, mainly, cause they've saved my butt numerous times already. We have them in every suitcase, and every backpack, and every bike bag. They're also hidden in most of our bikes (sometimes two of them). We were able to get our cargo bike back when it disappeared, as well as figure out when all our suitcases went missing during an annual family vacation where they were (for 5 days!), and plan appropriately. Seriously, just get them.
Apple Airpods (2nd Gen) - 31% off!
$159
$89These aren't the latest anymore, that's the newer 4th gen units. But if budget is in mind, it's hard to beat these. It's still what my wife uses as her daily driver, including tons of time on the indoor trainer/bike.
Apple Watch SE (2022/2nd gen) - $100 off
$249/$299 (cellular)
$149⚡⚡This matches again the lowest price we've ever seen the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) - a very solid deal, especially with the new WatchOS 11 features around Training Load, Vitals, offline mapping, and more.
Apple Watch Series 10 - $80 off
$399/$499 (cellular)
$329
Apple Watch Ultra 2 - $180 off!!!$619⚡ This is by far the lowest price we've seen an Apple Watch Ultra 2, to date. This is an incredibly solid deal, especially with all the new WatchOS11 features that recently arrived. NOTE: YOU NEED TO CHECK THE $80 off coupon next to it (plus the already discounted lower price!).
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $80 off$719⚡ This is a nice little deal for this unit which just came out.
Balega Comfort Running Socks - 34% off
$15
$14This is the singular piece of apparel that's lasted the longest in my collection - some 15-16 years of buying the same socks. Heck, some of them are probably half that old. EIther way, this be the ones I use. Love them (well, except for hiking and trail running, then I use other stuff that goes higher).
Beats Fit Pro - 25% off$149
Beats Studio Buds - 47% off
$149
$79
Chipolo Card Spot (Apple Find My Network) - 20% off!$27This is virtually identical to an Apple AirTag, and shows up in the exact same spot as your other AirTags within the Apple Find My app. The only difference is that it's the size of a credit card and fits in your wallet. Been using it since it came out a few years back - love it!
DJI Action 4 - $90 off$209While not the latest unit, it's still a pretty good deal at $209.
DJI Air 3 Drone - 20% off all packagesFrom $859This is a good-ish deal. Yet at the same time, the new DJI Air 3S jsut came out and is significantly better, especially for sports tracking. I'd probably pay the extra for it.
DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo with DJI RC - $200+ off$369
DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo with DJI RC2 - $300 off!$869This is DJI's most powerful small drone, and the lowest price we've seen to date.
DJI Mini 4K Drone - $60 off$209⚡ ⚡ This is an incredible deal. I actually picked up one of these back a few months ago to test, but I've used it in a boatload of review shots since then. Despite me owning all the DJI drones (seriously), this is by far the best value there is. This also has far better quality than the Neo, though, zero tracking capabilities.
EVOC Bike Travel Bag Pro - $45 off!$755This isn't on sale a lot. But, it's notably the bag I use (as does my wife). Works great, packed in all types of bikes into it over the years.
FORM Smart Swim 2 Goggles - $50 off$199These just came out earlier this year, and this is the lowest price to date. Very solid deal.
FORM Swim 1 Goggles (with heads-up display) - $50 off$129
Favero Assioma Duo/Uno Power Meter Pedals - 20% off!
$459/$719 (single/dual)
⚡ This is a strong deal from Favero, who is offering their Favero Assioma Duo pedals for 20% off. You'll pay the current exchange rate. The exact deal will vary based on which country you're shipping to.
Fitbit Ace LTE Kids Activity Smartwatch - $60 off$160⚡ This was just announced this summer, and is their first full smartwatch focused on kids activity tracking and gamification. This is the lowest price we've seen to date.
Fitbit Charge 6 - 38% off!
$159
$99⚡ This is the go-to sale price for the Fitbit Charge 6. It happens often, but it still doesn't take away from the fast that it's argueably the best bang for your buck fitness tracker out there.
Fitbit Inspire 3 - $30 off$69
Fitbit Sense 2 - $70 off$179
Fitbit Versa 4 - $40 off$119
Garmin Bounce LTE Kids Tracker - $20 off$139This is the activity tracker that both of our oldest daughters use (age 7 & 8), as well as most of their friends now. They/we all like it. Check out my full in-depth review for all my thoughts. The $20 off is about the only sale you'll see.
Garmin Edge 1040 Cycling GPS - $100 off!$499This is a good deal, especially since it's gotten virtually all of the Edge 1050 updates, and then a boatload more. That said, it wouldn't surprise me to see this drop further to $449, as it did this past summer.
Garmin Edge 540 - $100 off$249⚡⚡This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 540 to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well. This is kinda an insane deal for this unit.
Garmin Edge 540 Solar - $100 off$349This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 540 Solar to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well.
Garmin Edge 840 - $100 off$349⚡⚡This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 840 to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well. This is one of my main units I use daily.
