Heads up! The big Garmin spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8, $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965, Forerunner 265, and countless other Garmin products. Full list & thoughts 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.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
-
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.
4
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 2024 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.
Admittedly, I have been holding out for the LTE variant of the Forerunner (which didn’t happen) and now rumors on the next Fenix. With these sales and your comments on not seeing a Fenix for a while, do you think it’s about time to stop waiting (coming from 945LTE) or any chance we see that in near future?
I’ve given up trying to predict Garmin’s future LTE strategy.
Perhaps they’re waiting on the dust to settle on the Apple/EU case around smartwatch connectivity, which would substantially (massively) open up Garmin’s options there (since the key limiter right now for Garmin is really on the iOS side of connectivity and iMessage integration, it’s just a mess otherwise).
That said, I think Garmin can lean very heavily into the safety angle more within these confines (akin to what they do on the FR945LTE & Bounce), but with…well…more. It’s not perfect, but it’s an option.
Wonderful response! Might be what I needed to just upgrade to Fenix 8 with these prices (wanted Enduro 3 with multiple 100 milers coming up but it’s just massive on wrist).
With that said, I got a lot of hope with leaked images of LTE on Fenix this week. You feeling the same, or is that just another internet hype moment that’s not substantial in the Garmin timeline for upcoming watches? Thanks!
When will we see the Bolt and Roam v3 reviews?
Soonish. Probably next week.
TLDR there will be:
A) It’s just an ACE in a smaller form factor, minus wind sensor (good or bad)
B) The bell on the ROAM V3 is nice, like it was on Ace.
C) Display is sub-par in shadows on sunny day (or, when blocked by your body), with really poor readability on maps
D) Battery life simply isn’t awesome, and falls far short of their specs unless you turn off backlight
For software stability, there’s just little quirks – just like ACE. It’s getting better, but this was a complete ‘start from fresh’ cycle for them, and thus, it shows.
On the bright side, I like the radar. Though again, priced at $249 when Garmin is at $149 makes that a tough cookie right now. Even despite USB-C.
So I’m aware of the upcharge on the Wahoo Radar in the US (thanks for that post). For Garmin, could their pricing for their Varia still holding the same due to either supply pre-tariffs or that they are affected but are eating the cost? I have been on the fence on the Wahoo or Garmin radar as it’ll be my first radar and mentally I’m thinking, “well, if Garmin eventually raises the cost of their Varia at the same rate, then that puts it just $50 off from the Wahoo”. At that point, it’s only a $50 difference for USB-C among other things. But then again, I feel like just going the Varia and calling it a day would be the optimal approach.
Any idea where quatix 8 is? Or if it is even coming out at all?
I don’t typically follow the Quatix series much, but typically it’s 6mo or so behind (obviously, we’re beyond that).
Thank you for putting the Suuntos in the lineup. From a value perspective the Vertical is a great value. It has come a long long way with all the updates that have trickled down over the year. It is definitely not a Fenix killer, but it does not have to be at $500. For people who do back country trekking, don’t care about first sense “metrics” and use TrainingPeaks this could be a heck of a watch.
I just picked up the Suunto Run. If some of those features also get transitioned to the older 2.0 OS that could also be a step forward. The Run is true uping daily stats like workouts, steps and other metrics, as well as finally having the ability to have more than one BLE HRM remembered by the device.
Suunto has been pretty clear in their community forum that they are not interested in becoming Garmin, but for those that want a more old school less smart experience Suunto is working super hard.
Do you expect the Garmin battery to last longer than 3 years before needing replacement (and good luck with that horror)? When do you think we might see USB-C?
Great sale but as Ray noted above, Garmin is costing themselves purchases because of their lack of clarification on features and watches. Even if they just said all watches with this code base will get X that would be good enough.
I’m not going to go buy a brand new Fenix 8 not knowing if it is going to get the triathlon coach feature. The fact that we have to guess at this means Garmin is doing a terrible job of communicating here.
Desc. about FR965: “This unit includes maps and is more or less a plastic Fenix 7 Pro.” – imo 965 a plastic version of Epix2 (without Pro)