Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $699, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals 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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You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.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!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
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!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
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?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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 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.
RE: Guide. I’m pre-empting the full review, but can it hook up to BT and ANT+ HR straps?
Wife almost picked one up this weekend, but couldn’t figure that part out online.
I don’t think so. I have it at home right now for the weekend (will head back to the office later on), and I don’t have any ANT+ only straps handy here at the moment.
But looking at the enumeration of the sensors, I haven’t seen any ANT+ ID listed, nor duplicate ID’s like their other hardware, which always shows all of them (ANT & BLE).
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I use the newest polar arm strap. The Polar Verity Sense with my bike and it came up automatically on the Guide. Will you also be reviewing the new strap that Peloton sells? I am wondering if there is any advantage to using the new peloton arm strap.
Yup, I’ve got that too, but haven’t quite gotten it fully into the queue. It’s on the unboxing table in position #1 (so, probably tonight).
I’ve connected my Polar H10, my Scosche 24, and it connected to the broadcast hr from my Fenix 6s. It didn’t look like it was connected to the Fenix, as in it didn’t say ‘connected’ like the other two, but it actually was and showed my hr when I did a workout.
I’m finding the guide challenging. I want to love it because I need strength training motivation and gadgets+data are key to that for me. But there’s a timezone issue where it’s not converting from UTC so my workouts show up the day before (though a fix is supposed to be rolled out for that by the end of the week) (ahem, CS101, and hey, they could copy the TZ handling code they have for the bike, app, etc) and it is not good at recognising that I’m doing things like superhumans and a few other floor/core exercises. Yesterday it didn’t give me credit for the plank position rows that I did either – I guess because it couldn’t really see the arm on the side away from the tv. I turned around to face the tv for the subsequent sets but it wasn’t overly happy with that either.
I’m trying very hard to let it go and accept that there are bugs that will theoretically be fixed at some point down the line, but my spectrum brain is not best pleased!
Though it looks like the Fenix actually broadcasts both bt and ant+ so I’m guessing that connection is actually bt (I’d assumed it could only broadcast ant+).
Did you get a new bike? Looks the Synapse with the battery pack, probably the perfect ride for you with all the device testing. Are you going to post a review?
Indeed, it’s a Synapse, but also a loaner to test out all the connected stuff. Review coming up, once I sort out some battery issues.
(Or, more specifically understand whether the battery issues I’m seeing are expected or not)
If you’re ever in Southwest Michigan, here’s a route full of Tulip goodness for you to ride. In Holland, MI, we hold the Tulip Time Festival each year…strange, eh?
This year’s group ride is scheduled for May14th or 15th – weather and participation dependent.
You should come!!
Ride with GPS Route can be found here: shorturl.at/firL1
Or Here: link to ridewithgps.com
fedex a loaf asap
As a long time DCR reader, I vaguely remember a post like this (tulip fields) years ago right before a big Forerunner launch :) Maybe I’m just hoping for a big first week of May.
In general, I do tend to do my longest rides/runs leading up to big reviews. Though in this case, it was merely me making a Strava route with certain known tulip areas I wanted to hit. That ultimately came out to 90KM.
I strongly recommend a visit of Texel.
Indeed, it’s awesome up there.
We actually spent a week there about a year or so ago, loved it! I don’t think I ever wrote about it though.
Off topic, but your riding glasses – are they Oakley Prizm Road Jade lenses? I’m after some new lenses, but am torn between the normal Prizm Road (20% VLT) and the Prizm Road Jade (15% VLT). Most online reviewers say the (non-Jade) Road isn’t dark enough, but they all seem to be pedalling around California in the summer. How do you find yours for more normal overcast European days? As these are going to be expensive varifocals, I’m looking for one go-to lens that’s going to serve me for most of the cycling year in the UK.
Thanks!
No, these are the Rapha Pro Team Frameless ones (link to rapha.cc)
I like them, and use them both here in overcast weather and in much sunnier locales in both summer and otherwise. Work great for me!
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How’s Lucy doing? Haven’t heard from her in a while
She’s Lucy as normal – friendly yet lazy, always looking like she’s upset about something. But, a happy clam. However yes, she does need to be featured more frequently. She sometimes makes it into Instagram stories.
According to Wikipedia, Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. NYC catering companies have suffered a lot due to the pandemic. Closing indoor dining, limited staff, cutting of working hours, delivery and carryout, and others