Garmin Edge 840 Solar - $100 off$449This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 840 Solar to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well.
Garmin Edge Explore 2 - $40 off
$299
$269This is a great little unit, though, with the sales on the Edge 540 and 840 series, you might want to look at those instead.
Garmin Enduro 3: ~$50 off!
$899
$851This is the first time we've seen this on sale, and I suspect this is a transient Amazon sale. The Enduro 3 is basically the 'cheaper' Garmin Fenix 8 with a MIP display (but without the scuba or voice calling features).
Garmin Epix Pro Series - 20% off!
$899/$999
$649⚡ This is the lowest price to date for the Garmin Epix Pro series, likely due to the Fenix 8 coming out a few months back (Epix as a brand was merged into the Fenix 8 branding). Still, if you don't care about diving or voice bits, this is an incredible deal.
Garmin Fenix 7 Pro - 31% off (All Variants)
$799+
$549+⚡ This is the lowest price to date for the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro series, likely due to the Fenix 8 coming out a few months back. Still, if you don't care about diving or voice bits, this is an incredible deal.
Garmin Forerunner 165 (Base) - $100 off!
$249/$299
$199⚡ This is the lowest price to date, and argueably one of the best deals this Black Friday in terms of runners watches and bang for the buck.
Garmin Forerunner 165 Music - $50 off!$249This is the first time we've head a meaningful sale on the Forerunner 165, released earlier this year, down to $249 for the Music edition, and $199 for the non-music edition.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$249This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!
$349/$399
$299This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics. This model also includes offline music such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
Garmin Forerunner 265 - $100 off$349This is the first time we've seen the Forerunner 265 on sale, and it's solidly priced right now at $349
Garmin Forerunner 265s - $100 off$349This is the first time we've seen the Forerunner 265 on sale, and it's solidly priced right now at $349
Garmin Forerunner 55 - $50 off
$199
$149This is a good little running watch, though, it also supports plenty of other sport types as well. This is the lowest sale price to date.
Garmin Forerunner 955 - $100ish off!$399⚡ This is one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and it's down to a very strong price. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. Note this is the base edition without solar. It'd be hard to find any better deal in sports watches today, from any company (given this has full mapping, tons of new features even this week, etc...). I say '$100ish', because it's usually been on forever sale at $499, so $399 is a strong price, though, it dipped to $319 for Amazon Prime Day.
Garmin Forerunner 965 - $100 off!$499⚡ This is the lowest price we've seen ever on the Forerunner 965, since it's launch. It's still Garmin's top-end Forerunner watch, and I expect it to stay that way for a while. It's one I often use in comparative testing as a reference device.
Garmin HRM-FIT - $15 off
$149
Look, this isn't much of a discount, but it's the first discount we've seen to date...so...better than nothing.
Garmin HRM-PRO Plus - 20% off
$129
$103A solid little deal for this strap, if you're in the Garmin ecosystem and want a dedicated chest strap. This strap is one of the two straps I use constantly for other HR sensor accuracy comparisons (alongside Polar H10)
Garmin Instinct 2 Series - $100 Off$199⚡The Instinct 2 base is from $199, a very solid deal - especially with all the major software updates it's had over the few years since release. The Solar editions are also on sale.
Garmin Instinct 2S & 2S Solar $100 off!$199-$299⚡The Instinct 2 base is from $199, a very solid deal - especially with all the major software updates it's had over the few years since release. The Solar editions are also on sale for $299
Garmin Instinct 2X - $100 off!$349This is a solid deal. Garmin Instinct 2X - $100 off!It's best thought of as an Instinct 2.5, as it has almost enough features to really be more of an Instinct 3 (which doesn't exist at this point).
Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar - $100 off!$399
Garmin Tactix 7 Pro - 20% off$1,049This is the largest discount we've seen to date on the Tactix 7 Pro unit. Note the other Tactix 7 Pro units/variants are also on sale for 20% off too (this link takes you to all of them).
Garmin Varia RCT715 Camera Radar - $100 off$299⚡ This is the lowest price we've seen on this unit ever. While I have some quibbles with it from an app/etc standpoint, it's still the best offering on the market by far for integrated radar + camera + bike light features.
Garmin Varia RVR315 Radar - $50 off$99⚡ This is Garmin's radar without the light, so it's a bit smaller as a result. Same radar tech though, and compatible with Garmin/Stages/Hammerhead/Wahoo bike computers.
Garmin Varia Radar (RTL515) - $50 off$149This is Garmin's standalone radar+taillight option, and $149 is pretty much the standard sale-price.
Garmin Venu 3 - $100 off!
$449
$349This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Venu 3, which is Garmin's answer to the Apple/Samsung/Google watches.
Garmin Venu 3S - $100 off$349This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Venu 3, which is Garmin's answer to the Apple/Samsung/Google watches. The Venu 3S is simply the smaller edition.
