The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter/X and BlueSky, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!
So with that, let’s get into the action!
DCR Posts In The Past Week:
Here’s all the latest posts on the site:
Sunday: FIT File: Garmin Instinct 3…Let’s Chat
Tuesday: Garmin Instinct 3 vs Garmin Fenix 8: Every Difference Detailed!
Thursday: Garmin ECG Now Available in EU (But not Fenix 7 Pro & Epix Pro)
Stay tuned for the final Instinct 3 review this week, following me putting it through the paces the past few weeks, including a 60KM trek this past Wednesday. Atop that, there’s a smattering of smaller company news I want to catch up on, and one moderately-sized announcement this week coming up. Maybe more, who knows.
Sports Tech Deals:
Some new ones have popped up this past week. I think the Fenix 7 at $429 is probably the most interesting for people eyeing that new Instinct 3, since this is basically cheaper while having more features. I’ll continue sweeping and adding in a few more of these later tonight, so keep checking back.
| Product | Sale Price | Amazon | Sale Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | AmazFit T-Rex 3 - $40 off | $240 | Amazon | |
 | Amazon Echo Dot Kids - 42% off | $34 | Amazon | Despite being a tech-focused dude, our kids don't actually get much tech in their lives. However, we got these two years ago for them in their rooms, to play music. They do lots of other things, but our kids mostly just use it to play music (from Spotify and Apple Music too), and occasionally they ask it questions. It has all the parental controls I want, so it locks it down from bedtime/etc...For $34? Solid deal (The coolest 'nice touch' feature is that if you whisper to it, it'll whisper back...in the owl kids voice it has.) |
 | Apple 11" iPad - (Wi-Fi, 128GB) - $70 off! | $279 | Amazon | ⚡ 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 Indievelo, Kinomap, 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. |
 | Apple AirPods 4 - $60 off! | $119 | Amazon | |
 | Apple Watch SE (2022/2nd gen) - $100 off $249/$299 (cellular) | $169 | Amazon | It's really hard to beat $169 for an Apple Watch. Again, like the other Apple units on this list, the SE3 was announce last month - which adds an Always-on Display, among other features. But at $169 with otherwise all the same software features as the higher-end Apple Watch units, this continues to be one of the best deals in smartwatches out there. |
 | Apple Watch Series 10 - $120 off $399/$499 (cellular) | $279 | Amazon | With the Series 11 out last month, you'll see sales on the Series 10. That said, there isn't a huge difference between Series 11 and Series 10. So if you were looking at the Apple Watch SE3, this might be worth grabbing instead for the added features. |
 | Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $150 off | $649 | Amazon | With the new Apple Watch Ultra 3 announced last month, it's time to clear some Ultra 2 inventory. This is pretty much the 'normal' sale price for the Ultra 2. |
 | DJI Mini 4K Drone - $60 off | $239 | Amazon | If you're looking to get into flying with a DJI drone, this is a solid place to start. Of course, moreso than that, the days are very limited for how much longer you can actually buy at DJI drone in the US. So, grab them while you can. |
 | DJI NEO - $30 off! | $159 | Amazon | This is the lowest price on this drone, and is a great option if you want a follow-me drone that's pretty hard to kill, at a price point that's still super reasonable. |
 | DJI OSMO 360 - $137 off | $412 | Amazon | NOTE: This is not sold by DJI directly via Amazon. DJI itself is NOT selling the OSMO 360 in the US, and WILL NOT support/repair it in the US. That said, it's a solid deal if you're ok with those risks. |
 | Garmin Edge 540 - $73 off | $267 | Amazon | ⚡At $267, it's pretty much impossible to beat this deal in terms of bike computers. There's no competitive option that beats it on features/battery/etc at this price, or frankly anywhere near it. Sure, it doesn't have a touchscreen, but it's not as bad as it used to be (I did a stint on it this winter for a week or so, and was fine). |
 | Garmin Epix Pro - $250 off! $899/$999 | $499 | Amazon | ⚡ This is avery solid deal! The Epix Pro has the latest optical HR sensor in it, and thus has full ECG support as well. Note, this is for a 'renewed' model. In Garmin lingo, it means it went back to the (same) factory in Taiwan, and went back to the assembly line and is effectively a new watch again. I wouldn't have any concerned with a renewed model, but some might. |
