Heads up – Big Garmin sales are out!!! The Garmin Fenix 8 is $250 off, the Forerunner 965 is $150, the Garmin inReach Mini 2 is $249, and a ton of other Garmin gear has substantial discounts! Go check out the full list here!
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:
We’re currently in the lull between Amazon Prime Day a few weeks back, and the start of Black Friday type sales in November. Still, there’s some decent options out there. Oh, you can always access all deals at dcrainmaker.com/deals
Also – Backcountry.com has a 20% off one item sale right now. While it’s not valid for most of the sports tech products you might want, it is valid on plenty of other supporting gear you probably buy. Using this link you’ll see the 20% coupon on the homepage to add to your cart. Plus, it helps support the site here.
This is the activity tracker that both of our oldest daughters have used for years (age 8 & 9), as well as most of their friends now. They/we all like it. Check out my full in-depth review for all my thoughts. That said, the new Bounce 2 came out two months ago, and while my review isn't out yet, it's a far better product. But, quite a bit more too. The TLDR on that review will be that it's the best kids smartwatch/tracker to date (for both parents and kids), but obviously will cost you $100 more.
⚡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 lowest price we've seen on this to date. 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.
⚡⚡ This is a fantastic deal. By far the lowest price we've seen this! The Epix Pro has a flashlight which the regular Epix lacks, plus the newer Garmin Elevate Gen5 optical HR sensor with ECG support.
⚡⚡⚡ This is a fantastic deal. By far the lowest price we've seen this! The Epix Pro has a flashlight which the regular Epix lacks, plus the newer Garmin Elevate Gen5 optical HR sensor with ECG support.
⚡This is a pretty solid deal, especially if you wanted the flashlight and ECG not found on the Epix Gen 2 (which came before the Epix Pro), but don't quite want to spend on the Fenix 8 AMOLED (Epix got renamed to Fenix 8 AMOLED)
⚡ If you wanted the battery life of a Fenix MIP series without the cost of a Fenix 8, this is basically your best deal. Plus, unlike the base Fenix 7 series, the Pro series includes the flashlight and Gen5 HR sensor with ECG.
⚡ If you wanted the battery life of a Fenix MIP series without the cost of a Fenix 8, this is basically your best deal. Plus, unlike the base Fenix 7 series, the Pro series includes the flashlight and Gen5 HR sensor with ECG.
⚡ The Fenix 8 keeps getting all the new software features of the Fenix 8 Pro that was launched two months ago. Setting aside that Fenix 8 Pro which gained LTE & Satellite Messaging, this is otherwise the most capable sports watch on the market. Note that the Fenix 8 officially got a price hike to $1,099 in the last month or so, thus the $849 price instead of $749 price.
As a general rule, the Fenix E is the watch that literally nobody is buying, and makes no sense at higher prices. The hardware is simply the Epix Gen 2 with Fenix stamped on it. That watch is going for $400, though I expect we'll see it down to $300 over Black Friday. However, one *KEY* difference with the Fenix E, is that it includes all of the software features of the newer Fenix 8, whereas the Epix Gen 2 doesn't get all the new software features. Otherwise, save your $200.
⚡ This is (by far) the lowest price on the Forerunner 265, which was recently replaced by the Forerunner 570 (but at nearly twice this price). What's fascinating about this sale price, is it's well beyond the usual sale prices for Garmin for this product. This pricing is 100% an Kansas-themed 'Hello!' to COROS and their just released COROS Pace 4 at $249.
This is the lowest price to date on the Forerunner 965, which is logical given the Forerunner 970 came out this past spring (which essentialy adds a flashlight and some other running metrics/features).
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/COROS/Hammerhead/Wahoo bike computers.
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...maybe next year?
This is the first time this product has been on sale, since launching last spring. I'd argue it could have used a $100 off sale...but hey...they don't consult me.
⚡ This is the lowest price we've seen on the newest product in the entire Garmin Holiday 2025 sale lineup. This is basically a blend of a Forerunner 970, Venu 4, and Fenix 8...but super thin. It's argueably one of the best deals here at $599, though, Garmin is still clearly trying to figure out the right pricing to drive purchases.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the Vivoactive 6 on sale, which is essentially a Venu 4, but without the voice/calling/ECG features (and a few other tidbits). It's probably one of the best deals in Garmin's lineup (sale or otherwise).
⚡ This is the lowest price we've ever seen for this. 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 second time this has been discounted, but now to the lowest price to date. 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.
