Here’s your complete list of sports tech deals for Cyber Monday, most of these end at the end of Monday. A few go beyond that, but it’s hard to know exactly which ones and at which levels. So my general recommendation is if there’s something you want, it’s far better to order it now and decide/return it later.
The biggest deals from the list below include:
Garmin Epix for $449: Seriously, this is insane. Mainly because it’s getting the same firmware (thus far) as the Garmin Epix Pro. All the same software features. Note: This deal seems to be flickering on/off as we slide into Monday, so keep checking back as they release new stock.
Tacx NEO 2T for $899: This is an incredibly strong deal for their top-end trainer that’s normally $1,400 (albeit lately a bit lower occasionally)
With that, onto the deals! And thanks for supporting the site via the links below. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Enjoy!
Watches & Wearables:
This covers anything you can wear that’s watch-like or activity band-like, including sensors. Generally speaking, you’ll mostly find deals here that are on things I’ve written about in the past. So you won’t find a deal on some random non-sports tech watch here, or on socks. Unless the socks have some crazy sensor or something in them.
I've been using these the past few months, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. My wife has already started stealing them, which means she'll probably get a set for Christmas so she'll stop sealing them.
These aren't the latest anymore, that's the newer 3rd 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.
⚡This is now the lowest price we've ever seen the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) - a very solid deal, especially with the new WatchOS 10 features adding in offline topo mapping, power meter support, and plenty more.
This is Apple's latest Apple Watch model, and did quite well in my review when it launched about two months ago. Especially notable is all the new sports/fitness features it got this year, such as cycling power meter/sensor support.
This is really the first slate of sales we've seen on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the lowest price to date. Note: It'll show $739, and then to get the full extra $10 more off, you have to check that 'Apply Coupon' button under the price.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Fenix 7 Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. The smaller Fenix 7S Pro watch has become my wife's go-to watch since it came out, for all of her training and 24x7 usage.
⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal, with Amazon having it as low as $449 (insane). Note that the Epix Gen 2 has continued to receive virtually all of the Epix Pro new features firmware updates. Also note: This deal is *STILL* available. Sometimes you'll have to click to show other retailers (on the right side), but it's still live.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Epix Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. I'd say this is probably my go-to watch these days (middle-sized one), with the singular reason I tend to choose it over the Forerunner 965, being the built-in flashlight for night.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Epix Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. I'd say this is probably my go-to watch these days (middle-sized one), with the singular reason I tend to choose it over the Forerunner 965, being the built-in flashlight for night.
⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal, with Amazon having it as low as $499 for Sapphire edition (insane). Note that the Epix Gen 2 has continued to receive virtually all of the Epix Pro new features firmware updates.
[Note: This is a renewed unit] Obviously, the Fenix 6 isn't the latest anymore, but these are still very capable watches and frankly, at $329, there's absolutely nothing from any of their even brand-new competitor watches (COROS, Polar, Suunto, etc...) that can even remotely compete with the features here. Heck, not even Garmin's own pricing for their Fenix 7 Pro can compete with this. Fwiw, all Garmin renewed units go back to the same factory original units came from. Frankly, there's virtually no difference. If you're on a budget, this is where it's at.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Fenix 7 Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. The smaller Fenix 7S Pro watch has become my wife's go-to watch since it came out, for all of her training and 24x7 usage.
⚡This is a strong deal if you don't care about the new optical heart rate sensor (including ECG) of the newer Fenix 7 Pro, especially given the Fenix 7 series has received virtually all of the Fenix 7 Pro's new software features, keeping them essentially identical.
This 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.
This is one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and this is now the lowest price we've ever seen on it. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. This is the SOLAR edition.
This is a good deal, especially considering the Instinct 2 series got Training Readiness and a host of other new features over the course of just this year alone.
This is a great deal at $199 for the smaller 2S units, especially considering the Instinct 2 series got Training Readiness and a host of other new features over the course of just this year alone. Plus of course all the existing triathlon/power meter/etc support it has built-in.
This is the first time we've seen the Instinct 2X on sale, and since announcement it's received a huge slate of firmware updates and new features. 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).
While the new Pixel Watch 2 just came out a month ago, the Pixel Watch 2 got almost all the software features two weeks ago via software update. The Pixel Watch 2 does have a slightly better optical HR sensor, and better battery life, but otherwise is relatively similiar.
This is a great dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart (with two Bluetooth Smart connections) chest strap that you'll often find me using as a reference strap in heart rate sensor testing. We only tend to see deals on it around Black Friday, always topping out around 20%. Note, the medium- size is the one on sale.
This is the first time we've seen the new Suunto Vertical on sale, and especially notable given the huge firmware update it got this past week with tons of new features from the also-new Suunto Race watch.
⚡ At some point, everything becomes a steal. While the Wahoo RIVAL struggles to be comepetitive with higher-end watches, at $99, it's a pretty crazy deal - especially for triathletes where Wahoo does some cool stuff around automatic transitions.
This 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).
Cycling Gear & Trainers:
Got a bike? Then this section is for you. Everything from bike computers to bike lights to trainers, it’s all here. I won’t generally be adding things like brake cables or bike seats here, but if I find a good deal on a cassette to stack on that new direct drive trainer you just bought, I’ll probably list it here.
Product
Sale Price
Amazon
Other site
Sale Notes
4iiii Precision Ride-Ready Power Meters - $100 off!
This is for their non-drive power meter, in either the 'Ride-Ready' config (they send you a completed unit), or $50 off for the factory-install (where you send in your crank arm). The Ride Ready option is really a solid deal, considering you get a reliable power meter for $235.
Ride Ready R7000 - 30% off
Ride Ready R8000 - 20% off
Factory Install - 20% off
⚡The Karoo 2 is down to $299 ($100 off), but you can use DCR coupon code DCRAIN40 to get an additional $40 off, bringing it down to $259!!! A very solid deal given all the software updates it's received!
Lasko High Velocity Pro-Performance Fan (U15617) - 23% off
This 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. I've actually got this fan in the DCR Cave recently on advice of many people.
⚡ This is a very solid deal that happens twice a year, if you were looking at the Wahoo power meter pedals, grab these before this disappears (and it usually disappears). As with the Garmin Rally pedals, I continue to use Wahoo power meter pedals for accuracy testing of other brands/units.
⚡ This is a very solid deal that happens twice a year, if you were looking at the Wahoo power meter pedals, grab these before this disappears (and it usually disappears). As with the Garmin Rally pedals, I continue to use Wahoo power meter pedals for accuracy testing of other brands/units.
And then here’s a separate bucket for trainers and indoor bikes:
I believe this is the lowest price we've ever seen on the original/base Peloton Bike model (without a bundle required). This 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.
This is a solid deal for the Bike+. 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. Note Peloton has stated/confirmed there will be no 'bigger discounts' on products during this holiday period.
⚡ A very solid deal, making it the least expensive smart bike out there. Note that while the deal is marketed as being 37% off, most of the time the bike floats between $2,500 and $2,800. Still - $1,999 is very solid.
⚡⚡ Holy crap, this is an incredible deal. Get this while it's hot and lasts. Note that you can also pair this with the NEO Motion Plates, which would give you a slight bit of forward/back rolling motion.
⚡⚡ This deal is back, and it's a pretty incredible deal. It's the Wahoo KICKR CORE down to $499, which REI briefly did this past June. Nobody else seems to be offering this deal, and even though the KICKR CORE got the price reduced to $599 recently, it's virtually unheard of to see these trainers below the $500 marker.
Action Cameras & Drones:
Wanna record it? No better way than an action camera. Anything that’s action camera-related or drone-related you’ll find here. That’s especially true of action camera mounts, which are often found for great deals around the holidays. Same goes with drones and drone accessories. Usually a great time to pick up an extra battery or extra props.
The DJI Avata is DJI's smaller form factor FPV drone, and one of my favorites to fly. I don't use it all the time, but more for very specific things requiring a bit more agility (whereas most of the times I'll use the DJI Mini 4 Pro, Air 3, or Mavic 3 Pro).
There's definitely something cool about seeing a sub-$300 drone. And there's nothing wrong with this drone, it's very good. Just be careful though, because it's lack of 360* obstacle avoidance means it's pretty easy to get yourself in a pinch for a beginner drone.