 | Garmin Varia Radar (RTL515) - $50 off | $149 | Amazon | This is Garmin's standalone radar+taillight option, and $149 is pretty much the standard sale-price. Even despite all the new radars out there, this remains the most accurate option on the market. Now, only if Garmin would just re-release it with USB-C. C'Mon Garmin... |
 | Garmin Venu X1 - $100 off! | $699 | Amazon | This is the first time we've seen the Venu X1 on sale, since it came out this past summer. This is a good deal, though, I do wonder if it indicates the original pricing wasn't quite right here. |
 | Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way) - $40 off | $360 | Amazon | This is a pretty small deal for this product. 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. |
 | Garmin inReach Messenger Plus - $100 off! | $399 | Amazon | This came out last fall, and is the second time this has been discounted. The key difference with the new Plus model is that it adds the ability to send photos and voice messenges via satellite. I've used it a bit, and it's pretty cool because it makes it a lot faster to just say something rather than type it out, but the $499 price seemed excessive. $399 makes it slightly more palatable. |
 | GoPro Hero 13 Black - $50 off | $349 | Amazon | |
 | GoPro Hero 13 Black Bundle (extra battery/SD card/floaty) - $100 off! | $379 | Amazon | ⚡ This is a very solid deal. It's a Hero 13 Black on discount, but then an extra battery tossed in, then an SD card, and then a floaty. |
 | GoPro Hero 4K - $20 off | $199 | Amazon | While the new Hero Lit was announced a few weeks back, which includes a front LED light, for the most part it's the same camera inside. Note I'll have a full comparison shortly though between the GoPro Hero Lit, DJI OSMO Nano, and Insta360 Go Ultra. |
 | Google Pixel Watch 3 (45mm) - $70 OFF | $229 | Amazon | The newer Pixel Watch 4 came out last month, and will start shipping this week. I see the Pixel Watch 4 as a pretty substantial hardware upgrade over the Pixel Watch 3, notably due to satellite SOS, as well as a user-replaceable battery. Still, this is a solid deal. |
 | Insta360 X5 360* Action Cam - $50 off! | $499 | Amazon | |
 | Polar H10 Chest Strap (Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) - $15 off $89 | $84 | Amazon | |
 | Polar Verity Sense - 15% off $99 | $82 | Amazon | I use this as one of my reference devices for heart rate accuracy testing. |
 | Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) - $100 off! | $549 | Amazon | |
 | Samsung Galaxy Watch8 - $35 off | $314 | Amazon | |
 | Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-frame Mirrorless Camera w/ 28-70mm Zoom - $400 off | $2,398 | Amazon | This is the main camera I use for still photography and video b-roll. I recently wrote about all the photography gear I use, linked at side here. |
 | Suunto Run - $50 off! $249 | $199 | Amazon | This is a very solid deal. It's got virtually all the software features of Suunto's higher-end watches (minus the app store), and just came out this past May. |
 | Suunto Vertical - $120 off! | $379 | Amazon | While the new Suunto Vertical 2 just came out last week, if you wanted to stock-up on MIP-based display watches before they disappear, here's your chance. |
 | Suunto Wing headphones - $30 off | $119 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo ACE Cycling GPS - $90 off! $599 | $531 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo BOLT V2 - $30 off $279 | $237 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo KICKR 2022/V6 - $155 off! $1,299 | $894 | Amazon | ⚡This is actually the lowest price we've ever seen on the KICKR V6. Wahoo says we won't see a new top-end KICKR this fall, with them instead focusing on the new KICKR Bike Pro, KICKR CORE 2, and all their new bike computers/radar/etc... |
 | Wahoo KICKR Core Smart Trainer - $75 off! $499 | $427 | Amazon | This is basically the lowest price we've ever seen for this trainer as far as I know. It's still a very solid trainer, and the cornerstone to the new Zwift Ride bike as well (it uses the KICKR CORE as the base). It works with the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB too. |
 | Wahoo KICKR Desk - $30 off | $199 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $130 off $599 | $569 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo ROAM V3 - $70 off! | $395 | Amazon | This is the first time we've seen the ROAM V3 on sale (notably the BOLT V3 is not on sale, though the larger ACE is). |
 | Wahoo TRACKR Heart Rate Sensor - $15 off $89 | $84 | Amazon |
Note that all of the above are Amazon affiliate links, which do help support the site. I appreciate it!
