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!
Garmin Developer Conference on Wednesday:
Previously called the Garmin Connect IQ Summit, but now consolidated for all things Garmin developer into the Garmin Developer Conference, this event is where we should expect to see Garmin announce new developer bits for the Garmin fitness/outdoors/etc platforms. And with that, we tend to see the curtain pulled back a bit on what future devices might have in them. At least, that’s the way it’s worked for the past half a decade or so.
In fact, even before the Garmin Connect IQ Summit there was the ANT+ Symposium, where Garmin used to make some of their development announcements. It’s also where I used to deliver my annual ‘State of Sports Technology’ keynote. And this year will be no different.
And just like past years, my keynote is more about, well…the state of sports tech. It’s not about Garmin or whatever developer stuff they’re announcing. And, like every year – I’ll talk about the highs and lows from a consumer and industry standpoint – and where I think things are going.
The conference is free this year (unlike years past), and entirely virtual (obviously). I’ll be delivering my keynote of sorts in the opening block Wednesday morning starting around 9AM CDT (UTC-5, or 4PM Central European Time). Click here to register to watch!
(Note: Like past years, I’m not being paid anything for my session. In years with the ANT+ Symposium I instead donated my speaker fee to charity, generally a sports-related charity in either Alberta or Newfoundland, home of The Girl.)
Sports Tech Deals of Note:
It’s the start of Amazon Prime Week, tomorrow, and I suspect we’ll see plenty more deals. Until then, here’s some things to get ya started.
⚡This is the first time we've seen teh Edge 1050 on sale, since being announced last June (2024). It continues to be the most full featured bike comptuer on the market, and both reviews and consumers seem to be pretty happy with it. It's the unit I use if not testing anything else.
⚡At $249, 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).
This is the biggest sale we've seen on this to date. As noted above, the Enduro 3 is simply the Fenix 8 with a MIP/Solar display (but without the scuba or voice calling features). It gets all the Fenix 8 features and updates otherwise.
⚡The Fenix 8 is now down to $799 for the 42/47mm AMOLED editions, and from $899 for the Solar/MIP editions. This is the first big sale, outside of a short $70 discount back in January by Uncle Amazon.
This is actually the biggest discount the Forerunner 265 has seen since launch. Obviously the FR570 (successor to FR265) just came out this week, though with relatively modest updates.
This is the lowest price to date on this watch, bringing it down to a very strong $499. This unit includes maps and is more or less a plastic Fenix 7 Pro. The FR970 just came out this week, adding ECG functionality and a few other software features...but at $250 more!
⚡ 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.
This came out last fall, and is the first 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.
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:
1) Specialized’s New Ad is So Good: As CyclingTips pointed out, this new ad for a bike or something is probably the most engaging cycling business thing you’ll watch all year. It’s so good you’ll forget it’s an ad. Now, given I just bought a mountain bike, I’m certainly not about to buy another any time soon. But, I enjoy good videos – and this is certainly good and enjoyable.
2) Explaining the new Zwift Pace Partners Drops Multiplier: I’ve started to do Pace Partner rides more and more lately, for the very simple reason that selecting a specific group ride/race doesn’t always work timing wise. Pace Partners meanwhile, they’re almost always there. A new Drops (points) multiplier is now in effect, such that you get more Drops the longer you stay close by. Both the Zwift Insider post above, or the video from GPLama below explain it. Though, as you’ll find, staying exactly within that short 7 meter draft zone for long periods of time is harder than you think.
3) GoPro passes 500,000 paid subscribers: They were previously targeting 600-700K by the end of the year. Of course, the real reason for this is that signing up for GoPro Plus gets you $100 off your GoPro Hero 9. So it’s pretty much a no-brainer since GoPro Plus is far cheaper. GoPro is banking that after a year, people remain on the platform. Which, most probably will. I use it as my backup of GoPro footage, but the 50% discount on accessories is handy when I remember.
4) Maelstrom Trainer Fan Controller Goes Opensource: Of course, the real story here is simply that Keith is moving on from the project to something else. As he noted in the post, the certification related costs were just too high to overcome for this type of product. Still, I’m sure we’ll see something interesting down the road on whatever he’s got planned next…
5) Stryd dips toe into training subscription service: This is an interesting one, and I might end up writing some more in-depth on it down the road. I see both sides of this. On one hand, providing training plans and such for running power-focused workouts makes sense, as a gap exists there. On the flip side, I worry that new features down the road will basically only go to subscribers (which, is how it works for every company – just ask Strava). And for a $200 device, that’s a tough added pill. But if they can make the training plan/platform piece make fiscal sense, then it might be OK.
