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.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, 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/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!
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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 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.
Smart Bike Shootout: Wahoo KICKR Bike vs Tacx NEO Bike vs Wattbike Atom
It’s the moment you’ve probably not been waiting for – the complete DCR Smart Bike Shootout! And by ‘smart bike’, I specifically mean one that’s an indoor resistance controllable unit shipping today-ish that’s also supporting all the appropriate industry standards … 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
Suunto 9 Series Gets New Sleep & Fitness Metrics from FirstBeat
Suunto has pushed out an update today to the Suunto 9 series (Baro and non-Baro variants, plus all the colors of the rainbow) that adds in three fitness-focused features that originally premiered back on the Suunto 3 and Suunto 5 … Read More Here
Strava App Sensor Pairing Is Now Dead: My Last Workout Taking Out The Trash
As of today, the Strava app will no longer allow you to pair to sensors like heart rate straps or cycling cadence sensors. Instead, Strava is now actively recommending you download other apps instead of using Strava’s own app. Well, … Read More Here
Week in Review–Oct 27th, 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
Weekend Tidbits: Hammerhead Adds Radar Support, Elite Releases Upgrado app, Garmin adds Edge connection to inReach
This is the segment in the week where I spent an inordinate amount of time on two other posts and two videos, and realize I still have some thoughts I wanted to go more deeply in on a few topics, … Read More Here
The Smart Trainer Recommendations Guide: Winter 2019-2020
Heads up! The 2020-2021 Smart Trainer Recommendations Guide is now up! Go check out that one, instead of this stinky old 2019-2020 guide! The trees are turning colors and the leaves are falling. Except if you live in Australia. But … Read More Here
GoPro Max Action Cam In-Depth Review
GoPro implies (and even says) that the new Max does everything the Hero series does, but extended “to the Max”. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly true. Still, despite that, the GoPro Max is a hugely compelling upgrade over the previous generation … Read More Here
DCR Cave Winter Open House Registration Is Now Open! Nov 30th, 2019
Yup, you read the title right! It’s the annual winter DCR Cave Open House! We’re keeping things to the exact same weekend as last year, which almost means we’re getting organized and consistent these days. Almost. But far more important … Read More Here
Polar Releases Major New Features to Vantage M & V Series
What’s New Remember back in June when Polar announced the Polar Ignite GPS watch? That unit had a huge amount of new features not previously seen on any Polar device. The $220 device was mainly targeted at non-endurance athletes though, competing … Read More Here
Garmin Swim 2 GPS Watch In-Depth Review
Yes, for real: The Garmin Swim is back, baby. Over 7 years later and Garmin has finally incremented to the second edition in their swimmers-only watch. And, it’s basically exactly what you’d expect in a swimming first watch from Garmin … Read More Here
Week in Review–Oct 14th, 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
Continued Expansion of the DCR Team: Hello P3!
So I’m a wee bit behind on this, and those of you following The Girl’s Instagram will notice as such, but – we recently unboxed a new addition to the DCR Family: P3 (short for Peanut 3). She joined her … Read More Here
Kona Bike Count 2019 Power Meter Analysis: 10 Years of Data
Once again, it’s time for the big dance that is Kona. Or more technically – the Vega Ironman World Championships. It’s when the fastest long-course triathletes in the world gather on a small island to collectively consume more electrolyte-filled drinks … Read More Here
First Sports Tech Cloud Platform & Incubator Announced by Zone5 Ventures
Today’s post is gonna be a bit more on the geeky/industry side of things, though, I suspect most of you can see how this will ultimately carry itself through to more choice in consumer products down the road. Or, just … Read More Here
Kinomap Rolls out Coached Workout Functionality, Revamped User Interface, Apple TV App
Kinomap has launched their slate of Winter 2019-2020 platform updates, which include not just a revamped and refreshed user interface, but also a new capability that allows coaches to upload their own videos to the platform and have users/athletes iterate … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
How is it Monday already? Either way here’s a wrap-up of my bike and space laden weekend, complete with plenty of variety as we kick into October. 1) Hello KICKR Bike Friday I got in my first full ride with … Read More Here
British Cycling Strips Zwift Championship Winner for Cheating
I’ll be honest, when I outlined all the ways one could cheat in Zwift back in January, this method frankly wasn’t on my radar. But today British Cycling has stripped Cam Jeffers of his 2019 British Cycling eRacing Championship title, … Read More Here
Thoughts on Skydio’s Dramatically Updated Autonomous Skydio 2 Sports Drone
Yesterday Skydio announced their Skydio 2 drone, following their previous R1 drone about two years ago. Now I know, some of you non-flying-enthusiast are probably like ‘Another drone?’ – but like the R1, this one is all about sports. When … Read More Here
GoPro Hero 8 Black In-Depth Review
Like clockwork, GoPro has once again released their latest gen camera, this time the Hero 8 Black. While you’ll undoubtedly hear about the headliner features like the improved stabilization via GoPro’s new HyperSmooth Boost, the real goodness on this camera … Read More Here
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2: First Run Impressions Video Up!