Up till the Mini 4 Pro came out, this was my go-to drone. It's what I shot almost all my drone footage from, and is great for both cycling and hiking (or trail running with a hydration pack to hold it), as it's super lightweight and includes everything you need.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the DJI Mini 4 Pro on sale, for a product DJI rarely discounts so soon after release. This is a great drone, and my go-to unit now for most trips.
I actually quite like the Insat360 Go 3 and the combo of tiny form factor when you want it, and screen-box when you don't. I'm not sure $20 off is a sale worth jumping out of your seat for, but hey...a sale is a sale.
Other Sports & Fitness:
Anything else that’s sports and fitness related that I think is interesting will be here. It may not be super techy – but it’s stuff that most readers will be using in pursuit of their running/cycling/swimming/hiking/whatever.
⚡ 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 is one of the other more popular display-laden rowing machines. I haven't tried this, but my sports-tech reviewing buddy DesFit has (linked at side) and liked it.
Hyperice Normatec 3 Leg Recovery System - $100 off
Peloton has the Peloton Row on sale, both this base unit here, but also various bundled units as well. This is the first times we've seen the base unit (non-bundled) on sale.
This is arguably my wife's favorite sports tech gadget. She uses it pretty much daily. Thus, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this deal. Also, please don't tell her, she might just buy another one...
My wife uses the Theragun Elite, which is just slightly more expensive than this model at $299 on sale right now. But hey, I hear good things about all of these.
I've long been a fan of the Withings WiFi scales, especially since they can connect/push data to so many platforms, including Zwift! Note that the Body+ simply includes more data.
DCR Random Gadget List:
These are basically the mostly totally unrelated gadgets and things I think are cool deals that I’ve likely bought one or five of (you can never have too many, right)? Some of it’s probably photography stuff. Some of it’s random stuff like chargers and battery packs that I use daily, fun camera gear I use to make videos like sliders and turntables, and well…just random things you’ll find around the DCR Cave. It’s all random…but it’s all awesome randomness!
Product
Sale Price
Amazon
Sale Notes
9th Gen Apple 10.2-inch iPad (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - $100 off!
⚡ 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 Wahoo SYSTM, 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.
⚡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.
There's just no competition in our minds on the best running stroller - it's what we used with all three of our kiddos for everyting from intervals to 20-mile long runs. In fact, we actually have two of them - one at home in Europe, and one with family in Canada that we picked up used. Go Bob Go!
We have more Nest cam's than I can count. No really, we have half a dozen at the DCR Cave alone, plus more at home. We love them. Nest Cam's really only go on sale about 1-2x per year.
These are the WiFi mesh access points I use both at home and the DCR Cave. Love them - I don't need to dork with them, they just work. Sure, there are fancier 'Pro' versions now, but really, I just have zero issues.
This 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!
Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee & Espresso Kit - 30% off
⚡ 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!
We use one of these and so far after just about five years, it's working great for us. Love it, and works better than trying to stick a regular Nest Cam out the window (since it'll reflect both during daytime and at night with the IR sensor).
⚡ I know, I know, I still owe everyone a review. Nonetheless, 2+ years later, I love this thing. We use it for more than pizza too, notably steaks (to get a really crispy sear). But a lot of pizza. It's completely portable, even easily fitting on our cargo bike. Note that I went with this model, the cheapest one they make, as I realized that buying the higher-end models that that support gas didn't make much sense for me. I have a gas grill already (and could easily just put a stone on it). Similarly, while a large 16" is appealing, realistically I've found this 12" more than enough for pretty substantial personal pizzas (and it makes it easier to handle). Full in-depth review pretty soon...probably. Also, $244 appears to be the lowest price ever.
We have a few SONOS speakers around the house and DCR Cave (the Ikea variants at DCR Cave), but by far our favorite is the Roam, which we take outdoors into the garden during the summer, beach vacations, AirBNB's, etc... It has a battery in it, and also connects to both WiFi and Bluetooth. Love, love, love
I 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.
⚡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.
With that – thanks for reading, and for supporting the site via the links above.
For lack of a better place to put this, does anyone have issues with having to re-login every couple days? I check the site multiple times a week and it seems that every few days ads appear again and I need to login. It happens on my computer, phone, and iPad. Not sure if that is normal.
Thanks for being a DCR Supporter. Hmm, that’s odd. It should be a heck of a long time for any DCR Supporter. I’ll have to dig-in to the exact settings, but we also allow unlimited concurrent connections, so it’s not a case of one device signing in, kicking out another. The only thing I can think of, is if you’ve got something blocking the session cookie from sticking the landing, thus requiring the re-login.
I’ll poke the developer folks and see if they know what’s going on.
Not sure. Last year we didn’t actually see any FR955/255 deals, and it was released at a similar timeframe this year. The Garmin FR955/255 deals run through Black Friday, so I’d say no harm in waiting on that one another week or so.
Garmin historically doesn’t bother with different/lower Cyber Monday type deals, it’s either BF or bust.
I just got the FR965 for 552,49 € (15% discount) from Austrian shop polleosport.at – they offer free shipping to Austria and Germany. I figured that higher discounts might be unlikely for the 965 this year. They also got the FR265 with a 15% discount.
Looking at the database, last year they did actually run KICKR Bike deals. Specifically:
From Oct 26th through till BF weekend:
Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 – $500 off
(Note this was a US deal, and not a Europe deal)
And Black Friday Weekend:
Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 – €1,000 off/£1,200 off
(Note this was a Europe deal, and not a US deal)
In addition, they ran some smoking hot deals on both US and European sides for refurb bikes, which I actually picked up back then.
Also remember for context, last year when this deal happened, Wahoo had just launched their V2 bike in September/October, and concurrently, was grasping for air/cash. Their financial position is far better now, so they might not be as eager to highly discount the bikes. In other words…who knows.
I’ve been suspecting and waiting for this! Question on Forerunner 255 vs 255 M. I’m currently on a 645 Non Music. Since I’m deaf, I don’t care about the music at all. However, with the 645, I know we didn’t get a bunch of updates that the M did because they had more memory on the watch. Could that be an issue with the 255 non-M as well? (Still, I’m hoping to get a 955 on my wrist to see how it feels, if it’s not too thick, then I’d definitely prefer having the maps too) Thanks, Ray!
No, we’ve seen the FR255 receive concurrent updates with the Forerunner 255M since launch, and honestly, quite a boatload of them. Tons of new sport modes, expansions, etc.
The most recent beta update about 12 days ago added essentially all of the new Venu 3 features: link to forums.garmin.com
Follow up on this, as I found an interesting tidbit… the 255 Music can get beta updates, but the 255 cannot. Reason – the beta updates are coming over wifi, and only the Music edition has wifi. (Source: link to forums.garmin.com and other discussion in the forums) However, my earlier question was related to regular software updates, not necessarily betas, so I’m fine with it. Wanted to let you know since you used the beta as a specific example.
Thanks, Ray! I wondered whether the Fenix/epix Pro models being on a strong sale indicates Fenix 8 / epix 3 coming soon, like in January. I imagine you won’t engage in such speculation, though you could probably provide historical perspective on whether the current/flagship versions of Fenix/epix have been on sale like this before and/or whether new versions have been released without a new version of the Elevate sensor (given a new Elevate sensor seems unlikely to come as soon as January)
Historically Garmin has always found a way to drop usually $150-$200 off at least one of the Fenix series units, during Black Friday sales. Thus, this doesn’t really surprise me. I was slightly more surprised it’d be the Pro, I figured they might go deeper on non-Pro (which, they also did).
I wouldn’t expect any new Fenix/Epix units in January. That’d be a 7-8 month cycle, and far sooner than any previous Fenix/Epix series refresh. Historically they’ve floated in the 14-18 month range (exempting COVID, where like any other company, things got slightly tilted). I suspect Garmin would love to find themselves closer to a 12-month cycle, to be able to better position their units against a yearly Apple Watch Ultra release cycle.
The soonest I’d expect to see any new Fenix/Epix series units would be the same time as last year, May-June or so. Or, they could slide to late August like other years.
Do you think the 14-18 month cycle, or less, would apply equally fo the 965 and 265? If it doesn’t go on sale for Black Friday its an issue if buy now or wait for a sale or next generation (965 came out so soon after the 955 and ECG could be in the posy 965: version, maybe?).
