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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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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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In Depth Product Reviews
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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 2023 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 have to subscribe to Strava to have this feature enabled (route planning) or it is free when you have a Vertix 2 for example ?
Correct. That’s a good point. Strava Routes is only available to paid members these days.
Hey there! I did want to provide visibility that although to create new routes on Strava the premium membership is required, you still are able to save other users routes on the platform for free.
Any plan to add Komoot connectivity.
The fact that the synced routes are NEVER updated (regardless of where they come from and where they go to) is extremely annoying. I used to sync routes from Komoot but I was so tired of any supporting service creating a new route EVERY TIME I make a change (so I ended up with ten / twenty copies of the same route with the same name) so I disabled it. Now I just manually export the finished route from Komoot into a service where I need it. AFAIK Strava route syncing was about the same.
I really miss a button on rote-creating services that says “This route is OK to sync” that you have to press manually.
P.S. The carabiner looks awesome. Paired with external HR strap it makes Vertix a nice hiking “handheld”.
i just use the strava app on garmin to sync manually for route update
Can you put the device only this way in the Vertix 2 carabiner or also with watch face down (for attaching the carabiner on bagpack belt)?
Thanks
No, it doesn’t fit that way, as the pins jut out at an angle to connect with the carabiner – so when you flip the watch over (just tried), the watch face doesn’t come close to fitting in that ‘hole’.
I assumed Volker meant upside down so you can read it by looking down like a “nurses watch”
Yes. Thanks.
Found a pic in the www with mounted the vertix 2 like I have asked about. So seems to be possible. Btw: I have suggested a quick release carabiner strap/mount for years (last time over 2 years ago for the F6x, but I never even got an answer/reaction from Garmin).
Oh, sorry, when you said “face down”, I thought you meant as in ‘face inverted’, like, upside-down, so that the face was faced inside.
My bad, was/is sometimes my bad English (I am German).
The Vertix 2 embraced the Garmin QuickFit 26 strap design. Will a Garmin fenix 6X fit in the carabiner accessory?
Seriously how is Garmin not making similar accessories and charging double?
Just gave it a whirl – the watch is too long (or tall, however one wants to phrase it). Here’s a Fenix 6X Pro Solar, and no dice.
Garmin should make a clone of this thing with a hole in the back for a charge cable, so it is an option to charge on the fly with the carabiner.
I have suggested Garmin again and again for years to release a carabiner strap for 5x, 5x, 6x; but they are still not listening nor have ever answered me… (:
link to buy.garmin.com
Haha…that’s kinda awesome – in a hilarious awesome way.
Peoples: Hey Garmin, can we have a carabiner strap?
Garmin: No
Peoples: Please!?!?
Garmin: [Slowly shakes head no]
Peoples: C’mon, don’t be mean – just give us a carbiner watch pod
Garmin: (Rips a watch strap in half, ties one end to a carabiner, rips off other strap, ties other end to watch)
Garmin – angirly storming off and shouting: FINE! TAKE THIS!
Ok: forgot to mention here: quick fit version
Btw: link to forums.garmin.com
So you will have always to take that carabiner off, if you want to look on the screen Ii it´s mounted on a bagback strap (not so well thought-out solution).
This fills me with sadness.
Thanks for checking though.
Always wanted a carabiner for the F6x. Would come in handy for golfing.
7 readers!
8… I’m a mountain climber too!!!
Someone on the Coros dev team caught the climbing bug?
Does COROS sync only routes marked with a star in Strava, or all routes in the user library?
Only starred routes. Though, by default every route you create is starred unless you unstar it during creation.
A smaller Coros watch with maps and music storage would be great, because for me anything over 42mm is too big unfortunately. Would like to see an Apex 2 for that reason. With the old price that would be really strong competition for Garmin.
Not sure if anyone has had this issue, but my routes don’t seem to sync to COROS, all my old ones from Strava went, but as I make new ones they don’t sync. They go to Garmin, but nothing shows in COROS. I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting, staring and unstaring, nothing seems to make them show in COROS. Anyone else?
We had a Strava sync issue today and we worked with Strava to figure this out. It should be fine now for all new connections, and the delayed sync today should be slowly resuming. Sorry about the inconvenience.
Thanks so much for the reply and Info
Ray what is your iPhone case? Thanks
Hi Tom-
It’s the QuadLock case: link to dcrainmaker.com
Cheers!