Garmin Vivoactive 5 - $110 off!
$299
$189This is a great deal for Garmin's little-sibling to the Venu series. It has almost all the same features as the Venu 3, except the voice calling related bits.
Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way) - $100 off$299⚡ 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.
GoPro Hero 12 Black - $100 off!$299The new Hero 13 just came out, which mostly just adds a bunch of new accessory options. If you don't plan to purchase those accessories, then this is a solid deal.
GoPro Hero 13 Black - $100 OFF!$299⚡ This is the first time we have seen the newly announced GoPro Hero 13 Black on sale, and now even lower for the non-bundled version to $299! That's crazy!
GoPro Hero 13 Black - $60 OFF!$339⚡ This is the first time we have seen the newly announced GoPro Hero 13 Black on sale. Solid deal, this is my daily use action cam! That said, the bundle version listed below this is a better deal, since for $10 more you get a bunch of other things.
GoPro Hero 13 Black Bundle (extra battery/SD card/floaty) - $100 off!$349⚡ 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$179This was just released back in September, and is GoPro's budget option, which includes a full color touchscreen on the back as well.
Google Nest WiFi Pro - 6E (3xPack) - $120 off!$279I've been using the Google Nest WiFi packs for years. And this deal is strong enough that I clicked purchase on this deal to upgrade to the WiFi Pro after a few trusted reviewer friends upgraded as well. The 2x pack is also on sale for 34% off as well, if you don't need three pods.
Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm) - $70 OFF$279Click to add $70 coupon into the cart. Bringing price down to $279!
Insta360 Ace Pro Action Cam - $50 off$299This is the previous edition, as the Ace Pro 2 just came out a few weeks back, but this is still a very solid camera from a year ago.
Insta360 GO 3S Tiny 4K Action Camera - $60 off!$239This is a great deal for this tiny little thing, which should really be named the Go 4, given how many new features it has (including 4K). It also has all the Insta360 sport integration features with Garmin & Apple, to overlay your Garmin/Apple data automatically on your footage.
Jackery Portable Power Station - $100 off!$169This is something I use frequently when shooting out and about and I need to re-charge a crapton of drone batteries, action cameras, or just cameras and such. I also use it on trips to Eurobike and elsewhere to keep equipment charged. I've even bought a solar panel to hook up to it (surprisingly effective). Heck, I've even powered a KICKR trainer ride from it!
Lasko High Velocity Pro-Performance Fan - 15% off$54This is one of the most popular indoor trainer fan companies out there, which rivals the Wahoo Headwind fan but cost a fraction of the price. Of course, it lacks ANT+/Bluetooth integration, but realistically if you really want that you can add a smart outlet for $10 to toggle it on/off from your phone if need be. It's one of the ones in my rotation.
Oura Ring Gen 3 - $50 off$249While Oura just released their Gen 4 ring (which I'm currently testing), I'll be frank, there's virutally no real-world difference to Gen 3. About the only notable thing is the battery life difference (which is legit 7 days now, versus real-world 4-5 on Gen3). Otherwise, same-same.
Peloton Bike - 10% off$1,295This is still a solid bike, and actually one that I use at home (I have the newer Peloton Bike+ at the office). Both my wife and I use these bikes interchangeably, and while the Bike+ has a bigger screen and better accuracy, there's very little difference in the core Peloton experience. I'd still recommend this model to most people. Note Peloton has stated/confirmed there will be no 'bigger discounts' on products during this holiday period.
Peloton Bike+ is $500 off$1,995This is a solid deal for the Bike+, albeit largely the normal sale/deal price. Both my wife and I use both the Peloton Bike+ and the regular Bike (one at home, one at office) on a weekly basis. We like both. The Bike+ is more accurate than the regular bike, and also has a bigger screen and automatic resistance control. That said, the core Peloton experience isn't any different between the two - it's the same platform there.
Peloton Guide - A crapton % off$45Peloton keeps trying to get rid of these - and $45 is hilariously cheap (it started in a bundle for $495, and has slowly worked it's way down from there).
Peloton Tread - $300 off$2,695This is my main treadmill at home, and I really like it. I've got no complaints about it, and am happy I went with the smaller Peloton Tread versus the bigger unit.
Philips Hue Smart Lighting - 20-65% offI use Philips Hue stuff all over the DCR Cave/Studio for lighting, both obviously colorful stuff in the background of shots, but also just for automation of the lights. Same goes at home. Love it (mainly when it's on sale like now). Starter packs are a good place to begin, and then I love the light strips (such as pictured).
Polar Verity Sense - 15% off
$99
$84I use this as one of my reference devices for heart rate accuracy testing.
Samsung Galaxy Ring - $50 Amazon Gift Card Included$399Not a straight discount, but Amazon gift card is basically cash for most of us.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (40 & 44mm) - $100 off!$202⚡ This is a very solid deal for one of Samsung's best watches to date, and also just released this summer.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra - $215 off!$434⚡ This is by *FAR* the lowest price we've seen on this brand new watch. This scored very well in my accuracy tests, as well as battery testing.
