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!
In the UK/EU/Australia/New Zealand? Then hit up Wiggle at the link below!
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 GPLAMA, 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 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!
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 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'
Zwift Hardware Tidbits: Breaking Steering, Apple TV 2021 Updates, New Non-Supported Trainers List
This post is a collection of randomly interesting Zwift hardware things. Sure, Zwift is often updating software-related stuff. But more quietly they’re also making changes behind the scenes on hardware – some of which are good, and some of which, … Read More Here
Zwift Considering $45/Month Plans and Huge List of New Features in Latest Survey
Zwift has sent out a survey to numerous members (including myself) that indicates they’re pondering multiple membership tiers, steering + braking, hosted audio-video workouts, premium racing leagues, and many more features. While the survey is of course meant to gather … Read More Here
Zwift Lays Off Employees in Move to Focus on Developing New Hardware
This past Friday, Zwift laid-off a number of employees in a move the company described as being made to allow them to “develop new hardware”. The positions being eliminated, according to various industry sources that were informed by Zwift on … Read More Here
Zwift Plans Three At Home Fitness Hardware Products
Last week Zwift posted a slate of new job positions, notably around supply chain management. Included within that, the company listed that they’ll not only be making three specific models, but that they’ve also selected their hardware production partners already. … Read More Here
Hands-on with VirtuGO: Is it a viable Zwift competitor?
Within the trainer app realm, much is made of the giants – Zwift and TrainerRoad. And rightfully so, they’ve grown their respective customer bases over years with boatloads of happy customers. At the other end of the spectrum is a … Read More Here
Zwift on New Apple TV 4K (2021 Edition): What’s different?
Many regular readers know that I’m a big user of Apple TV for Zwift. For the most part, unless I’m actively testing something that requires a PC or Mac specifically, I’m using Apple TV as my Zwift machine. I have … Read More Here
Zwift’s CEO Discusses Smart Bike Hardware Plans, IPO, Rowing, Clubs, and More
Over the past few days Zwift’s CEO has given an interview to Bloomberg, as well as led his annual Thanksgiving Day group ride, which had over 3,000 people join. During both of those sessions CEO Eric Min discussed a number … Read More Here
The Challenges Ahead for Zwift and ESports
It was almost exactly two months ago that Zwift announced they received a whopping $120 million USD in new funding, whereby a large chunk of that would be spent on digital racing – known as esports. Since then, the company … Read More Here
Friday Roundup: Interbike cancelled for 2019, and Zwift encroaches on Strava with new update
And just like that – it’s Friday! If you’re reading this prior to 11AM US Eastern Time/5PM Central European time – then don’t miss out on my YouTube Livestream today (Friday) with GPLama and DesFit – here to answer all … Read More Here
Zwift’s New Workout Mode: First workout overview
This weekend Zwift rolled out the first iteration of their new workout mode. This is a bit of a departure from their past claim to fame, which is the 3D world known as Zwift Island (or more recently, the Richmond … 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
Zwift rolls out first real world course: UCI 2015 Road World Championships in Richmond
Zwift has delivered on the first of their many promised expansions: real world courses. Back when I first discussed the service with them a year ago, they noted that they’d eventually see opportunities to partner with race organizers for creating … Read More Here
Garmin Training Status Now Includes Zwift, TrainerRoad, The Sufferfest and Tacx App Workouts
Garmin quietly rolled out an update yesterday that means you’ll now get training load updated on your Garmin devices for workouts done in Zwift, TrainerRoad, The Sufferfest, and the Tacx App, all without using a Garmin device to record them. … Read More Here
Zwift Releases Makuri Islands: New World to Eventually Rival Watopia
Zwift has released a new land, called the Makuri Islands, and the first section in that is the Yumezi map, which includes 27.6km/17.1mi of roads on it. However, unlike UCI or real-life-based event maps such as Yorkshire or Richmond, this … Read More Here
Thoughts on Zwift’s Infamous $5 Price Increase
There are approximately four ways you can start off writing about the Zwift price increase, depending on which way you want to spin the increase. I’ve used two of them thus far in my post, but to recap, your four options … Read More Here
Zwift Releases Apple TV App: Everything you need to know
Today Zwift released their long-awaited Apple TV edition, allowing you to get riding on the platform with a relatively small investment compared to a full desktop computer or expensive tablet. The Apple TV variant has been under external testing since … Read More Here
Zwift Bans Two Pro Racers For Altering Data: An Explainer of Sorts
It’ll likely come as no surprise that top racers are once again* cheating on Zwift. After all, cheating and cycling are as intertwined as peanut butter and jelly. And while historically cycling has seen cheating take the form of doping … Read More Here
VirtuGO Announces It’s Shutting Down: Where’d things go wrong?
One of the most viable alternatives to Zwift from a graphics standpoint just announced it’s closing up shop. VirtuGO has sent out an e-mail to all registered/paying users that the service will shut-down effective November 25th, 2019. Users will be … Read More Here
Zwift Tidbits from Eurobike: New course specifics, real-life course preview, and other bits
This won’t be a long post, but darn-it, I went out and rode a beastly loop of the new Austrian course, and thus I’m determined to make something of that time spent in the saddle. Thus, here we go. As … Read More Here
Zwift Begins First Day of New Crit City Race Course: My first go of it
To my surprise, that was more fun than I expected. Also, it hurt my lungs more than I had planned for this Saturday afternoon. But more importantly – I could actually see doing it again. Which is not something I … Read More Here
Zwift Re-Updates Terms of Service After Recent Changes & Concerns
About a month ago Zwift quietly updated their Terms of Service. Then, a day or two later they (properly) sent out an e-mail to customers saying things had changed, and to check them out. For some reason, at the time, … Read More Here
Zwift Confirms New Hardware Division: Posts Job Positions To Build Indoor Smart Bikes
Ahh yes, the rite of passage for any tech company is posting job positions that give away your future plans. Be it Apple posting autonomous car engineering positions or Uber trying to build flying things, eventually companies have to show … Read More Here
Zwift acquires Milestone, charts entry into hardware realm
In a move that will turn heads within the indoor training industry, Zwift has acquired Milestone and their famed inexpensive ($25) running footpods. This isn’t the first time Zwift has dabbled in hardware, but it is definitely the first time … Read More Here
Week in Review: April 5th, 2021
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
A Quick Review: A $17 Weight Scale that Syncs to Zwift (1byone Smart Scale)
For those unfamiliar, the speed you go in Zwift is entirely based on your weight and power output – with some added trimmings, including height/virtual bike/wheels/etc… But really, it all hinges on your weight. As a good citizen of Zwift … Read More Here