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.
Author Archives: Ray Maker
New App: Using Philips Hue Lights Easily with Any Trainer
I’ve long wanted a way to link Philips Hue lights with Zwift (or my trainer), but the solutions were never that awesome. In fact, one of Zwift’s co-founders’ earliest geekery side projects was controlling smart home lighting via Zwift. … Read More Here
Suunto Releases Major Firmware Update for Watches – Full Details!
Suunto has just rolled out a pretty solid update, continuing a seemingly recent trend over most of the last 6-8 months of more frequent and more notable firmware updates. The updates during this timeframe have been a blend of … Read More Here
Garmin Adds Food and Nutrition Logging to Connect+: Worth It?
As expected by leaks over the holidays, Garmin has announced food and nutrition logging to Garmin Connect. Or rather, more specifically, their paid platform, Connect+. The feature largely replaces the functionality long provided by MyFitnessPal, which allowed for food … Read More Here
Tech Tidbits: Apple Fitness+ Expanded Content, and Amazfit Active Max Hands-On
With the New Year, sports tech companies are trying to get ahead of CES next week, with their announcements. While I don’t expect much notable in the endurance sports hardware realm next week at CES, I do expect we’ll see … Read More Here
Christmas Tree By Cargo Bike 2025
After moving to Mallorca last year, many of you wondered if we’d be able to keep up our annual tradition of getting the Christmas tree by bicycle. A tradition that started when we were living in Paris, continued as we … Read More Here
Big Garmin Public Beta Update Adds 25 New Features to 2025 Watches
Slowly but surely, we’re starting to see the benefits of Garmin’s consolidated platform take effect. I believe this is the very first time we’ve seen every device on the new platform get/start the public beta on the exact same … Read More Here
Garmin inReach Mini 3 & Mini 3 Plus In-Depth Review: Worth The Upgrade?
The Garmin inReach Mini 3 & Mini 3 Plus is the most substantial update to the Garmin inReach lineup in years. If not, ever. At first glance it might seem like perhaps just a color change, and for the base … Read More Here
The Massive 2025 Sportswatch Year in Review with DesFit
It’s December – and you know what that means: It’s time for the annual (and sprawling) – Sportswatch Year in Review video! This marks the 6th year in a row for this annual video, where Des of DesFit, and … Read More Here
DJI NEO 2 vs HoverAir X1 Pro Max: Skiing Comparison!
Here’s your complete comparison between ski tracking modes in both of the two popular sub-250g sports-tracking drones, which require no remote control or other accessories to follow you. In this case, I took them out on back-to-back tests on … Read More Here
FIT File: Surprise Watches from COROS and Suunto
In this episode, we chat about the summer and fall releases from Suunto and COROS, including the COROS Nomad, Apex 4, and Pace 4 as well as the Suunto Race 2 and Vertical 2. 0:00 In this episode… 2:00 … Read More Here
Elite Square In-Depth Review: Where Does It Stand?
The Elite Square is one of those reviews where I just couldn’t figure out how/where to review it, as the goalposts seemed to keep on shifting, both in terms of the product and how to review the product. So instead … Read More Here
The 2025 Unfinished Reviews List: Quick Backlog Product Reviews!
As much as I’d like to get to every product in-depth review before Christmas, I’m very realistic that isn’t going to happen. I’m trying, but the backlog is real, and the onslaught of new products this past fall has been … Read More Here
Garmin Adds Multi-InReach Device Support (and LiveTrack Updates)
Yesterday Garmin released the inReach Mini 3 & Mini 3 Plus, but along the way, they also expanded support for having multiple inReach devices on a single account – which was a pretty big limiter once the Fenix 8 Pro … Read More Here
DJI NEO 2 Tracking Ultimate Test: The Gauntlet!
It’s time for a new drone sports testing Gauntlet: The Mallorcan Gauntlet. This one is objectively more challenging than the long-standing Amsterdam-based Gauntlet. Both for the drones, but frankly, me trying to piece the portions together. In any case, the … Read More Here
Hot Deal: New Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 is $399 (with Zwift Cog or Cassette!)
There are nearly 150 deals listed right now in my sports tech massive deals tracker, which I’m updating near-hourly. However, this one on the KICKR CORE 2 (my just-published longer-term review last week) from Wahoo might be one of the … Read More Here
Massive Sports Tech Deals List
(Last Update: December 30th, 2025 at 1:12PM US Eastern) Last call for the sports tech deals of the holidays! Most of these are actually still available, and many end on December 31st! As always, I’ve categorized all the deals … Read More Here
DJI NEO 2 High Speed Wind Test (and a bit of ActiveTrack)
Just a super quick note that, in between all the other reviews on the back burner, the winds picked up today, and I couldn’t resist taking out the brand new NEO 2 overwater for some high-speed wind testing. And … Read More Here
Best Action Cam & Drone Deals: GoPro, DJI, Insta360, HoverAir (Black Friday)
Here’s your consolidated list of the best action camera and drone deals, with tons of insight for those using these products for sports, such as follow-me drones and more. In virtually every product below, I’ve used them extensively across countless … Read More Here
Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 In-Depth Review: The Best Option?
