I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? Use Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
And both Backcountry & Competitive Cyclist offer free 2-day shipping!
In the UK/EU/Australia/New Zealand? Then hit up Wiggle at the link below!
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 GPLAMA, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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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.
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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 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!
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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 2021 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: Strava
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro: Early Sports Review
With the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro, the company joins the ranks of other entities stamping products with the ‘Pro’ moniker. Sometimes that designation is deserved, and other times it’s little more than marketing. This time around, Samsung appears … Read More Here
Strava Launches Tour de France Hub with Routes/Segments/Rider Uploads
Back a few months ago, Strava teased an upcoming Tour de France hub that’ll allow you to track riders, stages, segments, and more – for both the men’s and women’s races this year. Today, that new hub launches ahead of … Read More Here
Strava Adding Video Support: Here’s how it works!
Strava has begun rolling out video support, allowing you to upload short video clips to your workouts, which will appear in your feed in the same manner as photos today. All users will be able to view the videos on … Read More Here
Strava Reverses Course: Turns back on Apple Health Sync Functionality
Strava has reversed course on their recent disablement of Apple Health sync for 3rd party workouts (e.g. data from Zwift, TrainerRoad, Garmin, etc.), after abruptly disabling the feature last week without notice. That move impacted many Apple iPhone users that … Read More Here
Strava Abruptly Ends 3rd Party Data Sync to Apple Health
[Update – March 15th, Strava has reversed course and re-enabled Apple Health sync. Full details here.] It’s been a few years since Strava has managed to irk the Internet, but over the last few days, they’ve unleashed a torrent of … Read More Here
Strava Publishes 2021 ‘Year in Sport’ Annual Stats Extravaganza
Strava just published their annual year in review presentation, which outlines what all of us 95 million Strava users suffer through each week. Both athletically suffering through hard workouts and long adventures. But also occasionally suffering through what others post … Read More Here
Strava Testing ‘Mute Activity’ Option to Reduce Feed Spam
Strava is testing a new feature to some 50% of their user base that allows people to mute an activity of their feed when publishing. The idea being that many of us might have more trivial workouts or even … Read More Here
Strava Adds Major New Privacy Zone Features, Plus More Privacy & Map Options
Today Strava announced two sets of privacy-focused changes, arguably the biggest shift the platform has done in years with respect to user privacy. These new features allow you to significantly change what others can see about your activities, including everything … Read More Here
Strava Adds 3D Terrain Heatmaps To Site: Quick Overview
Remember the first time you used Google Earth some 19 years ago? Yup, that’s kinda like this. Except, now with all your personal Strava heatmap overlaid atop it. And yes, Google earth is really 19 years old. It was first … Read More Here
Strava Adds Indoor Workout Recording to App (For all users): Quick How-To Guide
Undoubtedly, for many readers of this site, you’ve probably got a watch or twelve to record your indoor workout on. But, if you’re still narrowing down options from my recommendations guide, then this new tidbit might be applicable to you. … Read More Here
Strava Photo Heatmap Added to VeloViewer: Here’s how it works
I suppose exactly what to call this is a bit fuzzy, but basically VeloViewer has mashed up your Strava photos with your heatmap, allowing you to see the two blended together in photographic glory. And if there’s anything that gets … Read More Here
Strava Turns Off Flyby Feature For All Users, Have to Opt Back In
Strava has somewhat quietly turned off, for all users, the Flyby feature, after a tweet went viral during the last few days, based on privacy concerns. Users can re-enable it, but only if they knew it was disabled in the … Read More Here
Strava Rolls out StatMaps to Subscribers: Here’s how it works
Yes, you have to have the hashtag. Else, it’s just StatMaps, and as you’ll soon find out, that’ll get you a big nothing burger. For this Friday post we’ll keep things nice and quick. So, you can either press the … Read More Here
It’s Coming Back! Strava Begins Bluetooth Sensor Beta Test
A year ago Strava killed off sensor support, earning the ire of millions…perhaps even if they rarely used the feature. As users, our collective annoyance was more about principle than anything else. It also didn’t help that Strava’s reasoning at … Read More Here
How to Get Fitbit Non-GPS Activities to Strava
This post is going to be incredibly niche. And I’m OK with that. Heck, this post might just be more for me remembering this site than you. Sometimes I use this blog as a personal notepad. Like when I take … Read More Here
Strava Rolls Out New Local Legends Feature: Here’s how it works in action
Strava has rolled out a new feature today to a subset of the population that lets all Strava users earn a new type of crown equal to that of the KOM/QOM, simply for doing a given segment more times than … Read More Here
Strava Cuts Off Leaderboard for Free Users, Reduces 3rd Party Apps for All, and More
After roughly five months of appeasing users with new feature after new feature after new feature, the other shoe has finally dropped. Today, Strava sold its segmented soul. At least, if you believe Strava Segments are the soul of what makes … Read More Here
Garmin Launches Strava & Komoot Route Sync: Works on devices a decade old
Here’s how to link up your Garmin account to Komoot and Strava for automatic route/tours sync to your Garmin device – even crazy old ones! Read More Here
Strava Cuts Off Ironman Virtual Club: An Explainer To Sports Tech Drama
In an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to write a big post about two major players in the endurance sports world having a catfight. Rather, in an ideal quarantined world we’d just put both players in a Zoom call, stream … Read More Here
Sports Tech Tidbits: Fitbit Charge 4, Strava adds Weather, Zwift Clubs, Suunto’s TrainingPeaks Metrics, COROS New Features and more!
Fear not, no April Fools joke posts from me. I’ve had a specific idea for one for a few years now, but frankly it’s not really an April Fools joke if I can pull it off (and build it). Funny … Read More Here
Strava Rolls Out Significant New Routes Feature
While this might not exactly be the best time to roll out a new feature focused on exploring the outside world around us running or cycling, it’s still a super cool new bit of functionality that will keep you distracted … 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
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
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
Fascinating Stats from Strava’s 2019 Year End Report
Here’s a deep dive into how Strava athletes cycled, ran, and swim throughout 2019. From watches to hangovers, bikes to shoes – it’s all here. Read More Here