6) Going from Google Drones to GoPro Drones to Skydio Drones: Women are unfortunately pretty rare in the drone industry, so here’s a good interview with Nicole Bonk, who worked at all three companies in drone engineering and test capacities.
7) Radio Tower Captures its Own Wildfire Demise on Camera: As many of us spend time in the great outdoors and national parklands, this one was pretty crazy to watch. It’s only a couple minutes long, but captures (itself!) as a radio tower camera gets circled with wildfire and eventually falls to it.
Do you intend to test the HR accuracy of the new amazfit band 5. Just wondering whether the HR accuracy of a cheap fitness tracker would stand up to the more expensive fitness watches! Their advertising claims that it is very accurate, but they probably all say that, but it would be interesting to know.
Thanks for all the really useful reviews anyway.
So basically Stryd will do what the Trenara app is doing for free the past 1,5 year in the Low Lands. Producing a training plan based on current fitness and adapting that plan each day/week when your fitness improves (or declines ?). Trenara is now entering non-Dutch speaking markets, very interesting to see if they get picked up.
You missed a few parts of the Stryd announcement which I think are actually the most significant: (a) a ConnectIQ app that actually works for interval training, and (b) workout downloads into their CIQ app from 3rd party platforms like TrainingPeaks. It’s a huge step forward.
Those are all things that should be done either way, the subscription piece and the impact it has is the most interesting point.
Ultimately though, nobody really wants to use a standalone Connect IQ app though to get proper data for running power support. And that’s on Garmin to address.
I think they’ll survive in the long term. Why? The strength of the product. It works so well. No other eco system can give an accurate race prediction that Stryd can, as far as I’m aware of. Garmins Vo2 max is wildly inaccurate as a race predictor. And anyway that predictor assumes a perfectly flat course. With Stryd you tell it the course profile. Boom! As they say.
Hurdles Stryd face are: runners baulk at spending £200 on a pod. Runners aren’t as tech savy as cyclists so learning power is quite a hurdle.
Stryd has made huge in roads to learning the tech. Auto FTP. Training plans and race predictors all help.
“Hurdles Stryd face are: runners baulk at spending £200 on a pod. Runners aren’t as tech savy as cyclists so learning power is quite a hurdle.”
This.
I’ve said it since the beginning, and I’ll keep saying it. $99 is the right price point. And the problem Stryd has is that each month that goes by and more brands add native wrist running power (which, as I showed with the COROS Pace 2 is good enough in almost all cases, and even better than Stryd in some cases) – the less likely people are to pay the $200 for Stryd (when they can get a watch for that much).
Maybe I’m too much of a Stryd fan to see the light. But I don’t see other watches offering native power as a threat to Stryd. The watches may output a number but no one is telling the user what this number means, in both training and racing. Only Stryd does. Cyclists are OK with that. They have online training platforms to guide them, plus decades of learnt power knowledge in the community. Running power is still in its infancy. Garmin introducing native running power would help for sure. But again, with any aids it’s another number on the screen to confuse.
Hey Ray, can you post your keynote video here on the site if we’re not able to watch it live? Or, by signing up, can we go to the site and watch it after-the-fact? Thanks!
I too often use the link you provide to access what’s new. As the ‘Week in Review’, isn’t published that often, maybe I should just bookmark the updates site. It encourages me to visit your site most days to check updates, not doing so will lose my engagement with your site. ?
Will any new devices be announced by Garmin? I was hoping the 745 would be a mid range device, but it’s currently more expensive than 945. So feel like there’s missing a new device in the middle.
Garmin 645 Music is now £199 in the UK. It made me wonder if a pre xmas replacement was imminently due. The 735 was briefly reduce to £170 a few weeks before the 745 launch – hence my speculation.
While you are at the Garmin Connect conference, perhaps you can find out why it seems nearly impossible to find a simple analog style watch face WITHOUT a second hand. All I want is an option to use the standard Garmin Analog watch face for my Fenix 6s without a second hand. Not sure why that seems so hard.
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Do you intend to test the HR accuracy of the new amazfit band 5. Just wondering whether the HR accuracy of a cheap fitness tracker would stand up to the more expensive fitness watches! Their advertising claims that it is very accurate, but they probably all say that, but it would be interesting to know.
Thanks for all the really useful reviews anyway.
Wildflower probably should be wildfire
Couple of Typos:
“Dips tow into”
“circled with wildflower”
Also will your Garmin Dev Conference video be available outside of the conference?
@Ryan Check on YouTube: link to m.youtube.com
Although being surrounded by wildflowers in times of peril sounds calming
So basically Stryd will do what the Trenara app is doing for free the past 1,5 year in the Low Lands. Producing a training plan based on current fitness and adapting that plan each day/week when your fitness improves (or declines ?). Trenara is now entering non-Dutch speaking markets, very interesting to see if they get picked up.