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 - Just a crapton off$120
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic - $200 off$199I'd probably go with the Samsung Watch 7, unless you *really* want the physical bezel (which admittedly, is a heck of a lot better than the touch bezel on the Watch 7). Either way, this is a very solid price.
Samsung T9 SSD (2-4TB) - up to 40% off$134I use a literal flotilla of these small SSD's for all my photo/video projects until they get moved off to the NAS system (Synology) for longer term storage. I have T5/T7 units, and are picking up a few of the larger T9 ones given the sale prices. Love them, incredibly fast and reliable.
SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO SD Cards - 51% off$29⚡I use the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Cards exclusively for all my video/photo shooting on my Panasonic GH5 and Nikon cameras (video and stills), including up to 6K recording with the GH5. I've mostly used 128's, but more and more lately I'm filling up cards faster with higher bitrates, so this sale is gonna have me pickup a bunch of the 256GB ones instead. The 128GB/ 512GB/1TB ones are also on sale too viathe same link. Note that usually I wait till these are about $40-45, so this is a fantastic deal and I'll be filling up.
SanDisk Extreme Pro 256GB MicroSD Card - 18% off!$28I use this card for all of my drones and action cams. Sometimes, also the 512GB version as well.
Scosche RHYTHM+ 2.0 ANT+ & Bluetooth HR Monitor
$79
$39This isn't the newest chicken on the block, but for $39?!?! That's a solid deal for something that's actually pretty darn accurate. Really accurate.
Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-frame Mirrorless Camera w/ 28-70mm Zoom - $400 off$2,298This 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 Race - $50 off!$399This is the lowest price we've seen on the Suunto Race. That said, keep in mind the Suunto Race S is $349, has the same software and a *MUCH* better optical HR sensor. Though, is a bit smaller and slightly less battery life. Still, great watches.
Suunto Race Titanium - $50 off!$499
Suunto Vertical (Solar edition) - $150 off$549This unit continues to get all the most current updates, and is Suunto's MIP-enabled device with dual-frequency GPS and mapping.
Tacx Flux 2 Smart Trainer - $300ish off
$899
$399I mean, I guess. Really, I don't see why anyone would buy this trainer at any price above $299. With the JetBlack Victory at $399 being more accurate, quiter, including WiFi, including Zwift Cog support (or mechanical cassette), including dual-Bluetooth, including Race Mode, and...one could go on and on.
Tacx NEO 2T Smart Trainer - $200-$300 off
$1,399
$899This is the go-to sales price for the NEO 2T, though has become more frequent over the past year. It's still an incredible trainer, and is the top-end non-moving trainer from Garmin/Tacx.
Therabody Theragun Mini - $50 off!$149My wife uses the Theragun Elite, which is a bit larger than this Mini model, and also includes more tips. But, as noted - people seem happy with all these models.
Therabody Theragun Prime - 36% off$190My wife uses the Theragun Elite, which is relatively similiar to this newer model.
Vacmaster AM201R Fan + Remote/holder (13% off)$69This is another very popular fan that people use for indoor training/cycling, especially due to inclusion of the remote and remote holder to clasp on your handlebars.
Wahoo BOLT V2 - 26% off
$279
$208⚡ This price is very solid for this unit, especially if you want a smaller bike computer that's very solid in terms of software stability at this point. I believe this is the lowest price ever.
Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM V2 - 15% off
$399
$339While Wahoo has announced a new bike computer coming December 3rd, this is Wahoo's top-end unit for now. 15% off is pretty much the norm for them.
Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One (COG V2) + Play Controllers
$499
$499This package includes the KICKR CORE with the Zwift V2 Cog, but notably now also includes the Zwift Play controllers. Basically, this saves you about $100 or so, and is the first time we've seen them bundle it.
Wahoo KICKR MOVE - $300 off!
$1,599
$999⚡⚡ This is actually a very solid deal, and the first time we've seen this discounted. In fact, frankly, this is the first time in years it feels like Wahoo is actually doing a legit sale on something. Kudos.
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $100 off
$599
$499
Wahoo KICKR SNAP - Lowest Price Ever
$499
$199This is lowest we've ever seen the KICKR SNAP priced. While the trend has moved towards wheel-off/direct drive trainers, this is still really solid deal if your budget it tight. That said, if you're in Europe, Decathlon has the D100 on sale for $199 also, and in my testing, I'd go with that almost every time.
Whoop 4.0 with 1-year subscription - 17% off$199This brings down the 1-year price to $17/month, which is the lowest it's been (only way to get that is normally a 24-month membership).
Withings Body Comp WiFI Scale - 25% off$149
Withings Body Smart WiFI Scale - 20% off$79
ZOLEO Satellite Communicator - $50 off$149I have not yet tried the Zoleo unit, though, many of you have and it's super popular.

