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.
Tag Archives: Polar
Polar M430 In-Depth Review
Polar’s latest GPS watch steps up to plate with what might be the most accurate optical HR sensor in a mainstream GPS watch. I dive into the details. Read More Here
Polar A370 In-Depth Review
Just over a week ago Polar announced their latest wearable – the Polar A370. This new unit took the hardware of the Polar A360 that was released about 18 months ago and plopped in a few new features like continuous … Read More Here
Hands-on: Polar’s M430 GPS watch with optical HR
Update: My full Polar M430 in-depth review is now available here! Go over to check out how it fared after months of usage! Today Polar announced their latest wearable, the M430. This unit follows in the footsteps of the popular … Read More Here
Polar shows off GoPro camera control, new H10 heart rate strap
While Polar started off the week with an announcement about their new wearable shirt that has integrated heart rate sensors in it, they began today announcing details on GoPro camera control and a new H10 heart rate strap. I got … Read More Here
Roundup from CES Day 1: Unveiled Event
In the lead up to CES officially starting there are a number of press events for companies to showcase their newest products to media before the showroom floor actually opens. Last night I had the chance to attend one of … Read More Here
Polar M600 Android Wear GPS Watch In-Depth Review
It’s been a touch bit over two months since Polar announced their first Android Wear device, the M600 GPS-enabled watch. This running/lifestyle/not-triathlon focused watch was not only unique in Polar’s stable for being Android Wear, but for also including features … Read More Here
Hands-on: Polar’s new M200 GPS watch with Optical HR
Today Polar announced its latest device – the M200, which is a budget focused running GPS watch, but one complete with optical heart rate, smartphone notifications, and even structured training options. All at $149/149EUR. Or, $189 if you want to … Read More Here
Hands-on: Polar’s new Android Wear based M600 GPS Sport Watch (with music!)
Today Polar announced their latest wearable, and in the process also signaled a shift in direction to a far more open platform than they’ve ever had in their 39 year history. The Polar M600 takes the best of their M400 … Read More Here
Why GoPro’s integration announcement with Polar is far wider reaching
It’s been a couple weeks since GoPro announced clearer details of their developer program, and in conjunction with that – when Polar concurrently announced (on GoPro’s stage) their integration of the Polar V800 with certain GoPro products. I’ve spent the … Read More Here
Polar rolls out Strava Automatic Sync
Earlier this morning Polar rolled out their long awaited (and previously promised) ability to automatically sync Polar Flow activities to Strava. This means that upon completion of an activity, the activity data will automatically sync to Strava’s site. No more … Read More Here
Polar A360 In-Depth Review
It’s been about a month since Polar announced their latest wearable – the A360. This would be their first entrant into the optical HR sensor world, a key milestone for a company that’s effectively built its entire reputation and company … Read More Here
A few quick thoughts on Polar’s new A360 with optical HR sensor
Heads up! I’ve now posted my full A360 In-Depth Review, which can be viewed here! Enjoy! Earlier today Polar announced their latest wearable, the A360. More notably – it marks the first Polar product to include an optical heart rate … Read More Here
The new Polar Loop 2 and also new $19 Misfit Flash Link Activity Tracker
I just wanted to very briefly cover two new products that have been announced in the last 24 hours. Neither one really warrants a standalone post – especially since neither company has samples available on-hand (or rather, in my hands). … Read More Here
Hands-on with Polar’s new M450 GPS cycling computer
Today Polar has announced their latest cycling focused product, the M450 GPS based bike computer. In doing so, they’ve also quite likely just upended Garmin with a unit that quite frankly kicks ass (at least based on my limited testing … Read More Here
A quick update on Polar’s planned software updates
Since Polar announced the V800 triathlon watch at CES 2014 (just over a year ago), there’s been a steady stream of firmware updates to the unit increasing functionality of the multisport watch. At the same time, there have also been a … Read More Here
Polar announces M400 footpod support, also smartphone notifications for V800/M400/A300
Today at CES Polar has made two fairly solid and notable announcements. Both of these updates continue to increase the competitiveness of the products included, but especially the M400 – which was already my top pick for a sub-$300 running … Read More Here
Polar Announces A300 Activity Tracker Watch, also MyFitnessPal automatic sync support
The A300 Overview: This weekend ahead of CES here in Las Vegas, Polar has announced their latest activity tracking watch, the A300. This watch aims to take the M400 GPS watch, remove the GPS part, and then call it the … Read More Here
Why you shouldn’t always trust “peer reviewed” studies: The Polar vs SRM papers
Earlier this week a peer reviewed university backed research paper was released that essentially said that Polar power meter pedals shouldn’t be trusted, and that instead, SRM was better: “The power data from the Keo power pedals should be treated … Read More Here
Polar rolls out connection for developers, Apple Health & Google Fit integration
This week, Polar has announced the details of it’s various 3rd party development integration efforts – which cover pretty much every way you can get data out of the platform to other services. I’ll dive briefly into the main methods, … Read More Here
Polar M400 GPS & Activity Tracker Watch In-Depth Review
Today, Polar has announced their latest watch, the M400. This running focused GPS watch also contains day to day activity tracking (i.e. steps and sleep) along with smartphone connectivity. The unit priced at $179US/€159EUR, is very competitively placed in the … Read More Here
Behind the Scenes at Polar’s Headquarters
On Monday I made a slight detour off of my previously planned journey from France to North America to visit the headquarters of Polar Electro, well known maker of heart-rate focused sport devices. By ‘slight detour’, I mean an approximately … Read More Here
Polar announces new Keo Power systems, and V800/V650 power meter update plans, and more!
