I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1In 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.
2Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent gadget recommendations guide (Winter 2018-2019 edition) and trainers here (2018 edition) – covering 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!
3Have 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.
4My 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!
5The 2018 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 2018 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 2018 Gear Guide too.
First Look: The 4iiii Fliiiight Smart Trainer
Remember back in May when 4iiii announced the acquisition of STAC the company (which made trainers and aero/fit stuff)? And remember when they hinted that they’d have a new trainer product in time to show at Eurobike? No? Ok, well, … Read More Here
Garmin’s Vivoactive 4 Series: Everything you need to know
Today Garmin announced the new Vivoactive 4 & 4S watches, within a pile of different color/material variants. The difference between the 4 & 4S is simply the size. They also announced the new AMOLED display Venu watch, which I cover … Read More Here
Garmin Venu with AMOLED Display: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
I suppose one could simply say that the Garmin Venu was simply just a Vivoactive 4 with a really beautiful vibrant display, but then you’d skip reading over the remaining few thousand words and photos of this post. And nobody … Read More Here
Wahoo Adds Cadence Support & Multichannel Bluetooth to KICKR/CORE Trainers via Firmware Update
I think this post should be a quick one. As of today, Wahoo is rolling out a firmware update to existing Wahoo KICKR18 & KICKR CORE trainers that will now calculate and broadcast your cadence over ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart. … Read More Here
Zwift Demonstrates Mountain Biking & Steering at Eurobike
As the flurry of announcements at Eurobike get under way, Zwift themselves has two items on the docket. The first is availability of the new Yorkshire course later today, a shorter looped replica of the real world UCI World Championship … Read More Here
Wahoo’s KICKR Bike with Built-In CLIMB: Everything you ever wanted to know
In a move that probably shouldn’t surprise anyone– Wahoo has joined the indoor smart bike fray, with their new KICKR Bike. This unit is far more than just a KICKR and a CLIMB squished together on an L-shaped chunk of … Read More Here
Wattbike Announces US Availability for ATOM Smart Bike
Almost exactly two years after announcing the Wattbike Atom, the hard to get indoor smart bike is finally going to be available to purchase in the US. The company has made significant tweaks to the bike in the last two … Read More Here
Stages Announces New Smart Bike: Hands-on Details
Stages is the first company at Eurobike 2019 to bring a new smart bike to market, though, it’s hardly the first smart-ish bike they’ve made. In fact, it’s likely nobody in the world is more familiar with connected bikes than … Read More Here
Hands-On: Tacx’s NEO 2T Smart Trainer With Increased Power
At Eurobike this year Tacx has announced their latest update to the Tacx Neo Series, with the new 2T trainer. For those not familiar with the Tacx lineup, the Neo series is their top of the line trainer. It’s virtually … Read More Here
Elite Direto X Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
While Eurobike doesn’t officially start for another 15 hours, Elite is joining Saris in getting a jumpstart on things, this time on Eurobike Eve. Elite has just announced three new products – the Elite Direto X (this post), the Elite … Read More Here
Hands-on: Sigma’s iD.TRI & iD.FREE Multisport GPS Watches
I’ve always been a bit impressed by Sigma. Here’s a company that is mostly unknown outside of Europe (or even Germany), yet they tend to put out high-quality products that compete technically with those from the bigger-name American and European … Read More Here
Saris H3 Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
CycleOps…err…now Saris is getting a bit ahead of the Eurobike show announcement flood by starting early. Today they’ve announced three new products. First, is this post – the Saris H3 (Hammer 3) trainer. This trainer gets a bit quieter while … Read More Here
Garmin Fenix 6 Series In-Depth Review
Garmin’s latest Fenix series watch now includes solar power, but how well does it work? And what’s PacePro all about? Here’s everything you wanted to know. Read More Here
Fitbit Versa 2 with Amazon Alexa: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
This new device includes Amazon Alexa, new sleep metrics, plus Spotify support. Not to mention hosting Fitbit’s new premium platform. Read More Here
Hands-on: Wahoo Adds Radar Support for ELEMNT/BOLT/ROAM, confirms TrainerRoad Connectivity
Today Wahoo has rolled out support for ANT+ radar units to their entire lineup of GPS bike computers, including the original Wahoo ELEMNT, the BOLT, and the new ROAM. For the 7 people still rockin’ the old school RFLKT, you’re … Read More Here
A Few Epic Days in the French Alps
I’m currently at 34,999ft cruising over the Atlantic, nearing the coast of Newfoundland. But prior to that I was home in Amsterdam for the weekend – however, much of last week I spent in Chamonix, doing a bunch of meandering … Read More Here
Amazon Music Launches on Garmin Watches: Everything you need to know
Here’s everything you need to know to get your Garmin watch working with Amazon Music – step by step instructions and all! Read More Here
InsideRide E-Motion SmartPower Rollers with Floating Fork: In-Depth Review
In the indoor training world there are roller people, and there are trainer people. It’s sorta like politics or religion. Fighting with one camp over the benefits is mostly futile. The only people who benefit from such discussions are the … Read More Here
No, Zwift Racing Wasn’t Hacked. Yet. Sorta. Let Me Explain.
Cheating at Zwift is nothing new, but more and more this year the focus is on how to hack Zwift racing with tools and technology. For the first time we saw a presentation at Def Con about exactly that. Read More Here
How to: Install Free Maps on your Garmin Edge
Got a Garmin Edge and want to install maps on it while you travel? Here’s the quick and easy steps to get free maps ready and installed. Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
While the wind was blowing strong this past weekend here in the Netherlands, that didn’t keep us from putting our best bike foot forward. Here’s this weekend’s super bike-themed roundup of what we were up to. 1) More beer bottle … Read More Here
Week in Review–August 11th, 2019
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
Polar Ignite GPS In-Depth Review
Back in June Polar announced their Ignite GPS watch. This new watch undercut the higher end Vantage M on price, but yet at the same time also added a slew of features that the Vantage series doesn’t yet have (most of them are coming in November to the Vantage M/V). While the Vantage series was aimed at more hardcore athletes, the Ignite watch aimed to straddle the soft squishy middle.
How to: Installing Free Maps on your Garmin Fenix 5/6, Forerunner 945, or MARQ Series watch
Got a Garmin wearable and want maps when you travel? Here’s the step by step for getting free maps on your watch quickly and easily. Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
With a bunch of mid-summer travel to all sorts of places complete, it’s back to a few weeks at home in Amsterdam before…well, a bit more travel for Eurobike and some excitement. Until then, here’s what I was up to! … Read More Here