Ooh, this assessment makes me lean more towards a purchase. I was shying away because when I bought my Fenix 6 Sapphire on Black Friday 2021 the 7 and Epix came out just a few months later, despite rumors to the contrary. However, the F6 was over 2 years old then I guess. Going off F7/Epix Gen 2 base, January 2024 is 2 years for them , but sounds like you’re resetting clock with Pro models
Garmin views the Pro models as simply the next-gen Fenix/Epix. They aren’t considered a different level SKU, akin to Apple Watch vs Apple Watch Ultra. Sure, there’s some marketing that will hint that, but from a real-world product standpoint, the order of release has been:
Oct 2012: Fenix 1
Feb 2014: Fenix 2
Mar 2015: Fenix 3
Feb 2016: Fenix 3HR (the mid-point release)
Mar 2017: Fenix 5
June 2018: Fenix 5 Plus (the mid-point release)
Aug 2019: Fenix 6/Pro
July 2020: Fenix 6 Solar (the mid-point release, all units got solar)
Jan 2022: Fenix 7/Epix
May 31st 2023: Fenix 7 Pro/Epix Pro (the mid-point release)
Now, in this somewhat rare scenario, the Fenix 7 Pro/Epix Pro is the first time we’ve seen Garmin keep the software features in sync with the base Fenix 7/Epix series. Who knows how long that’ll happen for. Hopefully pressure from companies like Apple’s WatchOS releases will keep that going a long while.
The other potential piece of this puzzle is the timing of a new Elevate sensor. The last few versions of the Fenix/epix series each appear to have come with a new version, further supporting the idea that a new Fenix/epix is further away given the launch of the latest Elevate v5 earlier this year.
I would assume new ELEVATE V5 will be the sensor for a while. Garmin isn’t going to want to mess with it, in terms of re-doing ECG FDA certification (or any theoretically pending CE certification).
I would expect it to continue. Mainly because it’s at rando-pricing, which indicates it’s technically an Amazon sale, and not a Garmin sale. Thus, Amazon is likely depleting inventory of old watches as they often do during BF, and usually do so while looking a bit drunk at times – as if someone dared them to go lower on price. But hey…we all benefit!
The ‘Gen 2’ is only loosely used, because technically speaking, the original Garmin Epix was waaay back in 2015: link to dcrainmaker.com
Obviously, that was sorta a one-off, and most people had forgotten about it 7 years later except sports tech geeks. But Garmin really liked the name (and it had been cleared from trademarks standpoint), so…they went with it.
Hey Ray, appreciate you putting together a great guide!
I’m looking on upgrading from a Vivoactive 4S into the Epix range. I saw that the Epix Gen 2 base model was going for $449 compared to the Epix 2 Sapphire for $600.
Most of the reviews have been focused around the sapphire version that has the multi-band GPS and sapphire screen. For an additional 25-30% more, is the sapphire screens and multi-band pivotal for long-term usage?
I’m primarily concerned if it would be worth in the long-term to pay more now to avoid the Epix Gen 2 base model aging poorly.
I don’t think it’s as big a deal as we collectively thought it might have been when the Epix first launched (with multiband and not). Garmin has made their non-multiband variants using the same chip incredibly accurate. 98% of the time, you can’t tell the difference. I did a test last year with both units side by side in NYC, and the differences were almost unseeable: link to dcrainmaker.com
You can see then for example, that the Fenix 7 Base and Fenix 7 Sapphire, performed nearly identically, both easily beating the COROS Vertix 2 with multiband/dual-freq.
Would you say the same holds for the FR255? Is that the same chipset?
I am currently in the market for a new watch (because my fenix 5s died) and it’s between the 255 and the 265. Currently, I do not see the need for an AMOLED screen (potentially I might change my mind once I had one for a while…). And since I do not need music support and those training readiness stuff, the 255 is appealing due to the price. The only other difference that might really matter to me would be multiband…
Two cents: Multiband seems important, though I would also consider the sapphire’s superior screen durability and longevity. If you’re the kind of person that keeps watches a while.
I had a base fenix 5 that got little dings/scuffs immediately that drove me nuts. After 2 years I paid up for a fenix 6 SAPPHIRE and it’s still my daily watch 4 years 3 months later.
It’s not just the screen – the bezel is also far less worn on the Sapphire/Pro. I think b/c the sapphire bezel is typically “DLC coated” whatever that means.
TL;DR I the Neo 2T worth (almost) 2x the price of the KICKR CORE?
So. My current setup is a Tacx Vortex Smart (wheel on) with a 6 speed 1988 Cannondale kludged to accommodate the 126 mm read spacing. Works great! Until the read hub exploded recently. Original wheel, probably 30,000+ miles. No complaints. BUT…a wheel-off trainer is not going to work with that bike – it has a burly, aluminum rear triangle, so I’m not super excited about spreading it to 130 mm. So, maybe my normal road bike (8 speed Cannondale) or race bike (10 speed QR) on a wheel-off trainer is the smart move. SO…if I’m going wheel-off…see TL;DR…
Coming from a Vortex, you’ll definitily be happy with the KICKR CORE. And you should be, it’s a great trainer. Personally, I would not see a reason to spend more on a Neo 2T. Which is a great unit as well. I just don’t see much added benefit. Downhill drive for example… kinda nice, but honestly never missed it.
If you’d like to spend more money I would see more benefit in adding a KICKR CLIMB. That makes much more difference… Or maybe buy or build a sprintboard.
That’s a hard one to predict. Wahoo has often run very limited Black Friday sales of 10-20% over the years, sometimes even on new models. They tend to last usually 1-4 days. But they tend to be very hard to predict. Wahoo apparently won the battle with REI over their 20% coupon, as it isn’t permitted this year (previously it was on trainers, but not “bike simulators”).
RE: NEO 2T at 2x the CORE?
That’s tough. As others have said, coming from a VORTEX, which is…umm…not awesome, either unit will be a massive upgrade. The NEO 2T has downhill drive, which is super cool. Meanwhile, the CORE has ability to connect to a KICKR CLIMB for up/down. While you can get nuanced on road-feel between the two, most people wouldn’t likely be able to tell the difference.
If it was me, I’d pickup the CORE and then the CLIMB on sale, and call it even-ish.
Thank you Ray! FWIW I found that Trek’s 10% discount for signing up for their mailing list *did* work on a KICKR MOVE. I figured it was unlikely that we’d get something higher than that during Black Friday so I went for it.
Yeah, I’d take that and run – before someone figutes it out. 🙂
That said, that’s historically how some of the better Wahoo (or even Garmin) deals have happened over Black Friday weekend. Basically smaller shops/outlets (obviously Trek is big) not entirely realizing they’re violating MAP pricing by offering a blanket discount. Grab them deals when you can, they usually don’t last more than a few hours.
EPIX 2 $399. Stainless / Gorilla Glass / Single GPS Satellite. (Not the Epix 2 Pro.)
A great deal that I jumped on. The price has varied from $449 to $429 to $399 at this vendor. (The price has bounced up and down. Now at $399.) New in the box and very fast shipping – at least to me in the US.
As noted, we usually see the biggest EU discounts on Black Friday weekend itself, and they usually beat the US side.
I see a few of the German bike discounters have the NEO 2T at 1,200EUR including the Tacx NEO Motion Plates and some other random stuff. So essentially the same 899+300 price of the US side, albeit you have to pay for those motion plates.
Point being, I’d be surprised if we don’t see the NEO 2T sub-1K over BF in Europe.
Expecting anything on GoPro? I’m looking to pick up a Hero 11 at a decent price – for being an “old” model, the current discount vs the 12 seems absolutely pants – but knock another 50-100 off it on a sale and I’ll jump on it.
We generally see $50-$100 off GoPro models over this time period. I’d expect the same – both for new and previous-gen models. Usually that happens next week.
I am looking at a cheaper DJI drone combo. Do you anticipate any additional sales as we move closer to the holidays? As of now the one I’m looking at (DJI Mini 2 se combo) is the same price on their website as well as Amazon.
Also, I’ve pulled the trigger on an Epix 2 Pro Saphire thanks in part to your videos. Anxiously awaiting it’s arrival.
Thanks!
I’d fully expect to see the DJI Mini 2 variants on sale – and likely the Mini 3/Pro variants too. I would expect no sales on the Mini 4 Pro. If in the US, Costco has oddly been one of the leaders on BF DJI Drone deals.
Between the new watches and the discounts on certain older models, I hesitate…
I have a Forerunner 735 xt and I would be tempted to upgrade to a watch with more comprehensive navigation for bicycling.