We’re gonna follow in the footsteps of last Friday’s super quick post I did around my Apple Watch Series 5 first impressions video, but this time from the Samsung camp. Yesterday morning I unboxed the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Active … Read More Here
InsideRide’s New Wahoo KICKR E-Flex Motion Accessory: Hands-On
Let’s just get this out of the way up front: I’m officially proposing that InsideRide call this the product the FLOATR. The Wahoo-specific accessory enables you to essentially float your KICKR and ultimately your entire bike on two small platforms … Read More Here
Wahoo Acquires Speedplay: Hints At Power Meter Pedal Future
Coming out of nowhere this morning, Wahoo Fitness has announced the acquisition of Speedplay – the makers of cycling pedals. The acquisition marks the second company that Wahoo has acquired this year, following The Sufferfest a bit earlier in the … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Another fairly busy weekend. I’m sure it’ll calm down eventually. However, first, a quick note about three specific trainer-type deal sales, since I didn’t publish a ‘Week in Review’ this weekend: CycleOps Hammer 1 – $699 (from $1,000): This is … Read More Here
Apple Watch Series 5 First Run Impressions Video Up!
[Heads up: My full Apple Watch Series 5 In-Depth Review is up and published! Hit that up over here for all the complete and final details] This post is just a super quick note that I pushed out a … Read More Here
Wahoo Releases TrainerRoad Integration, Plus Ability to Customize Radar Icons to a Chicken
Over the last 24 hours Wahoo has semi-quietly rolled out firmware updates to the Wahoo ROAM, BOLT, and ELEMNT units. These two updates though are functionally at completely opposite ends of the spectrum, one is practical and can improve your … Read More Here
Rouvy Rolls Out Apple TV & Mac Support, Free During Public Beta
Rouvy has now joined the club of apps offering Apple TV support for their indoor training suite, alongside Zwift, FulGaz, and to a degree – Road Grand Tours. While Apple TV support may not be critical for less graphically intense … Read More Here
Tacx NEO Bike Smart In-Depth Review
Two years and two weeks. That’s how long it’s been since Tacx first announced the NEO Bike Smart. And in my mind, I keep thinking that by now I should be calling this the NEO Bike 2. And in some … Read More Here
Elite’s New Tuo Smart Trainer: First Look and Specs
You know, for a toaster, it rides pretty well. I’m serious – Elite’s newly announced Tuo smart trainer actually feels way better than I expected it would. Which isn’t a knock on Elite, but a compliment. The reality is that … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
This weekend was a bit of a calm before the inevitable storm. The storm that will inevitably occur anytime the number of children increases in a household, but in particular, increases beyond the number of parents in the household. In … Read More Here
Week in Review–Sept 15th, 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
Garmin Launches ‘Connected GPS’ Functionality For Wearables Without GPS (Vivosmart 4 & Vivomove 3)
Last week Garmin ever so quietly added so-called ‘Connected GPS’ functionality to the Garmin Connect Mobile application, while concurrently releasing a firmware update for the Vivosmart 4 (which came a year ago), as well as incorporating it into the base … Read More Here
Apple’s Series 5 Watch Will Have Always-on Display, drops price of Series 3 to $199
Like clockwork, today Apple announced the new Apple Watch Series 5, which includes one substantial change, and only a handful of other modest updates. However, perhaps far more important than that is Apple’s official pricing shift on the Series 3 … Read More Here
SRM X Power MTB Power Meter First Look: A Turning Point for SRM?
For the first time in approximately ever, I’m actually excited about an SRM product and where the company is heading. Here, right off the top of this post without a wordy intro, in a mere three bullets I’ll explain why: … Read More Here
First Look: The 4iiii Fliiiight Smart Trainer
December 2019 Update: My full 4iiii Fliiiight Smart Trainer In-Depth Review is now published, hit up that page for all my final details after a bunch of usage. Remember back in May when 4iiii announced the acquisition of STAC the … Read More Here
