Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple AirTag 4-Pack for just $69, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
You'll support the site, and get ad-free DCR! Plus, you'll be more awesome. Click above for all the details. Oh, and you can sign-up for the newsletter here!
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.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Do you have a privacy policy posted?
- Why haven’t you yet released a review for XYZ product you mentioned months ago?
- Will you test our product before release?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Not a parade, it is called procession
There we go! That’s what I was looking for…
There is also a “decreased” in your third item that probably should read “described” ;)
Actually it was assumption day (every August 15 – my birthday as well), a holiday in a few Catholic countries. Ascension day varies (as it is linked to Easter), this year it was May 14.
Insert obligatory assumption joke here… Thanks!
The “tents under the bridge” thing looks like Portland Oregon’s homeless population. Except they also operate bicycle chop shops, fueled by the high bike theft rate.
link to twitter.com
link to twitter.com
link to kgw.com
Also, hoping there are offers to ride with DC Rainmaker in about a month :)
DC Rainmaker – I come to your site daily in hopes of having a new article/review to read about. The one that I am most interested in, and sadly hasn’t posted, is the Garmin Epix. I know others have asked before and I know your indicated a review would be posted late June/Early July (I forgive the delays) but I really hope the Epix is in your “short To-Do” review list and I am able to “read all about it” very soon.
It’s already been reviewed. Check it out here…
link to dcrainmaker.com
A full in-depth review is a long time and coming. It’s mostly been a balance of trying to get out last-minute product announcement posts (i.e. FR25, Polar M450, Wahoo KICKR SNAP, Edge 520, etc…) – all of which unfortunately take priority when there’s a specific timeline involved.
There’s also just the factor that most of these other products have more interest than Epix. So while Epix is in the pipeline for very near term (we’ll see how productivity goes this week), I’m also aware that there’s far more interest in terms of people in the FR225, FR25, Edge 520, Polar M450, etc… So it’s a bit of a balance.
Right now all of my ‘research’ and data gathering is done on Epix. Simply a case of finishing all the writing, which unfortunately is massive for multisport watches with mapping – especially around the accuracy pieces. There are a few minor things that were fixed/added in last week’s update I’m trying to validate as well.
Yeah, they basically broke the altimeter/barometer with 2.8… On the other hand, looks like they finally fixed the “3 times the actual distance” navigation problem.
Yeah, that’s sorta part of my ever-increasing problem. Each firmware update fixes issues I had, or breaks others. So a post today that shows solid accuracy in one section from data just two weeks ago is tough. But I also don’t have access to mountains every day either. Sigh.
John – This was only Ray’s “initial” thoughts and was done before it was even available to order. Ray tends to provide a “much more” detailed review for products which is what I was requesting/inquiring on…
DC Rainmaker – Correct me if I am wrong but you are still planning on posted a detailed epix review. I hope so…
Could you point me toward your review where you describe how to make that video that had your power, speed etc posted on the vid, ( while cycling through traffic one-handed shooting your butt, you were putting out over 200-300 watts, impressive)
Is that the virb?
Thanks
Yup, the VIRB XE. In my case I did it as one single shot and then used VIRB Edit to simply overlay the default cycling metrics (I deleted distance since it wasn’t really interesting in the context of that video).
I snipped out the time sitting at the traffic light of course.
pfff, that Mercedes from 1st photo
A couple of weeks ago we took Eurostar from London and sat idling for a half hour or so just outside the channel tunnel due to intruders (refugees) in the tunnel. We’re back in the States now with a keen interest in the refugees’ plight. Not much information is available from the media on this side of the Atlantic so we look to the European sources. This is to say I appreciate the occasional non-workout comments on current affairs from your local point of view.
The Economist’s coverage has been pretty good, very much emphasizing that this is a complex problem (interaction of European open borders, individual country policies, counter-revolution post-Arab Spring, etc. etc.). Partly I like reading them because they’re completely off the US left-right political axis; have to describe them as “somewhere between Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders.” So not only do they provide the news that doesn’t get coverage in the US, they have an approach to solving problems in general that’s fairly underrepresented.
Thanks for the Varia video – it’s on my list to my from CT. One question – what support were you using for the VIRB XE? Thanks again.
Thanks! I was using the GoPro 3-Way pole. My favorite for doing just about anything. In retrospect I should have simply had it on the other side of my body. :-/
Ray, I love that you felt worth mentioning about refugees in your blog, reflected your sensitivity to the life! Keep it up!
Agreed on your day in the life of Paris being great reading, and important facets of life abroad, as always enjoy reading, and if you were a lefty the vid would have been perfect ;-)
Is there any option on the Edge 1000 to have the car indicator “strip” on the left side of the display, since that is the side the car will be passing you on? If not, I wonder what Garmin’s thought process was for putting it on the right, since left would be so much more intuitive?
@happy runner… All depends really on which country your in and the side of the road you drive/ride in.
Good point though as it should be configurable or detectable!
I certainly didn’t mean to insult Australia/New Zealand or England or its former colonies. It’s just that right hand drive is the world standard.