DCRAINMAKER.COM Posts in the Past Week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week, as noted last week, I planned for this past week to be pretty quiet as I prep for this upcoming week

Sunday: Week in Review–August 30th, 2020
Tuesday: Garmin Launches Clipboard App For Coaches: Here’s how it works
Thursday: COROS Pace 2 In-Depth Review: A $199 Multisport watch with Running Power

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 to clear out the backlog):

1) Behind the scenes with Week 1 of the Tour de France: Good snippets of videos from beyond the fence lines this year, which would have undoubtedly required an immense amount of coordination with the teams to get the video clips (as media wouldn’t have been permitted to get them in these spots) and then atop that consolidate all these otherwise uncoordinated bits into a cohesive story that actually makes sense. Super impressive.

2) Peloton appears set to launch cheaper treadmill, more expensive bike: It’s been long rumored (nearly a year) that Peloton was looking to offer the treadmill at a more appealing price point. Inversely, it sounds like a bike with a bigger and tiltable display is on the way. This makes sense in normal years, but given Peloton is already having significant issues keeping up with demand – I’m a bit more perplexed on the bike piece.

3) How the original Apple Watch was hidden: Turns out, as an iPod. These days, that’d gather more attention than just an Apple Watch out in the open.

4) More Q2 Wearables Sales Stats: This time for so-called ‘wearable bands’ for North America specifically, which appears to be anything inclusive of watches (but not things like headphones/etc…). Either way, once you make the category more broad than purely smartwatches, then we see Fitbit ahead of Garmin/Samsung, versus lower than Garmin. Of course, Apple still leads. As I’ve oft noted, the definition of smart watch, band, etc… seems to change with the wind, dependent on the message that whichever firm is putting out the report wants to convey.

5) Zwift Steering Exclusivity Workaround: Sports tech industry’s Uncle Keith has once again shaken things up, this time illustrating why open standards are always better than closed proprietary exclusivity. In this long video (definitely for geeks), he shows under the covers how the Elite Sterzo Smart communicates with Zwift for steering, and how to build our own Zwift steering device.

6) DJI Mavic Air 2 Component Teardown: Speaking of tearing things apart, a complete breakdown of the components of the DJI Mavic Air 2 shows that the vast majority of the components are off the shelf, even apparently using common smartwatch GPS chipsets. Though, I couldn’t find the exact chipset that was used. Apparently the cost of goods for the Mavic Air 2 is $135 (it sells for $799USD).