Canceled my Kickr Core order I made a week ago and went full out on Neo2T.
I am beyond excited.
From a Kurt Kinetic Wheel on Fluid Dumb Trainer to Neo2T direct drive smart trainer.
Major upgrades…I’m scared!
RIDE ON!
I missed out on the Epix Gen 2 in EU for 449.
Had it in the bag, clicked checkout and got distracted 🙂
Do I need it? no but trailrunning in the dark the better screen is a game changer.
Last year Favero had some really good deals that they published on Black Friday itself. I received an e-mail from them and picked up an UNO > DUO upgrade pedal at about 50% off. I’m in the U.S. but the transaction was directly with Favero and the pedal shipped from Italy.
Redshift sports still has an early black friday sale of 25% off on most everything including suspension stems and seatposts. Great stuff for road or gravel. link to redshiftsports.com
Wasn’t disappointed when I came straight to your website to confirm the deals!
I was waiting for the Black Friday weekend itself to buy F7Pro, but now that there’s already a 200 off, do you suggest I take the plunge right away or wait till the Black Friday weekend itself for a potential further pricedrop? I’m from Canada if that helps.
I have been wearing the fenix 5 basically for 5 years 24/7 and, honestly, did not have any issues with scratches or whatever. And I am not extremely cautious with my stuff, I am dropping my phone quite regularly.
I guess I am just not sensitive in regard to the looks…
Do you have any info on fitness app deals during Cyber Week? Most specifically looking ahead to any WahooX membership deals that I should wait before pulling a trigger on?
As mentioned above I just ordered a 965 from polleosport.at with a 15% discount. They also got the Epix Pro Sapphire and other Garmin watches with 15% off. Delivery is free to Austria and Germany.
For the Canadians in the group, Sport Check has a 50x multiplier for their triangle points on the apple watch 9 right now. I picked up a 45mm GPS model for the regular price of 589CDN and got $117.80 in points to use at Sport Check, Canadian Tire, Marks, etc. It’s not really money I guess, but I buy enough at the places that I can use it towards normal household stuff quite easily. Best deal I’ve found so far.
Thanks again for pulling together this very helpful master list. I was on the REI app this morning and saw the Garmin Edge 1040 offered at the discounted sale price, but none of the Garmin Rally pedals were available and were listed at the regular US price ($1080 USD). Did REI sell through their stock of Rally pedals?
Until mid this week in Canada on garmin site and one day on amazon, epix 2 sapphire was at 480$ usd. I hesitate between 965 and epix to buy, but the deal take the decision for me 😄
Wow! I got the Epix Gen 2 last December for a good deal on Amazon with it being an open box return and getting $200 off for opening a Chase Card. And I’ve been really happy with the watch. My previous watch was the Fenix 6 and if that was still my daily driver I would definitely be moving to the Epix now.
I wonder if Garmin is being so aggressive with Epix prices because they are being affected by the Apple Watch Ultra. I see a lot of people wearing them.
I believe I recall reading the Garmin epix Gen 2 (currently at $448 on Amazon) doesn’t come preloaded with maps (and perhaps some other features were missing?). Is it able to accept maps after purchase? Or is the onboard storage limiting this? Thanks!
Your website is always so helpful. Thank you.
I was hoping for a deal on the Garmin Edge 840 as the screen on my Edge 830 is cracked. Unfortunately, Garmin does not offer many deals on bike computers this year. But hey, now I’m considering buying the Nespresso machine and the pizza oven.. 😉
With deals like this, is the NEO 2T for $900 still attractive? I know that’s a great discount from Garmin, however KICKR Core for half that seems pretty nice
This is really solid. My wife has been thinking on a KICKR Core for $500, so getting the Climb for $163 tipped the scale.
I’m surprised there still is stock, but I also don’t see this bundle when searching for it on the site. I only found it from seeing your post and link. Thanks!
Man at that price point unless you are just wanting to move out of Garmin eco system the Suunto is a tough buy. For me the two watches were basically a tie for the running features I value and there were a few that garmin does much better and the OHR swung in Garmin’s favor. For the handful of times I still play golf it sure is nice to have the courses on my wrist. I actually played a few days ago with the Race on my wrist and the cart GPS was not working and I really missed having the yardages. Plus the dial on the Race kept getting triggered with my wrist which was annoying. Good luck with your purchase.
I’d generally agree with Craig. The Suunto Race is a great watch, but it’s incredibly hard to argue with the Epix at $449USD (or equivs globally) for the same price. Yes, the Suunto Race will get longer battery life, so, if that’s something you value over everything else – then go forth.
But in almost every other scenario, for the same price it’s hard to argue with Epix.
What’s your go-to Nespresso compatible pod? We just got a Breville Creatista which uses original Nespresso pods. Didn’t consider the Vertuo since I read it only accepted proprietary pods.
Need to add a 2 (259ish for most flavors rn – $59 would be a better steal than the RIVAL!) to the price on the Polar Pacer Pro in your sale price column – although the Maroon-plum color is at $177 rn (3rd party). Also Polar Vantage M2 floated down to $189. You really need your own algorithm to keep up with the Amazon bots haha.
thanks for all your work on this Ray !
I am looking for a cheapest Garmin watch with map feature.
I would like to upload routes and use the navigation function.
My current watch (Garmin Forerunner 310XT) died and I am looking for a replacement.
What do you recommend?
garmin forerunner 945 is $299 an amazon rn with full maps and routing. also look at Fenix6 Pro refurbished in the list above for $329. If you just need breadcrumb routing to upload a route without actual maps the Garmin 935 is a little less ($263). I have see the 935 as low as $199. You said garmin but Coros added breadcrumb routing to the Pace2 and Pace3 recently that are both cheaper than the aforementioned Garmin models. I believe turn by turn on Coros is still in beta
A large high street jewellery chain in the UK has an incredible deal on the Epix gen 2 for £375 ish which you can get down to £320 if you sign up to their newsletter and use discount code (it seems the one they send out automatically doesn’t work, but if you use the web chat to their customer support folks, they are replacing the faulty 10% voucher code with a 15% one)
Trek has the Wahoo Powrlink Zero dual-sided power meter pedals for $719.99. Plus, you can stack the 10% coupon for signing up to their email list on top of that taking it down to $648.
Pay attention if buying the Epix Gen 2 on Amazon. The current ship date is Jan 8th.
There may be other sites with it discounted to $399 like Bike Closet or Running Warehouse, but read their return policy first. It is not as generous as Amazon.
I wonder: is there any detailed comparison of health related features of current smart watches (features, their limitations, their accuracy and reliability compared to medical-grade equipment, …) available? I am very interested in things like on-demand AFib detection, respiration rate, SP02, sleep tracking, … and in the future hopefully something like blood pressure and sugar levels.
As I get older, these things get more important and I find it hard to assess them. E.g, I don’t trust the blood oxygen level values from my old FR 245 much since they vary a lot (e.g. just now: anything from 93% to 100% within a few minutes sitting on a chair, but maybe the arm band is just too loose). Any guidance would be highly appreciated! 🙂
The site also hid the buying options for the Epix a couple days ago, then it returned. If you click the “See All Buying Options” button and filter by New, there are still sellers with it available. Not sure why Amazon doesn’t always pick the lowest price and offer to add to cart. Anyone still looking for an Epix should keep an eye for it to return soon with a ship date of Jan 8-9 again.
Yeah, Epix is still there for $449 – right now you can get it for $449 on Amazon, shipped from Adorama (a massive electronics retailer) for next-day delivery: link to amzn.to
(Fun Amazon fact: Amazon will sort by price, always, with multiple sellers. But more specifically, to the cent. In this case, the cheapest option was $449.00 with January delivery. But, $449.99 has next day delivery. Nonetheless, Amazon won’t show you that unless you click to expand the others.)
Here is an interesting one. Garmin Epix Gen 2 Sapphire at dell.com for $599. If you happen to be an American Express card holder and have the option to add their selected deals, one of which is $120 statement credit for Dell.com purchases of $599 or more, you can get the more premium watch for $479.
So many incredible Epix gen 2 deals over the last few days – I can’t help but think retailers are clearing old stock.
Maybe there’s a replacement arriving soon, or just retirement of the Epix product?
Forerunner and Fenix seem such strong lines with recognisable purpose, even though I’ve ordered an Epix it’s still not clear to me what it’s intended audience is?
