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…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
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.
2
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!
3
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.
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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!
5
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.
Dang. Was hoping for one of those hats from your TDF reports…..lol
Ahh, we have those for sale at the DCR Open Houses! We haven’t quite figured out a good way to distribute them otherwise.
Easy to see that this apparel is “made by cyclist/runners”, for cyclist and runners “. Kudos deluxe!
Thanks!!!
No blue? 😢💙
(Eheh I know it didn’t sell)
Blue is definitely top of the list for some of the one-off limited edition type designs we’re working on. Trust me, I’m a big fan of blue!
Got my running shirt quickly and had a bunch of compliments on it at my group run club! It feels great and dries quickly, can’t wait for more gear to come out!
Awesome – thanks Stephen!!!!
Ordered cycling kit! Limited quantities left!
Sweet, thanks Mike for the support!
Love how thorough your reviews are and between cycling, running, hiking and diving it feels like you’ve built a sweet life. Congrats!
It’s hard to complain!
Awesome stuff — any chance of a non-race-fit jersey at some point (ideally with a zip pocket!) for those of us who winter well (all year round…)?
Yeah, we toyed with it. For the first run, we kinda wanted to judge exact demand, and then have some other options we can expand into down the road for sure.
The washing instructing’s for the running shirt say “hand wash only” any experience in sticking it into a washer?
Much to Ciovita’s chagrin, I have 100% ignored those instructions. I throw it into our all-in-one European wash and bake unit (washer/dryer combo) every single time, and have been doing it almost every day. I had a pre-prod shirt (a blue one actually) that I wear constantly (still) from sometime I think round February. And then the DCR red one from sometime this spring. They both look great still, despite my attempts at killing them.
Obviously, Ciovita would prefer I didn’t do that. But, I’m just being real that it all looks great thus far. Admittedly, if you did that for 3-4 years, it might not look so great.
The only thing that slightly impacted one jersey is that on a ride I did into the mountains for a few days, I wore a CamelBak that had some loose velcro across the chest I didn’t notice, which pulled on the fabric a bit (they were 8-10hr days). But definitely not from the constant washing/drying.
Hand wash only seems like a miss, I was on board to that point. Love the site, I’ll catch the kits the next time around.
Hey Ray,
I got both the cycling kit and the running shirt. The cycling kit is great, but I also noticed rapid wear while wearing a vest on the running shirt. My experience however was only after the first run in it, and only an hour and half. I wore it with a Black Diamond Distance 15, and the front of the shirt was rubbed pretty raw just after that short time (I actually noticed only about 50 minutes in, so it wasn’t even the whole 1.5 hours that it started).
And a zoomed out shot:
Hey Nick!
That’s not good. I’ve done a lot of trail running/hiking with it (8-12 hour days) with a vest, without any rubbage issues causing fabric problems. Any chance there’s some exposed velcro in your vest (that might be attaching and pulling the shirt threads)? I can’t quite tell from the online pictures of the Black Diamond Distance 15, so just figured I’d check.
Either way, let me follow-up with you offline and get you all fixed up.
Cheers!
-Ray
Hey Ray!
I just took a really close look at the vest and the best I can suppose is that the bungees looping through the chest clips are welded at the end, so they are a little stiff. The only odd thing about that is there are 4 main rubbed spots on the shirt, but only two straps on the Distance Pack. Maybe I got the one that is definitely not allowed to be put in the washing machine haha (I did wash it before first wear, but it was hung to dry). Anyway, thanks for the reply!
Cheers,
Nick
Hey Ray, any chance of some basic T-shirts with DCR on them? Possibly like a lot of readers I’m very particular about what I wear on the bike, but love to support people with off bike t-shirts or other casual wear.
Yup! I’ve been testing out some of their different fabric options in regular shirts and sweat shirts. I think we’re close there.
If possible, can the cycling kit come in non-race fit versions?
Thanks Marc, we’re definitely looking at that!
Cargo bibs. Yay! That’s all I buy anymore and wear ’em road riding, gravel biking, and mtb. It’s just so handy to have those pockets, and there’s no downside.
These look great
Will you be creating a matching Zwift kit?
I don’t honestly know if Zwift is still doing custom kits in-game. They stopped for a while. I’ll need to poke.
Doh, I missed the cargo shorts when I ordered, that would have been nice. I’ll wait for some of the special runs to see if I order again. I can vouch delivery was pretty fast, especially for international (I’m in the US). I very much like the cycling jersey. I’m not a huge fan of the running shirt, the sleeves are a bit long for my taste. But thats a personal preference, not anything against the shirt, a singlet would maybe be more to my liking. The thing I like best is supporting DCR. Ray you do a GREAT job on reviews and helping the community I love, thank you! ordering some gear to have people ask me what is DCR is my way to spread the word. Note I still have the previous kit from the other vendor, I like that one too!
Awesome, looks great though!
I hadn’t thought about the sleeve length, I guess it seemed normal to me. 😂 Maybe I’m just tall! I thought about a singlet, as Bobbie prefers that greatly (though inversely, I mostly dislike wearing them).
Thanks for the support, and glad to hear it came quickly!