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.
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 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.
Great job! And after watching that segment, I don’t feel heavy at 6’2″ and 175 pounds! ;-)
At 5’9″ and 175lbs, I do!
so at 6’3″ and 200# where does that put me?!
At 5’9″ I hope to get down to 175-180 by summer’s end. I will consider myself “thin” by then.
Me too… at 5’7″ and 165lbs I definitely feel heavy… lol…
Good job! Looks like everything worked like it was supposed to!
Congrats! Nice job.
Nice Job! It seems like you were speaking a bit fast, but you had a lot of information to talk about. It must have been a lot different talking to regular people rather than other fitness/sports tech geeks like most of your blog viewers. I really liked when they asked the question: What’s the point of measuring heart rate anyway? Great question for TV viewers.
Ray, nice job. This might be the start of a reality show “Ray and The Girl”. Following you around the world, testing different devices and watching the girl make those super looking-and I am sure -tasting cup cakes. You could demonstrate all you can eat and, by being active, there is no stomach pouch. Enjoyed it.
Cool. Congrats!!!
Went well Ray. Congrats. Pity didn’t get a little plug in for the cupcakes :-)
Great job and congrats on the official TV fame time!
Funny though to hear your voice. We’ve only communicated via email, so now I have a voice to hear in my head while reading your blog!
I’ve said it many times – thank you for all the time, effort and research you bring to this community!
Don
Very cool. Nice job.
GREAT JOB…
so am i the only one with a resting HR of 80? dang!
Ray, you need more cupcakes!
Good job. Those two hosts are idiots.
They were both pretty nice, and, it was cool that she actually had a Jawbone UP and that he recognized offhand live that one of the core issues with some activity trackers without a time display. It was interesting because that was NOT on the list of discussion points. So that was purely was their own observations.
It can’t be easy to be entertaining and informative to a wide range of audience, including the sedentary beer bellied grandmas that are probably their biggest audience. I don’t envy the hosts, but I was cursing them when they started messing around the the water guns at the end. Just too cutsie for me to tolerate.
Anyway, great to see you getting more widespread recognition as a leader in sport technology reviews. You deserve it!
Well done, Ray. Hope it drives even more traffic to your excellent site.
But not before the big give-away :)
Hear hear.
Nice behind the scenes report.
Hi Ray I’m glad you wrote another post on this one as it is interesting to see it all.
Living in Australia I don’t know much about US morning TV but I watched from 9 and there is lots of products, websites, info etc. it got me wondering how much of this viewers take in, quite a bit I would say.
What was your main reason for doing the slot? To promote the site I guess. Have you seen a significant increase in site visits from New Yorkers since the show?
The main reason was pretty simple: They asked me to come on, and I thought it’d be fun. :)
As for a traffic spike from NY’ers, a little one – about a 20-30% rise in NY area readers over any given random day.
Cool, Ray!
Did you learn how to make tequila popsicles anyway?
Great job! Very cool to see you on tv.
You rock Ray. I can’t tell you how much you have helped me in using sports tech gadgets. I had a Timex world trainer for 3 years and never could get I to work. Now I have a 910xt and with your help it rocks. Hopefully it can accompany in my next Ironman at age 75.
Nice Job. How much impact had your appearance on the morning show in terms of visits on your blog? Was there a noticeable spike right after it aired?
Ray – I hadn’t previously known you are so ‘statuesque’ at 6’2”. You did a great job on TV. I really enjoy your website so much. Keep up the good work.
YAY! Congrats Ray! Since the girl didn’t get air time you could treat us to a homemade cupcake segment! <3
ahaha The HR thing, I remember in nursing class, One teacher knew I was an avid fan of cycling so she pulled me up in front of the class to show everyone someone with a naturally low HR, (normal human HR being around 60-100 but I’m usually around 50 at rest) somehow, it ended up being totally the other way around with an HR around 140-150 and we couldn’t get it down. It was funny ;)
Great job dumbing down your speech to the masses. I think it’s weird how dumb the hosts “act”. It’s as though they think their audience is uneducated and unwilling to think about what they are saying.
I love your blog, because it seems to strike a perfect balance between educational and intelligent without getting too heady and pretentious. I love the reviews, help, and the community you’ve built on your site. Thank you!
Fitness is tough, as the audience is across a wide range of people with very different expectations. I think they asked the right questions to allow me to try and bridge the gap as much as I could in the couple minutes I had.
Very true.
As soon as I hit submit, I thought my comments were a little harsh on the hosts. (Still, I do agree with another commenter that said they were too “cutesie”). I guess it is good just to get out there and get your brand/site recognized; which, is well-deserved.
Have you thought about vlogging? I think you have a lot of great material to have video reviews to pair with your technical writeups. Sounds time consuming, but it seems like you have the following that would be ready for this.
Well that’s pretty damn cool. Good for you, you’ve certainly earned it. Congrats.
Congrats Ray. Did a great job. Hope it gets more people interested in your site because you have interesting articles/stories and great advice for anyone interested or starting out.
Great stuff Ray! With this you’re going to become super famous and start chilling with celebs – let’s hope you still find time to continue your awesome blog!
Nah, people that know me know I don’t much like chilling with celebs. :) No worries there.
How absolutely cool! It must feel pretty good that you’re being called on as an expert for some of these cool tech products. Maybe one day they will call me in as a Zumba expert? Is that a thing? :)
Nice one Ray!
Congrats Ray!!
Congratulation, that was really awesome. You definitely should make more video reviews, you are a natural. You do such an amazing job with this site and you certainly deserve the success.
That was awesome! I am glad that you are getting this type of recognition. Not only because you are a good person, as I’ve decided based on reading a good portion of the blog, but also because you are telling the industry what we want. And doing a great job at it.
Great job Ray. Cool to see you actually “walking and talking” and to be able to put a voice to the words I have read these past few years.
A View From Above
Awesome!!!
Great job Ray. Very cool !
Great job Ray! And again, thanks for all the exceptional work you do!
Great job! Hopefully, you can do some more of these — assuming you have the time!
Excellent job! I think the cycling computer would have been great, but with your time constraints, the basic GPS watch with HRM technology and some of the new tech out there was the best way to get people quick.
They can be worn running or walking and day to day, whereas cycling computers are more specific and people may think “Nah, I’ll never need that…” and ignore the rest of the piece.
I think you may have found ur next career. Great job ray.
Awesome segment! I think you are spot on when they hit the segment of their audience with the gadgets and the questions/comments that they have about those gadgets. The cycling computer probably would have been too far above their audience and it made sense to cut it but the FR 15 and the Tom Tom Cardio Run were spot on!
It was great to finally put a voice to the face that we see all the time, although in all honesty, not quite what I envisioned as how you would sound!
Thank you for your continued time and effort that you put into this blog as I know it takes many hours to put this all together!
Great job Ray! Very cool!
Great job…though I was expecting you to bring the rolling pin….:-)
I like seeing behind the scenes pictures from TV. Nice of you to share yours. On heart rate, I believe it’s really normal to see a spike if you’re not used to being on TV. Nervousness is a daily fact of life.
Congrats Ray! it’s strange to think how often we watch videos from you and never really hear your voice or see you moving. The behind the scenes part was also very interesting.
On a partially unrelated note, if I may ask, is that your normal posture or just because of the situation? I don’t remember ever noticing your neck being so forward.