I think epix has a niche as the only ultra long battery life with amoled display? It’s nearly 2 years old now so I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a Gen 3 released soon.
I’m confused. Epix Pro is simply the next Epix. Garmin has used that tick-tock style naming scheme for Fenix for a decade now (either using HR, Pro, or Plus for the in-between version).
Hit the Epix deal…page actually said DC Rainmaker commission…that is cool. Mine coming from Adorama…will be here tomorrow. Another poster mentioned a January ship date, perhaps my Prime membership got me faster shipping.
Saris H3 is $584 with coupon on Amazon and Tacx Neo is $899. Is the Tacx worth $300 more? Both are in Ray’s top three high end trainers. Anyone got any experience with both?
Deciding whether it’s worth $300 more is always tricky, but I’d personally spend $899 for the NEO 2T versus $600 for the Saris H3. It’s quieter, it’s got better/proper 12-speed support, it’s got downhill drive, etc…
The Epix for $449 deal has ended on Amazon, but is still discounted to $449 or sometimes $399 or $380 on Bike Closet or OTA (Outside The Asylum Diving & Travel)
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For lack of a better place to put this, does anyone have issues with having to re-login every couple days? I check the site multiple times a week and it seems that every few days ads appear again and I need to login. It happens on my computer, phone, and iPad. Not sure if that is normal.
Hey Bruce!
Thanks for being a DCR Supporter. Hmm, that’s odd. It should be a heck of a long time for any DCR Supporter. I’ll have to dig-in to the exact settings, but we also allow unlimited concurrent connections, so it’s not a case of one device signing in, kicking out another. The only thing I can think of, is if you’ve got something blocking the session cookie from sticking the landing, thus requiring the re-login.
I’ll poke the developer folks and see if they know what’s going on.
Appreciate the heads up!
Thanks for the reply and for checking. Maybe other people will let me know that I am the only one with the problem. 🙂
Also, I’m moving back to Amsterdam in April. Hope to see you sometime!
I have the same problem every few weeks (maybe?) but as per Ray’s comment just disabled the adblocker, which could yield better results.
Yeah I have to re-log in regularly.
Perhaps ad blocking…
I have the same, have to re-login very often
yup, same here, perhaps once every two weeks or so? often enough to be annoying…
Didn’t see it in the list but I got a message today that the Wahoo Element Rival is currently $100 off (only $99).
link to wahoofitness.com
Nice, that’s a pretty crazy deal!
Think the Garmin 965 and/or 265 will go on sale any time soon? I keep holding on waiting for a sale…
Not sure. Last year we didn’t actually see any FR955/255 deals, and it was released at a similar timeframe this year. The Garmin FR955/255 deals run through Black Friday, so I’d say no harm in waiting on that one another week or so.
Garmin historically doesn’t bother with different/lower Cyber Monday type deals, it’s either BF or bust.
If you have an Expert Voice account they are 20% off direct from Garmin.
The 265 is available for 425 € at the moment. But that’s not the first time in the last few weeks. Not sure whether it will go below.
I just got the FR965 for 552,49 € (15% discount) from Austrian shop polleosport.at – they offer free shipping to Austria and Germany. I figured that higher discounts might be unlikely for the 965 this year. They also got the FR265 with a 15% discount.
955 seems on sale everywhere, $200 off.
link to rei.com
Amazon has the 265 and 265s for $399.99 right now in the US
Have Wahoo bikes typically been offered at discounted prices during Black Friday sales in the past? Thank you!
Looking at the database, last year they did actually run KICKR Bike deals. Specifically:
From Oct 26th through till BF weekend:
Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 – $500 off
(Note this was a US deal, and not a Europe deal)
And Black Friday Weekend:
Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 – €1,000 off/£1,200 off
(Note this was a Europe deal, and not a US deal)
In addition, they ran some smoking hot deals on both US and European sides for refurb bikes, which I actually picked up back then.
Also remember for context, last year when this deal happened, Wahoo had just launched their V2 bike in September/October, and concurrently, was grasping for air/cash. Their financial position is far better now, so they might not be as eager to highly discount the bikes. In other words…who knows.
Thank you! 🙏
I’ve been suspecting and waiting for this! Question on Forerunner 255 vs 255 M. I’m currently on a 645 Non Music. Since I’m deaf, I don’t care about the music at all. However, with the 645, I know we didn’t get a bunch of updates that the M did because they had more memory on the watch. Could that be an issue with the 255 non-M as well? (Still, I’m hoping to get a 955 on my wrist to see how it feels, if it’s not too thick, then I’d definitely prefer having the maps too) Thanks, Ray!
No, we’ve seen the FR255 receive concurrent updates with the Forerunner 255M since launch, and honestly, quite a boatload of them. Tons of new sport modes, expansions, etc.
The most recent beta update about 12 days ago added essentially all of the new Venu 3 features: link to forums.garmin.com
Follow up on this, as I found an interesting tidbit… the 255 Music can get beta updates, but the 255 cannot. Reason – the beta updates are coming over wifi, and only the Music edition has wifi. (Source: link to forums.garmin.com and other discussion in the forums) However, my earlier question was related to regular software updates, not necessarily betas, so I’m fine with it. Wanted to let you know since you used the beta as a specific example.
Thanks, Ray! I wondered whether the Fenix/epix Pro models being on a strong sale indicates Fenix 8 / epix 3 coming soon, like in January. I imagine you won’t engage in such speculation, though you could probably provide historical perspective on whether the current/flagship versions of Fenix/epix have been on sale like this before and/or whether new versions have been released without a new version of the Elevate sensor (given a new Elevate sensor seems unlikely to come as soon as January)
Historically Garmin has always found a way to drop usually $150-$200 off at least one of the Fenix series units, during Black Friday sales. Thus, this doesn’t really surprise me. I was slightly more surprised it’d be the Pro, I figured they might go deeper on non-Pro (which, they also did).
I wouldn’t expect any new Fenix/Epix units in January. That’d be a 7-8 month cycle, and far sooner than any previous Fenix/Epix series refresh. Historically they’ve floated in the 14-18 month range (exempting COVID, where like any other company, things got slightly tilted). I suspect Garmin would love to find themselves closer to a 12-month cycle, to be able to better position their units against a yearly Apple Watch Ultra release cycle.
The soonest I’d expect to see any new Fenix/Epix series units would be the same time as last year, May-June or so. Or, they could slide to late August like other years.
Do you think the 14-18 month cycle, or less, would apply equally fo the 965 and 265? If it doesn’t go on sale for Black Friday its an issue if buy now or wait for a sale or next generation (965 came out so soon after the 955 and ECG could be in the posy 965: version, maybe?).
Ooh, this assessment makes me lean more towards a purchase. I was shying away because when I bought my Fenix 6 Sapphire on Black Friday 2021 the 7 and Epix came out just a few months later, despite rumors to the contrary. However, the F6 was over 2 years old then I guess. Going off F7/Epix Gen 2 base, January 2024 is 2 years for them , but sounds like you’re resetting clock with Pro models
Garmin views the Pro models as simply the next-gen Fenix/Epix. They aren’t considered a different level SKU, akin to Apple Watch vs Apple Watch Ultra. Sure, there’s some marketing that will hint that, but from a real-world product standpoint, the order of release has been:
Oct 2012: Fenix 1
Feb 2014: Fenix 2
Mar 2015: Fenix 3
Feb 2016: Fenix 3HR (the mid-point release)
Mar 2017: Fenix 5
June 2018: Fenix 5 Plus (the mid-point release)
Aug 2019: Fenix 6/Pro
July 2020: Fenix 6 Solar (the mid-point release, all units got solar)
Jan 2022: Fenix 7/Epix
May 31st 2023: Fenix 7 Pro/Epix Pro (the mid-point release)
Now, in this somewhat rare scenario, the Fenix 7 Pro/Epix Pro is the first time we’ve seen Garmin keep the software features in sync with the base Fenix 7/Epix series. Who knows how long that’ll happen for. Hopefully pressure from companies like Apple’s WatchOS releases will keep that going a long while.
The other potential piece of this puzzle is the timing of a new Elevate sensor. The last few versions of the Fenix/epix series each appear to have come with a new version, further supporting the idea that a new Fenix/epix is further away given the launch of the latest Elevate v5 earlier this year.
I would assume new ELEVATE V5 will be the sensor for a while. Garmin isn’t going to want to mess with it, in terms of re-doing ECG FDA certification (or any theoretically pending CE certification).