7) Garmin launches Catalyst performance driving display thingy: I mention this, not because I care about the product (I don’t, I don’t even own a car – let alone a race car) – but actually it’s notable in the context of the Garmin MARQ series. You’ll remember when Garmin launched the MARQ series they basically launched one SKU per division in Garmin (Boating, Outdoors, Fitness, Automotive, Aviation). At the time, all of them made sense, except when it came to the automotive one it wasn’t just regular car driving things, but rather race-track focused (versus normal car stuffs). Garmin had never done that before, so in some ways it was out of left field. This product shows you basically Part 2 out of what I presume is a long product path towards building an entirely new category. Similar to what we saw with diving for example, though, that seems to have stalled a bit. Anyway, I thought it was randomly notable. Also – it kinda looks like Best Bike Split for race cars.

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, Wahoo, Polar, and a few other firmware updates.

Garmin Forerunner 45 Beta Firmware Update: Bluetooth Stability improvements.

Garmin Fenix 5 Plus Series Firmware Update: Fixed battery drain issues after music playback

Garmin Instinct Solar Firmware BETA: Various fixes.

Lezyne Year 10 Firmware Updates: Maybe, the updater got updated, but it’s not clear from the site whether any updates were with it.

Stages Power Meter Firmware Update: Largely performance and handling related improvements.

Wahoo ELEMNT/BOLT/ROAM Firmware Update: Stability improvements.

With that – thanks for reading!

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40 Comments

  1. Matthew Nguyen

    Still waiting that dang AmazFit treadmill…

  2. Kevin

    You think trainer sales this offseason are going to be anywhere close to what they were in the spring? Seems like a ton of people who wanted one got one in Q1 2020…

    • It’s a huge wildcard. Historically I think those 20% off type sales will happen, but frankly, I doubt they’ll be any inventory for them to sell during that timeframe.

      Trainer companies can’t really keep up with demand today, and I suspect there’s a chance they might break their head above water around early October – only to then have more orders from a blend of COVID19 waves growing, as well as people just going indoors like normal.

      Said differently – if you really want a new trainer for this year, it’s best to put in the orders now. Whereas if you’re on the fence, you can see what happens in November. Either way, I don’t expect any further mainstream brand models this year.

    • George Pajari

      FWIW – I’m in Vancouver, Canada; ordered a Kickr Bike end of July — told to expect delivery end of September.

  3. KCF

    Think the upgraded Peloton bike will support erg mode?

    • Chris Benten

      Not likely. They have stated not interested and my neighbor does electronic QA for them has offered to design the circuit but they declined. Peloton makes money selling subscriptions to their online classes. If they built a “smart” bike that allowed Zwift, etc…they lose the moneymaker…

    • Agree, I’m actually not convinced ERG mode adds anything to the Peloton experiance. Of course, I’m sure in like 12 minutes or something they’ll announce and prove me wrong. But it’d have to be a substantial shift in direction to go towards ERG mode because so much of the concept of Peloton is giving you guidelines, but also those rails to go above/below based on the day.

      I agree in that they’d never build a bike with open standards. While they do turn a solid profit on the bikes themselves, the real long-term money is the subs.

  4. Anonymous Coward

    If Peloton can fulfill “Bike+“ (?) orders faster than for the current bike, then it’s a no-brainer as many of their target customers will just fork up $$$ for earlier delivery. Also, should it come with a detachable screen for taking non-bike classes on, that’s probably worth the up-sell alone.

    • It might be a good business move (and, they have said in various customer communications they’ll refund the difference of any price drop that occurs for existing backorders as well as new receivers in the last 30 days).

      However, ultimately, that manufacturing capacity that could be producing the existing/lower priced unit (since they now own their own facilities). And given the wait times are nuts these days, you’re essentially saying to customers already sitting on a waitlist: ‘Thanks, but, we’re letting this group over here cut the line instead’.

    • Anonymous Coward

      If they indeed affect a retroactive price guarantee, then it sounds like the choice for anyone on the waitlist is to get a refund and keep on waiting for the current product, or get bumped to the new product, ideally to the front of the order queue.

      Hard to gauge how / if their backlog is affected by the transition. Depends how well they’ve managed logistics planning, and it sounds like maybe not so well.