Today at Eurobike Polar announced and showed off a slew of power meter specific features and products – all of which are scheduled to hit the market in the next 60 days. Here’s the run down. New Bluetooth Smart Keo … Read More Here
Polar V800 Multisport GPS Watch In-Depth Review
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Polar V800, from the device to the app & site behind it, plus how it compares to the competition. Read More Here
First look at Polar V650 GPS bike computer
Today Polar announced their first dedicated GPS bike computer – the V650. The unit combines integrated GPS with a full color touch screen, it also becomes the first bike-specific computer to be Bluetooth Smart sensor capable. This marks the second … Read More Here
First look at Polar’s new V800 GPS triathlon watch
(Please note that my full in-depth review is now published and available based on the final unit and functionality. Read it all here!) Today, Polar fully announced their new V800 GPS integrated triathlon watch. The watch covers all three sports … Read More Here
Initial hands-on with Polar Loop activity tracker
Hello! My Polar Loop In-Depth Review is now published, and can be found here. Thanks! Today Polar announced their latest product – the Polar Loop. This marks a new area for Polar where they’re branching into the heath “activity monitor” … Read More Here
Polar Bluetooth Smart Stride Sensor (Footpod) In-Depth Review
Earlier this week Polar announced their latest product – though, it’s not a watch. Or even anything connected to a watch. Instead, it’s an accessory for smart phones that further illuminates Polar’s direction and protocol strategy going forward. The Bluetooth … Read More Here
CES 2013: A look at what’s coming to me next week
While it’s always my goal to secures loot and gadgets to take home the week of the convention, sometimes that just doesn’t work out. The reasons usually vary, sometimes it’s because the company simply doesn’t have enough units on hand … Read More Here
Polar adds GPS based elevation data to PolarPersonalTrainer.com
Last week, Polar added a small but highly useful checkbox to their website. In doing so, they in turn added elevation metrics that’s pulled from units that support either integrated GPS, or the GPS pod (such as the RC3, RCX3, … Read More Here
A look at the new Polar Beat Bluetooth Smart app with H7 Heart Rate Strap
Late last week, Polar released their first iPhone App – Polar Beat. The app aims to bridge the gap between their dedicated devices and the phone market. Most importantly however, it’s actually the first Bluetooth Smart compatible offering from them. … Read More Here
Polar RC3 integrated GPS watch In-Depth Review
The Polar RC3 is Polar’s first GPS integrated watch. As a mid-range watch, it has pretty heavy competition. Let’s dive deep and see if it…. Read More Here
The Interbike 2012 Sports Tech Golden Nuggets (with Polar, Garmin, Timex, TrainingPeaks, Metawatch and more…)
There’s a ton of stuff I see each or hear while at Interbike that never makes it to a full scale post. This year, that’s even more so true with most of the major companies holding back from releasing new … Read More Here
Eurobike Sports Technology Things That Didn’t Fit: Part I
There’s a gazillion things to see at Eurobike, and many of them simply don’t make the cut for a bigger full-sized post. Sometimes it’s because they are too early in the development cycle and lack full details, sometimes because I … Read More Here
First look at the new Polar RC3 GPS–the first integrated GPS watch from Polar
NOTE – Sept 27, 2012: My Full In-Depth Review is now available for the Polar RC3. You can view that here. Today Polar announced their new RC3 integrated GPS watch – the first fully integrated GPS watch coming from Polar. … Read More Here
Polar Look Keo Power System–Pedal Based Power Meter–In-Depth Review
The Polar Look Keo Power System is the first pedal based power meter to make it to market, meaning, you can actually go out and buy one. Announced nearly two years ago, the units finally started trickling out into the … Read More Here