Makes sense. Would you expect the epix Gen 2 sale to end after Black Friday / Cyber Monday or continue on through the holidays?
I would expect it to continue. Mainly because it’s at rando-pricing, which indicates it’s technically an Amazon sale, and not a Garmin sale. Thus, Amazon is likely depleting inventory of old watches as they often do during BF, and usually do so while looking a bit drunk at times – as if someone dared them to go lower on price. But hey…we all benefit!
Wait. Where is the Epix Gen 2 in that timeline?
Jan 2022 – under Fenix 7/Epix
The ‘Gen 2’ is only loosely used, because technically speaking, the original Garmin Epix was waaay back in 2015: link to dcrainmaker.com
Obviously, that was sorta a one-off, and most people had forgotten about it 7 years later except sports tech geeks. But Garmin really liked the name (and it had been cleared from trademarks standpoint), so…they went with it.
Hey Ray, appreciate you putting together a great guide!
I’m looking on upgrading from a Vivoactive 4S into the Epix range. I saw that the Epix Gen 2 base model was going for $449 compared to the Epix 2 Sapphire for $600.
Most of the reviews have been focused around the sapphire version that has the multi-band GPS and sapphire screen. For an additional 25-30% more, is the sapphire screens and multi-band pivotal for long-term usage?
I’m primarily concerned if it would be worth in the long-term to pay more now to avoid the Epix Gen 2 base model aging poorly.
I don’t think it’s as big a deal as we collectively thought it might have been when the Epix first launched (with multiband and not). Garmin has made their non-multiband variants using the same chip incredibly accurate. 98% of the time, you can’t tell the difference. I did a test last year with both units side by side in NYC, and the differences were almost unseeable: link to dcrainmaker.com
You can see then for example, that the Fenix 7 Base and Fenix 7 Sapphire, performed nearly identically, both easily beating the COROS Vertix 2 with multiband/dual-freq.
Would you say the same holds for the FR255? Is that the same chipset?
I am currently in the market for a new watch (because my fenix 5s died) and it’s between the 255 and the 265. Currently, I do not see the need for an AMOLED screen (potentially I might change my mind once I had one for a while…). And since I do not need music support and those training readiness stuff, the 255 is appealing due to the price. The only other difference that might really matter to me would be multiband…
Nevermind, I just realized the 255 has multiband. One less reason to get a 265.
Did the 255 get Sat-IQ as well?
Two cents: Multiband seems important, though I would also consider the sapphire’s superior screen durability and longevity. If you’re the kind of person that keeps watches a while.
I had a base fenix 5 that got little dings/scuffs immediately that drove me nuts. After 2 years I paid up for a fenix 6 SAPPHIRE and it’s still my daily watch 4 years 3 months later.
It’s not just the screen – the bezel is also far less worn on the Sapphire/Pro. I think b/c the sapphire bezel is typically “DLC coated” whatever that means.
Think there’s any chance of a KICKR MOVE discount at some point this year?
TL;DR I the Neo 2T worth (almost) 2x the price of the KICKR CORE?
So. My current setup is a Tacx Vortex Smart (wheel on) with a 6 speed 1988 Cannondale kludged to accommodate the 126 mm read spacing. Works great! Until the read hub exploded recently. Original wheel, probably 30,000+ miles. No complaints. BUT…a wheel-off trainer is not going to work with that bike – it has a burly, aluminum rear triangle, so I’m not super excited about spreading it to 130 mm. So, maybe my normal road bike (8 speed Cannondale) or race bike (10 speed QR) on a wheel-off trainer is the smart move. SO…if I’m going wheel-off…see TL;DR…
Coming from a Vortex, you’ll definitily be happy with the KICKR CORE. And you should be, it’s a great trainer. Personally, I would not see a reason to spend more on a Neo 2T. Which is a great unit as well. I just don’t see much added benefit. Downhill drive for example… kinda nice, but honestly never missed it.
If you’d like to spend more money I would see more benefit in adding a KICKR CLIMB. That makes much more difference… Or maybe buy or build a sprintboard.
RE: KICKR Move Discount
That’s a hard one to predict. Wahoo has often run very limited Black Friday sales of 10-20% over the years, sometimes even on new models. They tend to last usually 1-4 days. But they tend to be very hard to predict. Wahoo apparently won the battle with REI over their 20% coupon, as it isn’t permitted this year (previously it was on trainers, but not “bike simulators”).
RE: NEO 2T at 2x the CORE?
That’s tough. As others have said, coming from a VORTEX, which is…umm…not awesome, either unit will be a massive upgrade. The NEO 2T has downhill drive, which is super cool. Meanwhile, the CORE has ability to connect to a KICKR CLIMB for up/down. While you can get nuanced on road-feel between the two, most people wouldn’t likely be able to tell the difference.
If it was me, I’d pickup the CORE and then the CLIMB on sale, and call it even-ish.
Thank you Ray! FWIW I found that Trek’s 10% discount for signing up for their mailing list *did* work on a KICKR MOVE. I figured it was unlikely that we’d get something higher than that during Black Friday so I went for it.
Yeah, I’d take that and run – before someone figutes it out. 🙂
That said, that’s historically how some of the better Wahoo (or even Garmin) deals have happened over Black Friday weekend. Basically smaller shops/outlets (obviously Trek is big) not entirely realizing they’re violating MAP pricing by offering a blanket discount. Grab them deals when you can, they usually don’t last more than a few hours.
EPIX 2 $399. Stainless / Gorilla Glass / Single GPS Satellite. (Not the Epix 2 Pro.)
A great deal that I jumped on. The price has varied from $449 to $429 to $399 at this vendor. (The price has bounced up and down. Now at $399.) New in the box and very fast shipping – at least to me in the US.
This vendor sells overstocks.
link to bikecloset.com
there are also some big deals on the polar website (GER); M2 f.e. 50% off
Too bad there are no decent smart trainer deals for the EU. Would love to snatch the tacx neo 2t for 899 Euros
As noted, we usually see the biggest EU discounts on Black Friday weekend itself, and they usually beat the US side.
I see a few of the German bike discounters have the NEO 2T at 1,200EUR including the Tacx NEO Motion Plates and some other random stuff. So essentially the same 899+300 price of the US side, albeit you have to pay for those motion plates.
Point being, I’d be surprised if we don’t see the NEO 2T sub-1K over BF in Europe.
Do the motion plates actually improve the experience?
Stage SB20 smart bike has been on sale for a bit now, no idea how long it’ll last.
link to stagescycling.com – 1999$
link to stagescycling.eu – 2099€
A far cry from that 1400$ deal (with a year of Zwift included) that was around at the start of the year but still, more than a thousand off.
I’m tempted, but the slow-to-respond ERG mode is keeping me away. Plus knowing that it has been on sale for much less earlier…
The SB20 group on facebook has a lot of good info. It sounds like ERG mode is largely fixed.
Expecting anything on GoPro? I’m looking to pick up a Hero 11 at a decent price – for being an “old” model, the current discount vs the 12 seems absolutely pants – but knock another 50-100 off it on a sale and I’ll jump on it.
We generally see $50-$100 off GoPro models over this time period. I’d expect the same – both for new and previous-gen models. Usually that happens next week.
I am looking at a cheaper DJI drone combo. Do you anticipate any additional sales as we move closer to the holidays? As of now the one I’m looking at (DJI Mini 2 se combo) is the same price on their website as well as Amazon.
Also, I’ve pulled the trigger on an Epix 2 Pro Saphire thanks in part to your videos. Anxiously awaiting it’s arrival.
Thanks!
I’d fully expect to see the DJI Mini 2 variants on sale – and likely the Mini 3/Pro variants too. I would expect no sales on the Mini 4 Pro. If in the US, Costco has oddly been one of the leaders on BF DJI Drone deals.
Glad the reviews were helpful! Enjoy!
Between the new watches and the discounts on certain older models, I hesitate…
I have a Forerunner 735 xt and I would be tempted to upgrade to a watch with more comprehensive navigation for bicycling.
Canceled my Kickr Core order I made a week ago and went full out on Neo2T.
I am beyond excited.
From a Kurt Kinetic Wheel on Fluid Dumb Trainer to Neo2T direct drive smart trainer.
Major upgrades…I’m scared!
RIDE ON!
I was able to use TREK’s online 10% additional discount on top.
Neo2T for $800 – arriving Thursday!!!