This 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.
⚡ This is the lowest price we've seen to date on the Tacx NEO 3M, and finally takes it down to a semi-logical price (compared to it's competitors). This is a good buy, and obviously, given it's only a year old, I definitely don't expectany sort of new version of this anytime soon (the last NEO series unit was about 5 years between versions).
DCRAINMAKER.COM Posts in the Past Week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week:
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) Full presentations from Garmin Developer Virtual Conference Now Available: You can watch most of them, and while I haven’t yet had the opportunity to listen to them all, there’s usually some solid behind the scenes nuggets in these presentations. Often especially from the business track ones (like this one). Also, semi-related, it’s cool to see nearly 30,000 people have streamed my full 45-minute-long ‘State of Sports Tech’ presentation. But even cooler is the intelligent comments in the comments section there. YouTube often has the (usually correct) reputation of the comments section being a dumpster fire. But this is a nice example of that not being the case. Also, somewhat astoundingly, assuming people made it past the first 60 seconds, almost 60% made it then the full 45 minutes. That’s crazy for YouTube. Which isn’t to be like ‘Oh, people liked it’ – but to point out that there is an audience for some long-form fitness tech on YouTube. Kinda like last year when DesFit and I did a 34+ minute long video together discussing the year in smartwatches…that now has 300,000 views!
5) Magene P325 CS Power Meter Kickstarter Launches: I generally think Magene actually makes good products. They primarily focus on the Asian market, with most depth in China. But they also partner with some major western sports tech companies for OEM of equipment. Thus, I’m a bit surprised to see a very well established company on Kickstarter. All about marketing. I haven’t tested this unit yet. Maybe soon.
6) Fitbit posts pretty good Q3 results: Of note is that this actually wouldn’t have likely included any meaningful number of their newest Sense/Versa 3 units, since those only started shipping the last few days of the quarter.
7) And yes, Peloton posted strong Q3 results: As did Garmin, but in the case of Peloton, they managed to ship some 243,000 smart bikes out to consumers. Yet the waiting list is mostly into the December to January timeframe right now. Kinda crazy. Still, for the next quarter they’re expecting to ship roughly the same number of units out – which tells you that they haven’t quite found a way to add additional manufacturing capacity yet.
8) Livestream with Dave from Chase The Summit: Since there was no ‘Week in Review’ last week, I didn’t have a place to stick this. But you can sit back and listen to an hour-long chat on sports tech geekery, plus lots of random historical DCR bits and bobs.
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.
Do you know when you’ll be able to post your review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3? Trying to decide between it and the Venu since the Sense has not gotten great reviews. Thanks for all your in-depth analysis of these products!
For your point about ‘if people make it past 60 seconds” of your YouTube video, I hope I’m not skewing the stats. I check every few days to see if YouTube has yet added the autocraptions so I can follow the video. (Still a no). On a slightly related note, I got the Edge 1030 and Varia 510 from the Amazon Prime Day. The 510 refused to pair with the 1030. I went through the process with Garmin support, still no dice. I sent it to Garmin HQS, and they sent me a Varia 515 as a replacement. Sweet! Pairing went without a hitch. I did a ride the other day, and found that “seeing” the multiple cars behind me, and just about to pass me, make me much more comfortable out on the road, where I can’t hear them and have sometimes been caught by surprise when they whiz pass.
Yeah, the auto-caption situation sucks. It’s been escalated within YouTube support and is now with engineering somewhere. Essentially, I can’t get any auto-captions generated for really any of my videos since late September. Which means I can’t then correct/fix them like I often do.
Hi Ray – thanks for all the exhaustive reviews. Really enjoy the long format articles – such a rare pleasure in a world of 280 characters and listicles.
I’ve noticed that Wiggle have started their Black Friday deals and have the Garmin 1030 at £299. Seems like a steal, but will I miss not having the ‘+’?
I’ve used two cadence sensors from magene. The first one failed pretty quickly (after about 300 km), I think because the battery cover thread was very fragile, and it was impossible to close the battery cover tightly. Now I use the slightly updated model (called 210 I believe), and after one full season of cycling it is still good.
I always enjoy your keynote and I can usually get my wife to listen to some of it, too. Now I have to figure out how to get her interested in the year in review videos you do. It is always fun to see you with Des or Shane.
