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
Elite Sterzo Steering/Riser Block Accessory In-Depth Review
*** Update: Elite has since released the Sterzo Smart. For the latest on this product, see the review post here. *** Last year at Eurobike we saw Elite announce two then-unnamed steering accessories. One of them contained electronics in it … Read More Here
GoPro Hero 8 Black Charging Door Accessory: Video Review Posted
This is a super quick post just to for the handful of you that are into action cam stuffs but may not also subscribe to the DC Rainmaker YouTube channel. Wait, you don’t? For this particular piece of gear, I … Read More Here
Strava Eliminates Multiple Summit Tiers, Simplifies Back to Single Option
Over the last few weeks Strava has quietly removed the ability to choose an individual Summit Pack, instead offering only a full Summit membership to those that want to pay for premium Strava features. You may remember back in the … Read More Here
Wahoo’s New ‘Stealth’-Black BOLT, Price Drop, Plus Adds E-Bike Support, ANGi GPS connectivity
Wahoo just released the latest BOLT variant – ‘Stealth’, and with it, all Wahoo ELEMNT/BOLT/ROAM computers get an update that adds e-bike support and more. Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
While it was a much more relaxing weekend than the go-go-go weeks of the past few months, we still got plenty done. Especially since the weather was largely quite acceptable. Here’s what I was up to the last few days. … Read More Here
Week in Review–March 8th, 2020
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
Saris MP1 Nfinity Motion Platform In-Depth Review
It’s been a year and a half since we got our first glimpses of the now named Saris MP1 platform. Back then, Saris was called CycleOps, and the platform didn’t even have a name. It was just dubbed “The Thing” … Read More Here
Strava Brings Back Chronological Ordering, Adds Athlete Favoriting
As part of Strava’s apparent ‘Make Strava Great Again’ 2020 campaign, the company has rolled out yet another new feature to their 50 million athletes: The ability to put your feed back how it should be: Chronological order. You might … Read More Here
Tidbits and Tech From a Week Skiing in the Alps
A week ago we escaped down to the convergence of France, Switzerland, and Italy. By and large, it was all about family time skiing. After all, I somehow managed (albeit not on purpose) to not publish a single post or … Read More Here
Week in Review–March 1st, 2020
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
Oreka O2 Cycling Treadmill In-Depth Review
Like most ambitious new products, it’s been a few years since we first started seeing tidbits of the Oreka O2 cycling treadmill trainer. Which, is a good point: I’m not even sure what to call this thing. Officially the company … Read More Here
Suunto 7 Wear OS GPS Watch In-Depth Review
Here’s your most detailed in-depth review of the Suunto 7 watch, from a heavily sports and fitness standpoint. Can it compete with the others in the market? Read More Here
Week in Review–February 23rd, 2020
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
Strava Launches Native Apple Watch Workout Sync: Here’s how it works
Strava just launched more cohesive integration with the Apple Watch, allowing one to effectively sync directly from the Apple Watch to Strava, so you don’t have to use 3rd party apps to see your Apple Watch workouts on Strava. Given … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 9th, 2020
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
Bikes, Beer, and Tech Live Podcast/Video from TDU Posted!
I’ve got a quick Friday post for folks today, which is a posting of the Bikes, Beer, and Tech ‘studio audience’ edition of the FIT File podcast recording we did at the Tour Down Under (TDU) about two weeks ago. … Read More Here
Garmin Vivoactive 4 Smartwatch In-Depth Review
After months of usage, here’s an extensive review of the Garmin Vivoactive 4 GPS watch. Covering everything from features to accuracy and plenty more. Read More Here
Pioneer Exits Power Meter Business as Shimano Buys Their Cycling Business
Pioneer announced today that as part of an agreement with Shimano, quietly penned back in December, they’ll be exiting the cycling business. That includes ending their power meter and bike computer product sales. Shimano has purchased unknown assets in conjunction … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Gone is the warm weather of Australia and Singapore, and now it’s back to the mostly dreary weather of Amsterdam. Though honestly, it wasn’t that bad this weekend. In fact, it felt unseasonably warm for the first weekend of February. … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 2nd, 2020
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
GoPro Media Mod Accessory In-Depth Review
Here’s everything you want to know about the GoPro Media Mod from real-life testing to which settings work the best. From mics to HDMI, and more! Read More Here
Polar’s New H9 Heart Rate Strap: Everything you ever wanted to know
Polar has announced today a new heart rate chest strap, undercutting slightly their higher-end H10 strap with a less expensive offering that ditches the onboard storage, while still maintaining the trio of connectivity choices (ANT+/Bluetooth Smart/5kHz). Essentially, it’s Polar’s perfectly … Read More Here
The StagesBike: A Quick Hands-On Update
Update: You can find my final Stages Bike In-Depth Review post here! It’s been almost 5 months since Stages first announced their StagesBike at Eurobike. At the time they stated they planned to ship in Q1 2020 (which is, sometime … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend in Singapore
Phew – it’s been a whirlwind last 10 days! Flying to Australia for the Tour Down Under (with more posts to come, especially some cool behind the scenes bits on tech), and then now just getting back home this morning. … Read More Here
Garmin Adds Bluetooth Heart Rate & Running Data Broadcasting for FR245/FR945
Garmin has quietly begun offering the ability for users to start re-broadcasting their heart rate over Bluetooth Smart with certain wearables, via an open beta program. While virtually all Garmin wearables made in the last…ever…support re-broadcasting of heart rate over … Read More Here