  5. Anonymous Coward

    Hopefully Garmin Catalyst disrupts the race car lap analysis segment. Current solutions (AIM/MoTeC/…) require a data engineer to decipher all the squiggly lines, so maybe there’s a space for a tool for mere mortals. Except that Catalyst doesn’t seem to include any support for actual ECU data acquisition via ODB-II/CAN Bus/…, so it could be relegated to the “HPDE / hobby racer” segment.

    • Interesting. So, if coming from folks who would be interested in this tech – what’s the current thought on their offering?

      It’s odd that it doesn’t support ODB-II, since their VIRB Action cams do.

    • ggc

      The product seems to aimed at getting faster lap times rather than being a data logger, but I still think supporting OBD2 would be required to make sensible deductions on better laptimes.
      Will be interesting to see how consistent of a racing line it can map out with a 10HZ GPS + accelerometer+ image processing (sounds like voodoo/marketing).

  6. Robert B

    As someone who’s worked in the autotrade for 30 years, albeit lastly in April 2019 has OBD superceded to ODB? Reminds me of the time i got comptia certified, blink and the damn thing was out of date. Hence the long automotive career

  7. Timothy

    What happened to your peloton review?

  8. Mark

    Ray, you may want to update your sale notes for the Hero 8, considering it’s September already (my time has flown) and leaks of the Hero 9 have been circulating for a while.

  9. Lorin

    Hi Ray, Any comments on this and how it can change gps accuracy on future wearables? Maybe in next year’s garmin device.
    link to sony.net

    • Dan G

      Interesting; the first Sony L5/E5 wearables receiver (I don’t know if anyone else has released one). The L5/E5 waveform should allow accurate GPS-derived instant pace, something impossible before now. (Otherwise you need a footpod, probably a Stryd.) As the article notes, L5/E5 is also much better at cutting through multipathing (e.g. in city street canyons) to deliver your true position.

      Incredible bits of engineering, aren’t they? Such tiny objects that can locate their position anywhere on Earth in just a few seconds.

    • balandreau

      I believe Sony and Quectel are the only ones with this technology at the moment….

    • Dom

      There’s the Broadcom BCM47755 chip in whichever is the mobile variant, which I think was first to market. I’m unsure with any of these how the power consumption compares with single band devices, which will carry a lot of weight in decision making. Antenna design could be interesting, too. That said, show me a watch which has this and gets anywhere near its promise and I’m in.

  10. MAGNUStm

    With the announcement of the new tread/bike I take it they’re delaying the announcement of their Rower.

  11. DVQ

    I ride bikes and I track cars so I hopped on the Garmin Catalyst launch. Even though you may not be interested in driving — from a cyclist’s perspective I will note that they seem to be using some vision neural networks to detect placement of the vehicle on the track. This sort of technology makes me wonder what kind of applications vision based AI could mean for garmin cycling based products.

  12. Michael Allen

    Just browsing Garmin site this week and noticed this:
    link to buy.garmin.com

    Fenix 6 compatible quarter turn quickfit bike mount

    No idea when it arrived but finally ?

  13. davie

    Hi Ray, you have probably already seen this from Drew at Tacx Facx. Basically means that every single Neo 2T ever sold, anywhere in the world will, once warranty is expired and the $10 bearing inevitably fails, become an expensive door-stop. No way to fix the bearing due to a proprietary part required.

    link to youtube.com

    • This seems like a case of not simply asking the question to Garmin/Tacx. In fact, in the comments you’ll find a comment from Hilko – lead of support for Tacx.

      He noted that while they don’t yet have the public extractor tool available, it is something they’e working on. Since bearing replacement at this stage in the product life-cycle is fairly rare, they were doing replace via swaps.

      “Easy to go solutions needs to be availble for the public or dealers so that cost can be reduced to fix the problem and that we can service the NEO2T. They are in planning and will be offered to the market.”

      As Drew himself noted, swapping out full units (while sometimes expensive) is a better overall customer service experience for the vast majority of people that aren’t inclined to replace it. Given how rare it is for bearings to have issues at this stage in the product lifecycle, I don’t really think this is a big deal. If we come back in a few years and the tool isn’t available – then sure.

      But as Drew also noted, Garmin is one of the few companies that will still actually warranty your product forever. There might be a cost for a 15 year old product, but they do retain the parts. And in fact, we *already* saw this with Tacx and Garmin saying they’re going to takeover support and went back and added that for example to the original NEO as a policy.

