Heads up! Here’s your massive list of sports tech deals! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $449, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium for $735, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, and plenty more! Go check out the full list here!
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
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.
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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 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.
Whoa, an Airbus A380! I didn’t realize there would be that many people flying to Qatar. Hope you get to enjoy some good weather.
Yeah, there are three major Middle Eastern carriers: Ethiad, Emirates, Qatar Arways. All three of them are massive (Emirates the largest). While there is considerable traffic to the hubs of all three, their mainstay is actually onwards/connecting traffic.
They position themselves as the ideal way to transit from Europe to Asia/Africa. And even in other regions, like Australia, they’re doing connecting traffic from Australia to NZ.
To put it into perspective, Emirates has the largest number of A380’s with 59 delivered and another 81 on order. Qatar has 4 delivered, and orders/options for another 9. Etiad the same at orders/options for 15. The only carrier with more A380’s is Singapore Airlines. Qantas has orders/options for 24, but there’s considerable talk of them not taking them.
Of course, their impact isn’t just on traditional European & Asian carriers, but more and more on legacy US carriers too.
Ha with that explanation you could very well be doing my job! I’m impressed! Most informed non-airline explanation from someone I’ve ever read.
Jonathon
I follow the airline industry pretty closely. ;)
(And decided to skip all the US vs 3ME type stuff in my explanation)
I really like the A380. I have been flying from Munich to Salzburg and back and a little bit over the alps with the second delivered A380 for Lufthansa. Very quiet and stable flying. But I think nowadays more and more companies prefer to buy two 777 over one A380. More flexible and two engines need always less kerosine then four. So I fear the area of four engine airplanes will slowly end if we like it or not :-(
I think the ripply video is due to low frame rates. Sadly, all my cameras do that when bike mounted. If it has 100Hz frame rate or greater, the ripple should be greatly reduced.
I did, of course, mean 60Hz frame rate.
ran yesterday – made a bit of a mess of it ( injury reduced me to walking) but enjoyed the experience nonetheless!
Popped in to sample one of Bobbies cupcakes today which was amazing – so pass on my compliments!
You get up to more in a weekend than me and my fiancee do in a couple of months!
It’s all very good, but there is a distinct lack of Lucy!
I was surprised at the pack of Powerade (or similar) at the marathon this year. Is this part of a trend, or maybe something to do with the number of competitors they had this year?
Ray,
If you have a 1/2 day take the GoPro and new VIRB and find a Desert Drive on the Doha sand dunes. It’s a wild ride (like zip lining thru the Alps) and would make a great side by side comparison.
ST
no paris-roubaix???
Unfortunately only so many hours in the day. With Paris-Roubaix actually starting some 75km away from Paris, it made it impossible to be in both places at once (roughly same time as Paris Marathon). Combined with the mid-afternoon flight, just would have been too tricky.
I did wonder if you might be out along the marathon route somewhere! Great to see some shots from the elite race as that’s what you miss in the masses. It was a hot hot day but the thought of my post-race cupcakes got me through (I made my husband take a special trip across the city the day before so I could finally get some. Delicious and can’t wait until I’m in Paris again to get more!)
Awesome, glad you were able to drop by! Congrats on the race!
Anymore feedback regarding the Rideye? Seems to be a mixed bag of reviews but it may be because some think it’s supposed to replace a gopro/virb which I don’t think is the goal. What are your thoughts?
I purchased two Rideye cameras just about one year ago. The video quality is good, sound quality is fair-to-poor, and the units are easy to operate.
However, this is overshadowed by a number of problems. At this point, the battery now last a few hours at most (not 10 hours, as Rideye’s marketing claims). Both the original and replacement “band and clip” bar/seatpost mounts that shipped with the units have stretched and broken — see this example from Rideye Facebook page:
link to drive.google.com
There’s a distinct lack of customer support/service when attempting to rectify these problems. When I sent my camera in for repair (with USPS tracking), I was told one week later (via email) by the company founder, Cedric Bosch, that it would be shipped back; however, I never received it, and repeated requests for information (via email and Facebook) have gone unanswered. I am apparently not the only person who’s had this problem, as these visitor postings to Rideye’s Facebook page show:
Example 1: link to drive.google.com
Example 2: link to drive.google.com
Example 3: link to drive.google.com
Example 4: link to drive.google.com
Example 5: link to drive.google.com
The Rideye camera was originally a Kickstarter project, and it seems many of the project’s backers have had similar problems getting timely/good customer service: link to kickstarter.com
At this point I’m not sure the company is even still in business. I was told to ship my camera for warranty repair to an address in Campbell, CA — but neither “Rideye” nor “Rideye LLC” can be found as registered business entities with either the California Secretary of State (link to kepler.sos.ca.gov) or the Santa Clara County Clerk’s Office (link to sccgov.org).
I got a Rideye, got two rides out of it before it stopped turning on. Tried contacting support multiple times, via Twitter, and tracked down a phone number on their WHOIS page that goes nowhere, nobody ever responded.
Finally gave up and opened a dispute with AMEX to get my money back.
Too bad, it took nice video and is exactly what I wanted in a camera.