YouTube Videos This Week:
Here’s what hit the tubes over on the You of Tube; definitely don’t forget to subscribe there to get notified of videos the second they hit!
Stuff I Found Interesting Around The Interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet:
Some of these are mixed in from the last few weeks that I don’t think got much attention (if any) from the CES timeframe, but caught my eye.
1) Stolen E-bike Batteries Could Be Made Worthless if Bosch was Less Greedy: Such a good article from Thomas on Bosch’s new program. As one who has had an e-bike battery stolen (which in this case ran about 800EUR), everything about the situation sucks.
2) COROS Feature Updates January 2025: I’m a sucker for anything to do with sensors, and COROS allowing you to rename sensors in their latest update is A-OK with me. They’ve also added both during and post-workout sensor low-battery alerts. As well as a few other items.
3) Zwift Rolls Out Personalized Route Time Estimates: I thought this was kinda cool, if for no other reason than my wife was asking for the feature the night prior, and boom, it magically appeared.
4) Peloton continues to test Zwift-like game in private beta: Will be super interesting to see where this lands. Keeping in mind, during one of the big layoff rounds, Zwift let go of one of their lead engineers…who was quickly scooped up by Peloton.
5) Bankruptcy judge approves Giant’s purchase of Stages: In the list of “things that are no surprise”, this continues to move forward. It’ll be interesting to see which product categories Giant ultimately continues. I’d imagine they’d ditch bike computers, though perhaps there’s a market for them within Asia. And I’d imagine they’ll probably exit the consumer indoor bike scene, though certainly keep up on the gym side.
6) Assembling a minimalist travel-sized bike tool kit: As always, Dave Rome’s gonna cost me a lot of money. Sigh.
7) DJI Flip announced: I’ve ordered one, but it doesn’t arrive till tomorrow. No idea why DHL decided to take nearly a week to get from Amsterdam to Mallorca, but…I guess such is island life. I’ll be putting it through its sports-focused paces as usual. That said, I’m still a bit skeptical of the new design, in terms of travel compactness compared to the Mini 4 Pro (or inversely, the NEO). Seems a bit like a NEO Pro or Mini 5 Pro would have been a better fit for most people.
8) Stryd converts TrainingPeaks & Final Surge Pace-based workouts to Power workouts: This is actually pretty interesting. Essentially, if you’ve got a coach (or otherwise) creating pace-based workouts in TrainingPeaks or Final Surge, then Stryd will automatically convert those targets to be running power targets. While I’m kinda skeptical on the business viability of Stryd in the medium to long term, I do think this is a pretty useful feature for users of their device. Kudos.
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With that – thanks for reading!
Great low key week for Coros and Styrd. Coros update is super. The ability to do workouts in Trail Run mode is something that made me question some life decisions. Running with power/Stryd is also a new frontier for many. Trail Runners be super happy!
I’m in the indoor cycling community as an educator to indoor cycling instructors and teach at a club with Stages bikes; I also have one at home so I’m invested in their success. We’re anxiously waiting for news about customer support for the bikes. I know most of the Stages indoor bike team went to work for Giant, so I’m curious to know why you think they’ll exit the indoor bike scene. Do you think those executives might peel off and create their own separate company? Stages bikes had been the preferred bike in the industry before the bankruptcy.
As noted I’m specifically talking the “consumer indoor bike” scenes, rather than the industry (e.g. gym) one.
The reasons being that:
A) Stages couldn’t get rid of SB20’s to save their life, literally in this case: While they found some consumers, they were just horrifically overbuilt for households. Sure, that design is awesome for long-term life in gyms, but the weight/size killed them in consumer shipping realms, as well as hurt them from an aesthetics standpoint in the home.
B) The Zwift Ride has fundamentally shifted industry thinking on indoor bikes. While Zwift Ride V1 has some minor fit issues (e.g. crank length/saddle fore/aft), Zwift themselves has been clear these will all be addressed in a V1.5 or V2. The benefits of splitting the trainer apart from the bike part is massive for companies, especially when things go wrong. A single return on a bike indoor bike wipes away any profit, if not putting them in the red. Whereas by splitting it in two pieces that are very modular and easy to ship, makes it far more efficient for companies, but frankly, also consumers. People can upgrade trainers, and companies can also upgrade all the whiz-bang features of a frame. As a result, I don’t expect to see Tacx do another indoor bike either. I suspect we’ll see Wahoo do another, but I’d be surprised if we see another KICKR SHIFT unless they can substantially change either the features in that model, or reduce the price.