It’s been a bit over 2 months since Wahoo announced the KICKR CORE 2, and in that time, both my wife and I have put an absolute boatload of miles on it (or kilometers) to see where it works … Read More Here
Apple Watch Ultra 3 In-Depth Review: Worth the Upgrade?
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the first Apple Watch to get two-way satellite communications, and in my testing over the past nearly two months, it’s also the watch with the easiest to use satellite communications features that largely … Read More Here
Garmin Fenix 8 is $250 off, Fenix 8 Pro & FR970 is $100 off!, and All The Best Garmin Deals!
Garmin has kicked off its Holiday 2025 sales, with the Fenix 8 at $250 off, the Venu X1 at $200 off, and a slate of other watches at $100-$150 off. The way Garmin structures its sales, these will be the … Read More Here
Garmin News Tidbits: Peloton Integration, Earnings Miss, Sleep Mode, and More…
I suppose I could collect these in a ‘Week in Review’ post, but some of them are worth a touch bit more discussion, thus, here we are. This is like the potpourri of Garmin news and tidbits from the last … Read More Here
Oura’s Mind-Bogglingly-Good Failed Ring Experience
I don’t tend to talk about customer service bits much, unless they get so bad that enough people e-mail me that I have to look into it. The reason is relatively simple: It varies a ton, especially (and often) by … Read More Here
COROS Pace 4 In-Depth Review: Threading the Price Needle
The COROS Pace 4 has arrived, and with it a slate of hardware enhancements over the existing COROS Pace 3. In addition, these hardware updates have enabled new software features – such as a display-based flashlight as well as … Read More Here
Strava Rolls Out Garmin Attribution Prior to Deadline
Almost exactly one year after Strava began a campaign to reel in 3rd-party apps, the company itself had to comply with new rules imposed on it, as a direct result of that very campaign last year. Rarely has there been … Read More Here
Zwift’s New York City Expansion Now Available: First Ride Details!
Earlier this fall Zwift announced a bunch of new features that’ll roll out over the course of the fall and winter (well, Northern Hemisphere winter). Since then, we’ve seen a number of small tweaks and new features, and that’ll continue … Read More Here
Strava Voluntarily Drops Lawsuit Against Garmin
Strava’s multifaceted legal (and social media) attack on Garmin was short-lived. Just 21 days after filing the original patent infringement case, alongside a Reddit post from their executive team attacking Garmin, the company has decided to dismiss the case … Read More Here
Oakley Meta Vanguard In-Depth Review: We’ve Finally Arrived?
I test a lot of devices. Most of them, are frankly, kinda forgettable. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, they’re great. But they aren’t game-changers in my workflow or sports life. Instead, they are typically an iteration of … Read More Here
Pixel Watch 4 In-Depth Review: Where Does It Fit?
The new Pixel Watch 4 is here, and with it satellite emergency SOS communications, as well as more battery life, a brighter display, and deeper AI integration with new Gemini features. The Pixel Watch 4 is best viewed as … Read More Here
COROS APEX 4 In-Depth Review: A Hint of What Comes Next?
COROS has introduced the COROS APEX 4, a watch designed to streamline the previous APEX 2 Pro and APEX 2 Non-Pro versions into a single edition, while concurrently skipping the number 3. Because…umm…never mind that. In any event, the … Read More Here
Complete 360 Action Cam Comparison: GoPro Max 2 vs Insta360 X5 vs DJI OSMO 360
I’ve published a complete 360 Action Cam Comparison, with all three leading action cam companies having released new models this year, I dug into more than 45 features that differentiate them (or, in some cases, don’t). Given this is … Read More Here
Amazon Prime Day Oct 2025 Sports Tech Deals Tracker!
It’s back again – Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days. That means that most (all?) Amazon country/regional properties are doing pretty substantial deals across the board on all sorts of products for two days. As usual, deals last till they last. … Read More Here
FIT File: Strava Sues Garmin – This Won’t End Well…
In this episode, we chat about Strava’s lawsuit against Garmin and why they’re demanding Garmin cease selling devices. We also cover Strava’s now even more infamous Reddit response. For those not subscribed to the FIT File (it’s free!) via … Read More Here
Strava Just Sued Garmin: Demands Garmin Stop Selling Devices
Strava has sued Garmin, an act that I very much did not have on my bingo card for 2025. In doing so, they are demanding that Garmin cease selling effectively all of their fitness/outdoor watches, as well as cycling … Read More Here
Suunto Vertical 2 In-Depth Review: Its Got a Flashlight!
The Suunto Vertical 2 marks the end of an era, but equally so – the beginning of a new one. Barring some unexpected/unplanned change in direction, there are no more new MIP-based display sports watches planned from Suunto (setting aside … Read More Here