    • davie

      ppreciate your comments Ray but feel they are optimistic. I live in Australia and own a Neo 1 bought in Feb 2018. Using the Garmin AU website, I can’t buy a replacement shimano hub for the EDCO hub, Can’t buy an extractor tool (however Hilko explained that the 2T tool is backwards compatible). I could do all of this before Garmin took over.
      Why is it acceptable for garmin to supply sub-standard bearings on a flagship unit? Why is it acceptable to not supply a tool for repairs… just because its new? Units are already failing. It’s not acceptable to state that the most minor issue requires complete unit replacement and a 2-3 month wait while this takes place.
      I am not aware of an local Garmin Australia support policy for my model out of warranty if it exists. There is NO mention of any policy on the tacx or Garmin AU website at all. The only policy I am aware of is a UK only one of charging 650 pounds for repairs no matter what the issue – even if its a $10 bearing fix.
      Drew made lots of good points about Garmins attitude towards garmins paying customers. Not expecting you to comment on all of them but he has bent over backwards to help people on facebook.

      Hilko is clearly trying hard, but I don’t’ think he is getting the Garmin HQ support he needs.

      Has anyone at Tacx or Garmin ever heard of a focus group or user survey?

  14. George Pajari

    What’s up with the Wahoo Elemnt ROAM? The Wahoo website (link to wahoofitness.com) says it’s out of stock. REI says “Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT ROAM GPS Bike Computer is no longer available”. The listing on Amazon.com has disappeared, and my order with Canada Bicycle Parts was cancelled with a note asking if I’d like a BOLT instead (no).

    • Patrick Utrecht

      Looks like the same happened in my country (Europe). It points towards a new model release, in which case if Ray knows anything about it, he’ll be blocked to comment on it. I assume he still needs to sign a NDA to get info. I’ll be surprised on what is to come. Though I use the Roam myself, it’s only a minor improvement over the bolt with a huge mark up in price (relatively speaking). The biggest let down was the so called “color screen” which I still consider mainly mono (black & white). I do appreciate the bigger size though and the rerouting option that the bolt lacks.

  15. Clair Hutchings

    Ray
    Upgrading from tacx smart flow would you go for tacx neo 2t, wahoo of some description or the new next generation wattbike atom. Currently I use an old 8 speed racing bike.

    Thanks

  16. brad

    Hi Ray – any rumors or timeframe for the release of a new Forerunner 645? That product is over 2 years old, and I’m wondering if they’re going to keep that slot between the 245 and 945 or ditch it. Thanks!

  17. Andrew

    I’ve just discovered that the Polar Flow website has an export HRV data option for a given activity. Is this a new feature or am I now seeing this because I bought a new Polar Pro HR Strap? I’m still using my H7 sensor and the export option is also available for my OH1 sensor.

    • George Pajari

      You are probably only seeing it because you have the PRO HR strap.
      (a) I only have the OH1 and don’t see it; and
      (b) I understood that the OH1 did not capture sufficient information to provide HRV data (and so I’d have doubts about the utility of an HRC export from a data set captured by an OH1 sensor).

    • Aidan

      I can confirm, it’s a recent update from Polar – screenshot attached shows my own view – Polar mentioned this on twitter yesterday

    • Andrew

      Yes you are correct about the OH1 as my export file does not have HRV data.

    • Andrew

      Thanks Aidan.
      MAP, MAS and FTP are now available under Physical settings.

      link to twitter.com

  18. Arne

    Hi Ray, I’ve noticed a lot of buzz on social media regarding ‘Aerofit’, a device that is used to ‘train your lungs’ for endurance sports. Since your spot-on review of the Whoop strap, I see you as one of the people very able to get a closer look at this device. Any chance you’d be doing an in-depth piece on that?

    It’s a bit of sub-genre in sportstech, but might be interesting.

    Kind regards!

    • Yeah, I put that kinda stuff in the same camp as those bracelets people try and pitch that supposedly make you do X or Y.

      My thing is simple on these: If they actually worked (even at a 1% increase), then we’d see every single pro athletes in the world using them (for free), since 1% is gold medal at the Olympics or off the podium for most events. But…we don’t. We only see mostly no-name athletes talking about supposed benefits.

      Most data I’ve read basically says there are some short-term benefits, but, like everything else in the body eventually your body adapts (very quickly in this case), and there’s no actual increase in performance, because you can’t keep applying more and more load like you can other stimuli.

      Cheers!

    • Arne

      That’s kind of what I expected… Thanks!