I missed out on the Epix Gen 2 in EU for 449.
Had it in the bag, clicked checkout and got distracted 🙂
Do I need it? no but trailrunning in the dark the better screen is a game changer.
Doh! Which Amazon EU site?
You can see prices on different Amazon EU sites for a product in Hagglezon
Germany. Stupid me..
If there’s one truism about Amazon Europe sites over BF, the deal always comes back (at least until the Saturday, then things don’t come back).
Hi,
I’m looking for a good deal on Favero Assioma Duo pedals.
Does anyone have any idea if they will be cheaper than 649€ in Europe?
Best
Max
Last year Favero had some really good deals that they published on Black Friday itself. I received an e-mail from them and picked up an UNO > DUO upgrade pedal at about 50% off. I’m in the U.S. but the transaction was directly with Favero and the pedal shipped from Italy.
THX
Let’s hope for a good deal!
Favero Assioma DUO Powermeter Pedals (2023)
@ Rosiir für 590.75 €
link to rosiir.com
Best deal so far in the EU. Evereywhere else für 629 €
The Favero Assioma sale is now live. I got the e-mail today
link to cycling.favero.com
The Duo is selling for 510 Euro / 557 USD. There are similar savings on the UNO, DUO-SHI and the upgrade kit.
Redshift sports still has an early black friday sale of 25% off on most everything including suspension stems and seatposts. Great stuff for road or gravel. link to redshiftsports.com
A y recommendation of a mat for a trainer? My cats have destroyed my current one 😭
Kinetic Trainer mats are pretty solid. They’re a bit rugged.
Garmin Varia RTL for €129 on Amazon.nl
Probably won’t go for much less, I guess?
Hey, Ray!
Wasn’t disappointed when I came straight to your website to confirm the deals!
I was waiting for the Black Friday weekend itself to buy F7Pro, but now that there’s already a 200 off, do you suggest I take the plunge right away or wait till the Black Friday weekend itself for a potential further pricedrop? I’m from Canada if that helps.
Thank you!
I have been wearing the fenix 5 basically for 5 years 24/7 and, honestly, did not have any issues with scratches or whatever. And I am not extremely cautious with my stuff, I am dropping my phone quite regularly.
I guess I am just not sensitive in regard to the looks…
are the rally pedals due for an refresh do you think?
Do you have any info on fitness app deals during Cyber Week? Most specifically looking ahead to any WahooX membership deals that I should wait before pulling a trigger on?
training peaks is 25% off. very good deal
Anyone seeing european deals for Garmin Forerunner 965 or Garmin Epix Pro Sapphire?
As mentioned above I just ordered a 965 from polleosport.at with a 15% discount. They also got the Epix Pro Sapphire and other Garmin watches with 15% off. Delivery is free to Austria and Germany.
Sports shoes.com has Epix pro for 100gbp off + there is additional 15% promo codes
Polar has a lot of stuff on sale in their website. Ignites, Pacers, Grit watches and HR sensors
link to polar.com
Garmin 6x Pro $289.99 on Woot.
link to electronics.woot.com
For the Canadians in the group, Sport Check has a 50x multiplier for their triangle points on the apple watch 9 right now. I picked up a 45mm GPS model for the regular price of 589CDN and got $117.80 in points to use at Sport Check, Canadian Tire, Marks, etc. It’s not really money I guess, but I buy enough at the places that I can use it towards normal household stuff quite easily. Best deal I’ve found so far.
Hi,
Spotted on EU Amazon (.de):
Polar Verity Sense down 34%, to 66EUR
link to amazon.de
Is it worth holding out hope for a potential EU discount on the Zwift HUB/JetBlack smart trainers? Thanks!
Thanks again for pulling together this very helpful master list. I was on the REI app this morning and saw the Garmin Edge 1040 offered at the discounted sale price, but none of the Garmin Rally pedals were available and were listed at the regular US price ($1080 USD). Did REI sell through their stock of Rally pedals?
I discovered an even better deal on the Fenix 6 Pro. If you have access to an Amazon Business account, it is another $30 off at $299!
Until mid this week in Canada on garmin site and one day on amazon, epix 2 sapphire was at 480$ usd. I hesitate between 965 and epix to buy, but the deal take the decision for me 😄
Curious (or better my wife is) if we will see a deal on Vivoactive 5 🙂
Epix 2 sapphire/titanium for $499 on Amazon/Garmin (US)
Wow! I got the Epix Gen 2 last December for a good deal on Amazon with it being an open box return and getting $200 off for opening a Chase Card. And I’ve been really happy with the watch. My previous watch was the Fenix 6 and if that was still my daily driver I would definitely be moving to the Epix now.
I wonder if Garmin is being so aggressive with Epix prices because they are being affected by the Apple Watch Ultra. I see a lot of people wearing them.
INGbank in the Netherlands has good prices for Garmin Edge x40 solar (you need some points too).
Guess the Wahoo KICKR CORE sale isn’t such a deal with the price drop you just posted about. Hope people can get price match from REI.
Oops, my mistake, thought Wahoo dropped price to $449, but is really $499, so sales below that we’re still good
Favero Assioma DUO for 590,75 € @ ROSIIR
link to rosiir.com
Best deal in the EU so far. Evererywhere else for at least 629 €
Best Max
Stryd has the 15% off 🙂
Can anyone comment on when the expected update to the Edge 1040 will happen? Thanks!
Ray – the Garmin Instinct 2 watch is now $199!!
I wonder if the Whoop 1 year deal is applicable to current members. They don’t even need to send new hardware.
OK, if you ‘extend your membership’ the price is £189 for 12 months in the UK, which comes to £15.75/mo.
I believe I recall reading the Garmin epix Gen 2 (currently at $448 on Amazon) doesn’t come preloaded with maps (and perhaps some other features were missing?). Is it able to accept maps after purchase? Or is the onboard storage limiting this? Thanks!
It should have pre-loaded North America maps, but no biggie to download them from free, directly from the device.
Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Vs Garmin epix gen2. Which one do you suggest?
Favero seems to now have Assioma on sale.
link to cycling.favero.com
Forerunner 965 $50 off as of this am on garmin site in US
Your website is always so helpful. Thank you.
I was hoping for a deal on the Garmin Edge 840 as the screen on my Edge 830 is cracked. Unfortunately, Garmin does not offer many deals on bike computers this year. But hey, now I’m considering buying the Nespresso machine and the pizza oven.. 😉
Haha…well, the pizza oven and Nespresso machine is better anyway.
As for the Edgd 840, I wouldn’t expect any Garmin-sanctioned sales. However, sometimes Uncle Amazon does crazy stuff.
20% off Garmin Edge 540/840/1040 at Bike tires direct:
link to biketiresdirect.com
The 840 on search page showed 16% but at checkout it was 20%
thanks Ray! note Garmin Venu 3 down to 399 now
ROTOR : link to rotorbike.com
that’s a cheap 2inpower.
I have the Garmins, Favero and 2inpower. Rotor has been hassle free as the Favero.
Right now the Kickr Core + Climb bundle is showing up as $662 + tax with free shipping from the Wahoo Store. Seems like a very good price, no?
Here’s a link: link to wahoofitness.com
That seems like a very solid deal!
With deals like this, is the NEO 2T for $900 still attractive? I know that’s a great discount from Garmin, however KICKR Core for half that seems pretty nice
This is really solid. My wife has been thinking on a KICKR Core for $500, so getting the Climb for $163 tipped the scale.
I’m surprised there still is stock, but I also don’t see this bundle when searching for it on the site. I only found it from seeing your post and link. Thanks!
30% off storewide at Cycliq – Fly6 & Fly12 bike lights/safety cams
link to cycliq.com
The price winner for the most deceptive Black Friday Deal: Strava.
Get two months off.. to get the identical price as pre black friday.. run.
Eeek! The much neglected Euro deals area mysteriously disappears. Eurosceptics everywhere must be rejoicing.
Thanks for all your work putting this together Ray. My query is do I go for the Epix gen 2 or a Suunto Race titanium? £485 Vs £480 in the UK.
Man at that price point unless you are just wanting to move out of Garmin eco system the Suunto is a tough buy. For me the two watches were basically a tie for the running features I value and there were a few that garmin does much better and the OHR swung in Garmin’s favor. For the handful of times I still play golf it sure is nice to have the courses on my wrist. I actually played a few days ago with the Race on my wrist and the cart GPS was not working and I really missed having the yardages. Plus the dial on the Race kept getting triggered with my wrist which was annoying. Good luck with your purchase.