You missed a few parts of the Stryd announcement which I think are actually the most significant: (a) a ConnectIQ app that actually works for interval training, and (b) workout downloads into their CIQ app from 3rd party platforms like TrainingPeaks. It’s a huge step forward.
Those are all things that should be done either way, the subscription piece and the impact it has is the most interesting point.
Ultimately though, nobody really wants to use a standalone Connect IQ app though to get proper data for running power support. And that’s on Garmin to address.
Has stryd ever made $$$? I think they’ll be gone in a few years c
Don’t know the answer to the first point.
I think they’ll survive in the long term. Why? The strength of the product. It works so well. No other eco system can give an accurate race prediction that Stryd can, as far as I’m aware of. Garmins Vo2 max is wildly inaccurate as a race predictor. And anyway that predictor assumes a perfectly flat course. With Stryd you tell it the course profile. Boom! As they say.
Hurdles Stryd face are: runners baulk at spending £200 on a pod. Runners aren’t as tech savy as cyclists so learning power is quite a hurdle.
Stryd has made huge in roads to learning the tech. Auto FTP. Training plans and race predictors all help.
Last step is price.
“Hurdles Stryd face are: runners baulk at spending £200 on a pod. Runners aren’t as tech savy as cyclists so learning power is quite a hurdle.”
This.
I’ve said it since the beginning, and I’ll keep saying it. $99 is the right price point. And the problem Stryd has is that each month that goes by and more brands add native wrist running power (which, as I showed with the COROS Pace 2 is good enough in almost all cases, and even better than Stryd in some cases) – the less likely people are to pay the $200 for Stryd (when they can get a watch for that much).
Maybe I’m too much of a Stryd fan to see the light. But I don’t see other watches offering native power as a threat to Stryd. The watches may output a number but no one is telling the user what this number means, in both training and racing. Only Stryd does. Cyclists are OK with that. They have online training platforms to guide them, plus decades of learnt power knowledge in the community. Running power is still in its infancy. Garmin introducing native running power would help for sure. But again, with any aids it’s another number on the screen to confuse.
For the deals it’s probably worth noting that you get the previous generation Tickr from Wahoo not the current one.
Yeah I noticed this also.
Might be worth updating your picture Ray.
Looking forward to your Garmin keynote, I enjoy these each year.
Thanks – good catch. Fixed!
Hey Ray, can you post your keynote video here on the site if we’re not able to watch it live? Or, by signing up, can we go to the site and watch it after-the-fact? Thanks!
My understanding is that by signing it up I think you’re able to watch it after the fact – but don’t quote me on it!
However, down the road I’ll likely upload it to YouTube or such.
Wheres the sport tech firmware updates section?
It got culled this week, partially cause I got too far behind, and partially cause there wasn’t much. :-/
I too often use the link you provide to access what’s new. As the ‘Week in Review’, isn’t published that often, maybe I should just bookmark the updates site. It encourages me to visit your site most days to check updates, not doing so will lose my engagement with your site. ?
Are there any new bike computers to be announced this year, especially from Wahoo or Polar?
I wouldn’t expect anything more.
Will any new devices be announced by Garmin? I was hoping the 745 would be a mid range device, but it’s currently more expensive than 945. So feel like there’s missing a new device in the middle.
Generally speaking we’ve already seen all the watches we’re going to see by time the first week or so of October hits.
Garmin 645 Music is now £199 in the UK. It made me wonder if a pre xmas replacement was imminently due. The 735 was briefly reduce to £170 a few weeks before the 745 launch – hence my speculation.
In the UK/EU, retailers actually determine the prices for sales – not usually Garmin (whereas in the US, Garmin does).
Hey Ray,
Can we expect news coros watches this year ? Been waiting to see if a coros apex 2 is on the works..
Cheers
While you are at the Garmin Connect conference, perhaps you can find out why it seems nearly impossible to find a simple analog style watch face WITHOUT a second hand. All I want is an option to use the standard Garmin Analog watch face for my Fenix 6s without a second hand. Not sure why that seems so hard.
Does Pure Minimal do what you want?
“close buy” s/b “close by”.
Thanks Will. That’s probably a little tooooo minimal for my eyes!
Which Mountain Bike did you buy – have I missed a b´post/blog about this ;-)
Haha…I just haven’t really gotten around to posting about it. You’ll see it here and there, mostly in videos.
It’s the Exceed CF SL 5.0: link to canyon.com
I don’t have a ton of incredible terrain around here, so something mostly basic was fine.
Are you going to review the Wattbike Atom
Next Gen bike?
Yup, finishing it up!
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Thank you so much for your review. I’ve had a garmin watch, (strap broke), then an amazon smart watch of some sort. functional medicine specialist