Heads up!!! Here’s your massive Cyber Monday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $619, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
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I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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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.
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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 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.
I am still surprised that you are enjoying the Polar as it uses a separate unit for measuring the gps coordinates. I remember you telling me that you didn’t like this kind of set up as the Suunto also does this and while it might not be a full on tri-watch it does use a similar concept. So what gives?
Anyway. I love the fact that the watch works well underwater, maybe consider wearing a tri-top to compensate for the slippage, and that it doesn’t produce the annoying reflection that you normally see with other watches.
Well I look forward to the complete polar review and the comparison between the rest of the tri/running watches.
That’s a pretty long training session. Are you planning an Ironman for this summer?
Mr. A-
In general, that’s quite true, and in the case of the Polar RCX5 – that’s still my chief complaint (pod-based GPS). That said, some folks find the benefits of HR while underwater and argueably more advanced HR driven calorie analysis as a major driver for the Polar’s. So in the grand scheme, it’s only one aspect to look at. Of course, in my full review it’ll be something I touch upon.
Jeff-
Nope, no Ironman’s in my future this year – just Boise 70.3 in June.
I do my swim training in the same pool as that national swim team of the Netherlands. I can admire their great technique when they speed by in the lanes next to the recreational swimmers.
But some of them wear heartrate straps with suspensers, it looks a bit strange, but I guess it gets the job done :-)
Idea of HR strap with suspenders makes me smile!
Thanks for sharing Caroline’s story about fighter pilot training and the Olympic trials – it was pretty amazing, I hope all continues to go so well for her!
yea, we’ll see how well you swim in a couple of months with that new ball and chain. BWAHAHAHAHA I killz me… (if the girl doesn’t get to me first)
Great write up. One note though, you refer to the Garmin RCX5 by mistake. Cheers!
Late comment on the NYT article “How Sugar Affects the Body in Motion” and your Slurpee. When I first started running, when I was in my late 20s, I had the typical belief that I could eat whatever I wanted. And I could, and never got fat. But then my life changed and I lived on the side of a hill and could no longer run so I was riding my bicycle to and from work and could continue to eat whatever I wanted. Then things changed even more and I was unable to commute on my bicycle, although I could have started running again but unfortunately didn’t. So I became a middle aged couch potato and kept my previous eating habits. As the years went by my weight went from 170 to 230 (I’m 6’3″). When it hit 230 I realized that I needed to do something and changed my eating habits. That was several years ago. I started running again last year. Now my weight is down to 180 but I still have a bit of a spare tire that I want to get rid of. The moral of the story is that it’s a good idea to develop and maintain good eating habits regardless of how much you exercise.
Does the Polar measure laps with an acceleromater or GPS? Will it work indoors? What frequency are they using to transmit heartrate underwater? Is it the same frequency that works above water?
Has Polar given you any idea of release date and retail pricing?
Thanks!
Chubby-
No dates as of yet.
Neil-
On a bike or treadmill it will work with the various sensors (footpod or speed sensor). In the water it just records times, no distances. As well as recording HR underwater.
Hi DC,
A Question a little out the post :
I’m a triathlete as 3 years(32 years old, starting classic distance this season) and I’m looking for a new GPS heartrate monitore. You did review (and good:) on all the Garmin and the timex but none of the polar (out of this topic).
Why ?
Lionel from switzerland
Hi Lionel-
I’m still planning on doing the RCX5 review. At the moment there is a holdup where the pre-production unit I have is unable to upload data to the PolarPersonalTrainer.com site – making it rather difficult to review the product. Hopefully that’ll be resolved the first week of June.
Thakns!
Hi again DC,
another question : Do you know if the G5 is waterproof like the 310 XT or not?
And do you know if there is a way to mesure HR in the water with the garmin 310XT ? (it is maybe not the right post to ask that but I try.
Lionel
The G5 is IPX7 waterproofed, so similiar to the rest of the Garmin line except the FR310XT. In other words, 30mins at 1m deep.
Unlike the Garmin’s with ANT+, the Polar RCX5 measures heart rate in the water just fine. Good to go!
And nope, with the FR310XT there is no way to measure HR today. In the future you’ll probably see some ANT+FS straps released which will store the data and then upload it to ANT+ head units once out of water. But nothing thus far.