About £227 to get a genuine dual-sided powermeter – the 40% discount is a lot so I guess retail it’ll sit nearer £400 but if they pull it off the likes of Stages charging £700 for an inaccurate Shimano based PM are going to have to have a rethink you would suspect. Whilst pedals will always be able to command a premium for their installation and portability ease, this seems like a bit of a shot across the bows of the likes of Favero as well at £600.
Could this be a little bit of a prod that, if they get something accurate to market, we start to see another little downward jump in PM pricing (the fact that you can get an early bird single sided for £120 is mind boggling!)
A mention of IQ squared should be made. We have seen no reviews of the actual production unit. Until a manufacturer actually ships the product being sold can we consider buying it. Too often the product being offered changes during the solicitation period. They will downgrade the offerings or it will not actually happen.
IQ sent a product to DCR, which was entirely operable but they have subsequently changed it according to their posts.
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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Do you know when you’ll be able to post your review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3? Trying to decide between it and the Venu since the Sense has not gotten great reviews. Thanks for all your in-depth analysis of these products!
Sorry to read Peanut 2’s mishap guys. Hope the recovery is easy and fast.
Likewise, and lots of healing thoughts + support to The Girl, having a bedridden toddler is my idea of hell!
For your point about ‘if people make it past 60 seconds” of your YouTube video, I hope I’m not skewing the stats. I check every few days to see if YouTube has yet added the autocraptions so I can follow the video. (Still a no). On a slightly related note, I got the Edge 1030 and Varia 510 from the Amazon Prime Day. The 510 refused to pair with the 1030. I went through the process with Garmin support, still no dice. I sent it to Garmin HQS, and they sent me a Varia 515 as a replacement. Sweet! Pairing went without a hitch. I did a ride the other day, and found that “seeing” the multiple cars behind me, and just about to pass me, make me much more comfortable out on the road, where I can’t hear them and have sometimes been caught by surprise when they whiz pass.
Yeah, the auto-caption situation sucks. It’s been escalated within YouTube support and is now with engineering somewhere. Essentially, I can’t get any auto-captions generated for really any of my videos since late September. Which means I can’t then correct/fix them like I often do.
:(
Hi Ray – thanks for all the exhaustive reviews. Really enjoy the long format articles – such a rare pleasure in a world of 280 characters and listicles.
I’ve noticed that Wiggle have started their Black Friday deals and have the Garmin 1030 at £299. Seems like a steal, but will I miss not having the ‘+’?
I think you will miss the + ? The + has the newer low energy GPS Chip from Sony and is really faster for Route calculation.
Thoughts on the Descent MK2?
Not impressed with Magene’s quality. Got a heart rate sensor that would stop transmitting after 40mins.
Good to know! Did you buy the magene’s cadence sensor? I wish to know if it is good, because it is very cheap!
I’ve used two cadence sensors from magene. The first one failed pretty quickly (after about 300 km), I think because the battery cover thread was very fragile, and it was impossible to close the battery cover tightly. Now I use the slightly updated model (called 210 I believe), and after one full season of cycling it is still good.
Thanks!
I think the bald chap was the linesman not the ref but minor detail, still funny.
am i the only one who missed the podcast with shane ?
I always enjoy your keynote and I can usually get my wife to listen to some of it, too. Now I have to figure out how to get her interested in the year in review videos you do. It is always fun to see you with Des or Shane.
Am I the only one missing the Fit file podcast???
I’m missing it as well
About £227 to get a genuine dual-sided powermeter – the 40% discount is a lot so I guess retail it’ll sit nearer £400 but if they pull it off the likes of Stages charging £700 for an inaccurate Shimano based PM are going to have to have a rethink you would suspect. Whilst pedals will always be able to command a premium for their installation and portability ease, this seems like a bit of a shot across the bows of the likes of Favero as well at £600.
Could this be a little bit of a prod that, if they get something accurate to market, we start to see another little downward jump in PM pricing (the fact that you can get an early bird single sided for £120 is mind boggling!)
“if they get something accurate to market”
And thus, the most important question.
A mention of IQ squared should be made. We have seen no reviews of the actual production unit. Until a manufacturer actually ships the product being sold can we consider buying it. Too often the product being offered changes during the solicitation period. They will downgrade the offerings or it will not actually happen.
IQ sent a product to DCR, which was entirely operable but they have subsequently changed it according to their posts.
Hmmm, another kickstarter power meter, I will put down money that it goes as well as IQ2 and Limits