I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Do you have a privacy policy posted?
- Why haven’t you yet released a review for XYZ product you mentioned months ago?
- Will you test our product before release?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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.
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!
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.
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!
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 2023 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.
Product Reviews
Other Reviews
My Winter 2015-2016 Sports Gadget Recommendations
Introduction: (Before we start, you can find my Black Friday deals post here, expect a massive update of products on sale on Thursday morning when many deals kick off. This guide attempts to as best as possible take into account … Read More Here
Cycliq Fly6 In-Depth Review
I’ve been using the Fly6 (Generation 2) for the better part of a year now. While I wrote an initial preview last year of the Generation 1 model, it was just that – a preview. I figured it was about … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
A nice relaxing weekend back home in Paris – here’s what I was up to! 1) Paris Roller For some three years now I’ve seen the Friday night festivus that is Paris Roller. It’s when every Friday evening hundreds to … Read More Here
The Girl’s 2015 Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Two weeks ago week I outlined every piece of gear that I regularly use in my day to day training or racing. Not the stuff that I review for products, but rather, the goods that I always turn back to once … Read More Here
The Zeal HD2 Snow Goggles with Built-In HD Camera In-Depth Review
This past weekend I spent three days using the Zeal HD2 goggles. These goggles have a built-in action camera in the upper edge of them, making them potentially perfect for recording your slope adventures. It includes both photo and video … Read More Here
A fitting Misfit update
While standing around chatting when we briefly crossed paths on the running leg of the first ever Las Vegas 140.6 yesterday, Ray and I noticed the Misfit booth conveniently situated adjacent to the Polar booth. We flipped a virtual coin, … Read More Here
First look at SmartMat, the connected yoga mat
The big catchphrase at CES this year is Internet of Things, and we’re now seeing that marketing prophecy manifest itself in all manner of wearable and non-wearable items. One in particular that caught my eye was this sensor-laden interactive yoga … Read More Here
My Winter 2014-2015 Sports Gadget Recommendations
(Before we start, my Black Friday post will hit tomorrow and be updated throughout the week. This listing attempts to as best as possible take into account those price changes.) It’s that time of year where tons of folks are … Read More Here
My Summer 2014 Sports Gadget Recommendations
(Please see my new and updated Winter 2014-2015 Gadget Recommendations Guide here!) I’ve always historically put together a sports gadget recommendations list in late Fall, primarily because that’s when things in the sports technology world tend to settle down. Further, … Read More Here
My 2013 Sports Gadgets Recommendations
(Update: My Summer 2014 Recommendations are now available! Go check that out instead!) Each year around this time I put together my recommendations on sports gadgets. Some consider this a bit of a holiday pick-list, and others just use it … Read More Here
My 2013 Trainer Recommendations
It’s that time of year again – trainer season. At least for us poor saps up in the Northern Hemisphere (no, you don’t count if you live in the Caribbean). I started doing the Trainer Recommendations post last year, and … Read More Here
The Safer Swimmer In-Depth Review
Back last month when I posted my ‘Saint Malo Fort Swimaround’ post, a number of folks asked about the swim buoy I was using to increase my visibility. It confused me at first, because I thought I had posted a … Read More Here
Hitcase Pro iPhone Underwater/Bike/Sports Case Review
I’m often asked about sports camera reviews. In many ways I think that there’s already a ton of reviews out there of the various popular sports action cams like the GoPro or Contour. And I’m not sure I really have … Read More Here
Profile Design Aero HC Aerobottle + Bike Computer Mount Review
As a general rule, I don’t review things that are bike components (in the traditional bike component aspect). Instead, as you’ve seen to date, I focus on sports technology products. However, the Aero HC was somewhat of an interesting duck … Read More Here
Week in Review–Nov 4th, 2012
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 FR910XT Giveaway Results
Wow, another crazy packed giveaway! All in, there were over 1,900 entries! Of which, 1,891 were entered in on the site, and another 19 folks came in from the US Active Duty e-mail registrations. Thank you to everyone that entered! … Read More Here
A Triathlon Weekend Giveaway: Garmin FR910XT
For many triathletes, this weekend holds almost as much spectacle as the Olympic Triathlon races held just two short months ago in London. The Kona based Ironman World Championships is watched by not only by those in the sport, but … Read More Here
2012 ANT+ Symposium Technology Roundup
You saw my presentation to the ANT+ Symposium yesterday, highlighting my keynote session that I gave last week. However, I wanted to loop back and highlight some of the things that were delivered to me, rather than me delivering to … Read More Here
MyTriRack Transition Rack Review
There’s a lot of ways you can reduce your total time in triathlon. The most common being you can swim faster, bike faster, or run faster. To get faster at each of those individual sports you either need to train … Read More Here
The Swim It In-Depth Review
With the steady rise of deaths in the swim leg of triathlon, I’d been asked by a number of people about my thoughts around the Swim It. I even wrote a rather long op-ed post on it a while back. … Read More Here
Watching the Tour de France live from 35,000 feet
It seems appropriate that as this post publishes, I’ll be on another airplane somewhere over the Atlantic, probably just north of Newfoundland. But, this post isn’t about tonight’s flight, but rather a short domestic flight I took last weekend on … Read More Here
2012 Tour de France–A look at the Caravan/Parade
(Note: This post is written by The Girl…aka…my wife.) While the first day of the Tour is exciting in and of itself from a cycling standpoint, we were also both pretty excited about the famed parade that tours a few … Read More Here
2012 Tour de France–Stage 1/Day 2
We left off yesterday in Liege, Belgium, where the prologue stage both started and ended. Today, (err…Sunday), we moved…well…just a few yards down the road. Stage 1 would also start in Liege, but would finish in a town just a … Read More Here