Heads up! The big Garmin annual spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8 (first sale to date!), $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965 at $499, the Forerunner 265, the new Instinct 3, and countless other Garmin products including inReach Mini 2. Plus the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium is on sale, and some Suunto & Wahoo product deals too. 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.
It’s always nice to hear honest takes on these topics and new devices, I think one of the many reasons so many flock to this website and the YouTube page to read and watch reviews. Given how much is changing with Whoop and Garmin and other wearable brands as to how they’re doing pricing, memberships, and more, it would be cool to hear what your take (and others) is on who is the most “honest” and “ethical” brand right now. Which brands seem to be truly innovating products, providing fair pricing, and listening to their customers. I think secondarily, hearing which of the many devices and wearables you’re actually using/would use (were constant testing not a factor) and why you’re choosing those, would maybe help many of us struggling to decide where to place the growing percentage of our paychecks for a new device. I don’t know that anyone does as much of a deep dive as DCR and a few others, so hearing what kind of value for money and ROI “rankings” would be, would be nice.
The potential for „Whoop(s) I did it again“… gone…
That’s the way I read it to be honest 😁
Maybe only old farts like me would understand 😂 (I was going to write „us“, but I reconsidered 😅)
so I am strange, I have the Apple Watch and love it, I have an HRM (arm) for cycling so why did I buy whoop5 MG with all known about it (got it after Des’s post) ??
Data, thats all I use Athlytic app (will Ray mention that one) but I saw the demo of whoop’s platform and love it plus the BP side, tested it and seems in the right ball park but checking further, sure Ray will have his say !!).
It seems accurate for exercises matched to my HRM and watch which is good and again await Ray to confirm but yes most of all I like its style.
Got 14 months instead of 12 from an affiliate link so for me it is like 30 quid a month and then if I feel like not renewing I can !
so for the device swap out that is not the issue for me but it is bad by Whoop and they should be held to account for it.
Any news on the Garmin Whoop competitor rumoured to be coming soon?
I’m definitely a target audience for a Garmin-made Whoop competitor, because I’m an Apple user and Apple Watch is the best smartwatch (emphasis on smart here) for an Apple user. But I still wear my Garmin because I train with it (training with an Apple Watch gets really expensive really quick and in terms of features it’s not even close) and, in order to get all the ambient metrics, I wear my Garmin outside of the workouts as well while I don’t need the entire watch there – I would be fine with a discreet band that collects my data and sends it to Garmin Connect for analysis.
So I had my Whoop for a year and then decided to go for the Apple Ultra 2 and have the accuracy of the Apple with the added SMART Watch features, and trust that Apple would catch up on the App front or go 3rd Party. Following the Whoop 5 announcement, I/m very happy with my decision.
The only thing I wish Apple would sort is the Bluetooth broadcast so that my Wahoo could pick it up and I could use it like I did the Whoop and not need my Polar HR strap. Any news on this?
Thanks as ever.
Looking forward to the Whoop 5.0 review.
I’m hoping the HR is more accurate (especially with cycling), otherwise the whole premise of the product is still stupid.
The whole idea is that it uses your HR to show your recovery and strain levels… is useless if the HR is inaccurate.
Hoping the new hardware is a vast improvement… and I may jump on the Whoop train.