Thank you, this is very helpful. I’d spaced out on the difference between “consumer” and “industry” indoor bikes.
My husband just bought the Wahoo KICKR SHIFT during the Black Friday sales and is loving it…but we aren’t the typical home consumer—we don’t mind setting up heavier more durable equipment!
Waiting for the DJI Flip!
FR955 has been lately for sale in EU for way sub 300e.
Last I saw it was 259e or smth like that.
Very hard to beat that deal!
Were did you find a deal like that? Cheapest one i found right now is like 340€.
Have you found a place to do drone wind tests in Mallorca?
Yup. My backyard. :) Actually, technically I suppose it’s my frontyard.
Either way, I live within a few hundred meters of the water/cliffs edge, and the winds are pretty strong out here. Surprisingly, the wind conditions are similar to Amsterdam’s in terms of typical storm strength that rips through here.
The only difference is the frequency is slightly higher in Amsterdam. There, I could roughly count on a nasty wind spell within any 10-day timeframe. Here it’s more like within every 15 days. Also, I find the Dutch weather service a little more accurate at predicting them than the Mallorcan weather (and, there are better official wind sensors in the Netherlands, versus fewer here). But ultimately, it’s pretty easy to look out and see how nasty the whitecaps are, to figure out wind.
That is great news! Those videos are always a favorite!
1.
While companies want an “everything is a subscription” model, security features shouldn’t be locked behind those subscription walls. Bosch’s justification is ridiculous; because bad actors have no idea if a battery is part of the secure ecosystem, those actors will just steal every battery and discard those that are.
Thank you for this – always interesting to check if I’ve missed anything I don’t want to have missed, but especially for the links at the bottom.
I suspect it was a bankruptcy “judge” though, as opposed to a new posting you’ve perhaps made up there.
Or maybe you are about to launch some fanfic for “Udge Dredd”? 😉
Ray, are you still going to publish a review on the X1 Pro/ProMax? Would like to see a comparison between the standard X1 and these ones.
Sorta random comment/question… I recently was on a run with my dog he stopped suddenly for a potty break, something about the jerking of the leash caused my watch band to snap (it must’ve already been worn down) and the watch fell and cracked the screen :( It’s a Garmin Venu 2 Plus. Apparently they don’t do screen repair, only full watch replacement and it costs $160 which gives you a refurbished unit with only a 90 day warranty. Don’t love that option (some bad experiences with refurbished units from other companies), so thinking maybe I should just splurge and get a brand new Venu 3. But, that watch was released in August 2023…and I know I’ll be annoyed if the Venu 4 drops shortly after I buy the 3.
Ray or anyone else know if there’s been any hints at a Venu 4 release timeline?
Alternatively, can anyone convince me why I shouldn’t care about this and should just get the Venue 3 now?
Ray can’t tell you. Either he doesn’t know or he’s under NDA. He needs to do that because this is his job, and I think he likes it more than his old job which was probably better paid 😂
You love the current watch. The 3 is better so you’ll probably love it more. The next version will be better but were you annoyed that the 3 was better? Progress always happens but generally pricing reflects that. When Garmin are ready to replace they usually have deals so you pay less. Would you pay more for a newer version than the best deal right now?
If you wanted a better watch you’d buy a Fenix 8s.
Were those good enough? For what it’s worth by partner just went from Venu 2 to Fenix 8s and loves it but wasn’t unhappy with the old Venu. She also seemed happy to upgrade to the new Venu but I convinced her the flashlight was worth the weight. I think whichever you get you’ll be happy 👍
I am surprised that Ray, you are not reporting live on this year’s Chipotle-Strava challenge. Jamil Coury, a 6-times Barkley marathons participant, really seems to want free Burritos:
link to youtube.com
Biggest issue before with Route estimates was the rounding… I mean, rounding something in the 30 to 60 minutes ballpark to the nearest half hour was ridiculous.
Obviously, computing it based on FTP and weight makes sense, too.