I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? Use Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
And both Backcountry & Competitive Cyclist offer free 2-day shipping!
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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 GPLAMA, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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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.
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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!
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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 and Equipment 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! It’s a nice break from the day to day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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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 2021 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.
Search results for: 'zwift'
A Look at MyWhoosh Indoor Cycling App: A First Ride Explainer
This year at Eurobike, the MyWhoosh stand was the largest indoor training stand app at Eurobike. Granted, it was also kinda the only one, given that Zwift didn’t show up, and others like TrainerRoad have never shown at Eurobike. Nonetheless, … Read More Here
TrueKinetix TrueTrainer Announced: First Look
This year at Eurobike, TrueKinetix announced their first smart trainer, which takes many of the features found in their higher-end smart bike, the TrueBike. This trainer has a slate of things we simply haven’t seen before on other smart trainers. … Read More Here
Sports Tech Huge Amazon Prime Day 2022 Roundup & Tracker!
It’s back again – Amazon Prime Day…err…Days. That means that most (all?) Amazon country properties are doing pretty substantial deals across the board on all sorts of products, and that definitely includes sports tech gear. This event is held each … Read More Here
Garmin HRM-PRO Plus Heart Rate Strap In-Depth Review
Garmin has just released a slightly revamped version of their HRM-PRO chest strap, now the HRM-PRO Plus. Like most Garmin ‘Plus’-enabled things, this is a modest upgrade from their existing high-end chest strap, the HRM-PRO that came out two … Read More Here
Saris Begins Process To Sell The Company: The Backstory On How It Ended Here
Over the last 3-4 months, Saris has worked tirelessly behind the scenes trying to avoid the fate that no business ever wants to face. However, in the last few weeks, it became clear there was no other option, as Saris … Read More Here
Zwift Cancels Smart Bike Hardware Plans, Announces Significant Layoffs
Just two weeks ago Wahoo announced a round of layoffs to mitigate the dropping (or rather, normalizing) of indoor cycling hardware sales, and prior to that Peloton did the same. Now Zwift is following suit with a round of layoffs … Read More Here
Wahoo Announces Acquisition of RGT Cycling, Consolidated Wahoo X Subscription
Wahoo Fitness has announced today the acquisition of the RGT Cycling app (formerly Road Grand Tours), as well as announcing their new Wahoo X Subscription Service, which combines the membership for both apps under one umbrella. In short, subscribers of … Read More Here
Gymrail Momentum X1 Smart Trainer Movement System In-Depth Review
In many ways, smart trainers themselves have largely flat-lined in terms of new features. Sure, we’ll continue to see new models with relatively minor tweaks, but much of the focus for the indoor smart trainer world has been on accessories … Read More Here
Zwift Bans Cheat Whistleblower: A Deeper Dive Into the Issue
[Update – Feb 26th, 9:30AM US Eastern: See ‘Updated’ section below – Zwift has backtracked and rescinded the ban.] On the doorstep of Zwift’s biggest event of the year – the UCI sanctioned Esports World Championship, which is later today … Read More Here
Elite Justo Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
Elite is kicking off the Tour de France with a new high-end trainer, the Elite Justo (Justo is Italian in Venetian dialect for right/correct, referring to the accuracy). This trainer not only looks different from the outside, matching the more … Read More Here
Week in Review–April 3rd, 2022
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 … Read More Here
Is Zwift About to Acquire TrainerRoad?
If one were reading the tea leaves of the indoor trainer industry, they’d probably be seeing some pretty interesting things. Over the past three weeks, we’ve seen increasingly clear signs that something substantial is about to occur between the two … Read More Here
Zwift Racer Caught Cheating Using Recent Weight Changing Hack
Well, that didn’t take long. Zwift’s official race partner, WTRL, has seemingly disqualified their first individual for using the recently published mid-race weight-changing cheat. The individual cheated last night during Race 8 of this season’s WTRL Zwift Racing League event. … Read More Here
How-To: Using Zwift and TrainerRoad Concurrently
For many of you more tech-focused folks, this quick how-to guide will be old hat to you. However, as was made abundantly clear to me a few days ago when I posted a picture on my Instagram stories of me … Read More Here
Strava Abruptly Ends 3rd Party Data Sync to Apple Health
[Update – March 15th, Strava has reversed course and re-enabled Apple Health sync. Full details here.] It’s been a few years since Strava has managed to irk the Internet, but over the last few days, they’ve unleashed a torrent of … Read More Here
Zwift Shows Off Zwift Ride Smartbike & Zwift Wheel Hardware Designs
Zwift appears to have just pre-announced their own new Zwift bike & Zwift trainer, in a hardware purchasing survey that went out to a selection of users. The survey outlined two new Zwift products – a smart bike called … Read More Here
Garmin Forerunner 955 (with Solar) In-Depth Review
It’s been 3 years and 2 days since Garmin announced the Forerunner 945, and today, it’s finally properly refreshed with the Forerunner 955. Except, it’s actually two watches – the Forerunner 955 & the Forerunner 955 Solar. Today’s announcement marks … Read More Here
Zwift Rolls Out Wahoo Direct Connect Ethernet Adapter Support
Today is apparently the day of ‘Finally!’ in the sports tech world. First, there was Suunto with ‘finally’ adding structured workout support. Then there was Wahoo with ‘finally’ adding some sort of climbing feature, and now we’ve got Zwift with … Read More Here
Tech Tidbits: New Stages Dash Models Soon, Garmin HRM-PRO Bluetooth Expansion, Zwift Clearancing Hardware
As we sail into the weekend, there’s some tech tidbits that are worth mentioning – covering the gamut of companies, as the sports tech world starts to heat up going into spring. Stages New GPS Bike Computers: Stages began teasing … Read More Here
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
Wahoo has now formally announced their KICKR ROLLR smart trainer…err…smart roller. I’m not super sure how you classify it (Wahoo themselves officially calls it a “smart trainer” in their media release), but whatever it is – it’s here and … Read More Here
Zwift Details Challenges With Building Their Own Hardware
CyclingTips today published a great ‘From the Top’ podcast episode about the history of Zwift, talking to both Jon Mayfield and Eric Min. Those two, being two of the co-founders of the platform, with Jon bringing the initial development/technical side … Read More Here
COROS Adds Virtual Run & CORE Body Temp Support
COROS has launched yet another firmware update today, and as usual, adding a slate of features. Most of these features aren’t new to the landscape of sports watches, but some of them are new to how they’re implemented in the … Read More Here
Zwift Details Plans for New Neokyo Map, New User Interface, and Clubs Public Launch
For the first time in Zwift’s history, they held what would be akin to a product launch event, detailing their upcoming product plans. Albeit, one that was given in private to the media rather than publicly. But nonetheless, the resultant … Read More Here
Zwift Launches Neokyo Roads: First Ride Thoughts
Zwift had just released the Neokyo roads, which are an addition to the Makuri Islands that were launched last spring. They connect to the existing Yumezi roads (which are also part of the Makuri Islands map), so you can ride … Read More Here
Peloton Tread In-Depth Review
In general, I’m actually not a big treadmill-loving person – despite having way more experience running on treadmills week after week in hotels for years, than I ever want to remember. For the most part, unless it’s just above … Read More Here