I’d generally agree with Craig. The Suunto Race is a great watch, but it’s incredibly hard to argue with the Epix at $449USD (or equivs globally) for the same price. Yes, the Suunto Race will get longer battery life, so, if that’s something you value over everything else – then go forth.
But in almost every other scenario, for the same price it’s hard to argue with Epix.
Regarding the Oura Ring, I just got a notice that it is HSA account eligible, so if you have that type health insurance you can use those funds
What’s your go-to Nespresso compatible pod? We just got a Breville Creatista which uses original Nespresso pods. Didn’t consider the Vertuo since I read it only accepted proprietary pods.
Need to add a 2 (259ish for most flavors rn – $59 would be a better steal than the RIVAL!) to the price on the Polar Pacer Pro in your sale price column – although the Maroon-plum color is at $177 rn (3rd party). Also Polar Vantage M2 floated down to $189. You really need your own algorithm to keep up with the Amazon bots haha.
thanks for all your work on this Ray !
I am looking for a cheapest Garmin watch with map feature.
I would like to upload routes and use the navigation function.
My current watch (Garmin Forerunner 310XT) died and I am looking for a replacement.
What do you recommend?
garmin forerunner 945 is $299 an amazon rn with full maps and routing. also look at Fenix6 Pro refurbished in the list above for $329. If you just need breadcrumb routing to upload a route without actual maps the Garmin 935 is a little less ($263). I have see the 935 as low as $199. You said garmin but Coros added breadcrumb routing to the Pace2 and Pace3 recently that are both cheaper than the aforementioned Garmin models. I believe turn by turn on Coros is still in beta
Epix Gen 2 is $399 at Running Warehouse.
Did anyone happen to find any F7 Pro deal in Europe?
Picked up the Garmin Epix 2 from bikecloset for $399!
Same.
Fenix 7 for 379 € amazing deal on Amazon.de
Forgot the link: link to amazon.de
Seems like that Fenix 7 price is no longer available – the link directs me to the beige/rose gold version at over €800…
Huge additional savings on the Polar website right now. For example: Polar Grit X watch is $215…… incredible markdowns.
A large high street jewellery chain in the UK has an incredible deal on the Epix gen 2 for £375 ish which you can get down to £320 if you sign up to their newsletter and use discount code (it seems the one they send out automatically doesn’t work, but if you use the web chat to their customer support folks, they are replacing the faulty 10% voucher code with a 15% one)
Oops meant to add the deal forum link
link to hotukdeals.com
link to hsamuel.co.uk
Garmin FR 965 on sale at 529 CHF/EUR – link to galaxus.ch
I didn’t realize you were a pizza maker too! Tell us more! Do you make your dough? Does the fam have any favorites?
Trek has the Wahoo Powrlink Zero dual-sided power meter pedals for $719.99. Plus, you can stack the 10% coupon for signing up to their email list on top of that taking it down to $648.
link to trekbikes.com
Pay attention if buying the Epix Gen 2 on Amazon. The current ship date is Jan 8th.
There may be other sites with it discounted to $399 like Bike Closet or Running Warehouse, but read their return policy first. It is not as generous as Amazon.
Going to Amazon gives Ray a bump
Woot deals on refurbished Garmins. Geat deals essentially from Amazon who owns Woot.
link to electronics.woot.com
Thank you for the comprehensive list, Ray!
I wonder: is there any detailed comparison of health related features of current smart watches (features, their limitations, their accuracy and reliability compared to medical-grade equipment, …) available? I am very interested in things like on-demand AFib detection, respiration rate, SP02, sleep tracking, … and in the future hopefully something like blood pressure and sugar levels.
As I get older, these things get more important and I find it hard to assess them. E.g, I don’t trust the blood oxygen level values from my old FR 245 much since they vary a lot (e.g. just now: anything from 93% to 100% within a few minutes sitting on a chair, but maybe the arm band is just too loose). Any guidance would be highly appreciated! 🙂
Looks like Amazon deal for Garmin Epix is done.
The site also hid the buying options for the Epix a couple days ago, then it returned. If you click the “See All Buying Options” button and filter by New, there are still sellers with it available. Not sure why Amazon doesn’t always pick the lowest price and offer to add to cart. Anyone still looking for an Epix should keep an eye for it to return soon with a ship date of Jan 8-9 again.
Yeah, Epix is still there for $449 – right now you can get it for $449 on Amazon, shipped from Adorama (a massive electronics retailer) for next-day delivery: link to amzn.to
(Fun Amazon fact: Amazon will sort by price, always, with multiple sellers. But more specifically, to the cent. In this case, the cheapest option was $449.00 with January delivery. But, $449.99 has next day delivery. Nonetheless, Amazon won’t show you that unless you click to expand the others.)
Haha (or yikes, buyer beware!), when Amazon hides the Add to Cart button, there’s a popup that says this:
No featured offers available
We feature offers with an Add to Cart button when an offer meets our high standards for:
Quality Price,
Reliable delivery option, and
Seller who offers good customer service
“No featured offers available” means no offers currently meet all of these expectations. Select See All Buying Options to shop available offers.
Thanks! That’s great info and I’ve never noticed it before.
I checked both the Withings scale and the San Disk cards and they are both back up to $129 and $40 respectively. Must have been a very short sale…
256 GB is $29, 128GB is $20 at 9 pm EST
Garmin Epix Gen 2 is $399 at Running Warehouse, a legit retailer.
Here is an interesting one. Garmin Epix Gen 2 Sapphire at dell.com for $599. If you happen to be an American Express card holder and have the option to add their selected deals, one of which is $120 statement credit for Dell.com purchases of $599 or more, you can get the more premium watch for $479.
Garmin Instinct new $144.
link to electronics.woot.com
Apple Watch Ultra 1st gen $695.
link to electronics.woot.com
So many incredible Epix gen 2 deals over the last few days – I can’t help but think retailers are clearing old stock.
Maybe there’s a replacement arriving soon, or just retirement of the Epix product?
Forerunner and Fenix seem such strong lines with recognisable purpose, even though I’ve ordered an Epix it’s still not clear to me what it’s intended audience is?
I think epix has a niche as the only ultra long battery life with amoled display? It’s nearly 2 years old now so I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a Gen 3 released soon.
The Epix Gen 2 was replaced by the Epix Pro this past May. Albeit, as noted they’re both receiving the same software updates.
I guess Garmin now thinks that Epix became a dead end street since it is one size. Garmin itself killed it with Epix Pro of 3 sizes.
I’m confused. Epix Pro is simply the next Epix. Garmin has used that tick-tock style naming scheme for Fenix for a decade now (either using HR, Pro, or Plus for the in-between version).
Garmin Epix (Gen 2), Vs Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Series which one to go for? Appreciate your suggestions. I do lot of ultra endurance activities.
Personally, I’d choose Epix, but that’s just me.
Thanks for your input.
I just saw that Amazon has the Garmin Enduro 2 for 27% off.
Hit the Epix deal…page actually said DC Rainmaker commission…that is cool. Mine coming from Adorama…will be here tomorrow. Another poster mentioned a January ship date, perhaps my Prime membership got me faster shipping.
Awesome, thanks Jim!!!
Wahoo Kickr V6 for $899 free shipping and no tax on shopebikesupply.com right now with their 10% off coupon code, wanted to let you know DCR
Saris H3 is $584 with coupon on Amazon and Tacx Neo is $899. Is the Tacx worth $300 more? Both are in Ray’s top three high end trainers. Anyone got any experience with both?
Deciding whether it’s worth $300 more is always tricky, but I’d personally spend $899 for the NEO 2T versus $600 for the Saris H3. It’s quieter, it’s got better/proper 12-speed support, it’s got downhill drive, etc…
Awesome! Thanks!
How do you feel about the Neo 2T vs KICKR Core at new $499 price?
Also, do you think KICKR Climb or Neo Motion Plates enhances the ride more?
The Epix for $449 deal has ended on Amazon, but is still discounted to $449 or sometimes $399 or $380 on Bike Closet or OTA (Outside The Asylum Diving & Travel)
I am so tempted to buy @ $379 from Bike Closet (very legit store). Don’t need a watch but this is really a solid deal.
Epix is currently $379 on Bike Closet, $387.50 on OTA Diving and $399.88 on Running Warehouse