No offence taken… for me at least I’m originally from the UK, but now live in the USA which would likely be one of the biggest markets. I would just like to see that they thought about this a bit too and made it configurable…. although I guess it wont be too high on their priority list :)
Hi Ray,
I can see that You run quite a bit with Epix (guessing for the review). From the big 3 from Garmin (920, F3, Epix) how bulky do they feel exactly? I ve checked the dimentions, mainly the thickness that is of importance here, and they go 12,7mm – 15mm – 16mm respectively, but one thing is specs, other is the real feeling. Here in Greece, I have no chances of wearing / trying them on, only internet stores have them, and I am very much interested about the size/weight/bulkyness of the three. Currently I mostly use Suunto Ambit2, which is probably closest to Epix, and I dont find it comfortable at all for everyday use (running is ok, not great, but ok). I wonder how much different F3 is, or how much thinner 920 is? I mean Your feeling (or anyone else’s that wore the three of them?)
Adam, I was at my local REI store yesterday and couldn’t help bugging the guy at the gadget counter and have him pull out an Epix and let me try it on.
It was much lighter and less bulky then I thought. Ray described it as feeling similar to the 910xt, but to me it felt better on my wrist (my wrist is certainly not huge). I almost could imagine wearing it as everyday watch….but I’m also a gadget geek who doesn’t care much about watch style.
Hello
You mention in the video that sometimes motorbikes dont get detected ?”
So this system isnt usable for detecting other cyclist in the wheel ?
I know that it isnt designed for that purpose, But it tells how sensitive this sysem is.
No, I’ve not yet seen it detect other cyclists (at least 1-2 at a time). I suspect it’s tuned to avoid them.
As for mopeds/motorcyclists, like I noted in the video it detects them about 90% of the time, but in cases where the speeds are very similar and if the moped was initially behind a car and kinda slipped out, it doesn’t seem to catch it. But again, it’s non-final so things might change.
During the Tours the france 2015 the Trek team already drove with tail lights.
(copyright: Bikeradar.com)
Ill be at longchamps from 7pm tonight for ~1h and on thursday (from 7pm again), if you need help. I’d like to check out the Varia for race settings as well as work commute!
Alex
Hey Ray,
I’ll def be at Bois de Boulogne on Wednesday evening, although you should have plenty of candidates to set off the radar anyway, I wonder if it has the range to detect the feet of the speed rollerbladers getting close.
Yup, I could definitely do Wednesday evening.
Surprised that I read about this: link to macrumors.com
On macrumors before your site.
Yeah, they sent me stuff about it last week – but they couldn’t provide a device. As a general rule of thumb I usually don’t write about stuff unless I have hands on.
“by folks from within the church, and then followed by parishioners ”
So you mean “believers”! You forgot to describe the “rub-necker”. ;-)
In your video you have some HUD info, what are you recording that from?
Thanks, and keep up the great work!
That’s from the Garmin VIRB XE, and the metrics are coming from an ANT+ HR Strap and ANT+ power meter.
There are a couple third party apps that do similar HUD stuff:
link to dashware.net (Free!)
link to racerender.com
Bruce
Just wanted to say that I’ve really been enjoying your posts. I only discovered your blog recently and it’s been great going through some old posts. I’ve also gotten into writing some reviews myself (mostly running, some cycling) and hope to one day be at least half as successful as you are.
Ray
I think the best feedback to get regarding the garmin varia is from the drivers passing you.
Do the lights give you more awareness or caution around cyclists or is a blinky light just the same?
Yes knowing that a car behind you could be useful in the circumstances when you may not look to make a left _ dangerous or perhaps if you’re drifting over from the bike lane.
I have been very curious about both of these tail lights.
The Varia appears to be more for notification rather than illumination. I would like to have better situational awareness but not at the cost of visibility during the day or night. I am also very curious about how it reacts to being in a group of riders. It will be good to hear your thoughts on this on your detailed review.
The Bontrager lights are a curious lot. They appear to have ample lumens for both the tail light and headlight but I am puzzled about the ANT+ usage. While it may be cool to be able to turn them on and off with my Edge 1000, I don’t know why I would feel the need to do this. Normally, I have my lights on at the beginning of my ride and with the exception of my headlight (which is right next to my Edge 1000), the setting doesn’t change.
Some use case for the remote control that I can think of is:
– Controlling brightness versus run time depending on the type of illumination you currently need. In some areas I would would go for run time, however perhaps I transition to a different and unfamiliar road where I suspect potholes and other hazards (even off-road etc) where I may then want the light to be at maximum.
– Control of rear light when in a group riding scenario since it can get annoying for people directly behind you that don’t need the light blinking in their face.
– The control of a rear light in a group scenario would be a good use case to change the light from day flash to night flash
– Changing the brightness of the headlight using your Garmin computer and navigating through menus -vs- pushing a button on the headlight right next to the garmin? Not seeing it as a convenience. :)
Hi Ray,
Any idea if the Varia will pair with the edge 810? I like the idea but don’t want anything else on my bars.
Thanks!
Jason
Unclear at this point on the extent of compatibility. I’ve asked more times than I can count and can’t really get a straight answer. So, I’ll corner some humans next week at Eurobike and see if I can get something clear.
Is there a combo mount anywhere for a Garmin Edge (1000) and the Bontrager 800 RT?
@Patrick (or anyone else who may stumble across this):
Bontrager makes a small mount that has the standard GoPro connection on one side and the Ion 800RT connection on the other. They call it the Bontrager High Ion Light Mount for Blendr (part # 22251) and can be found on Trek’s website or any Trek dealer should have them. I have no idea why they don’t include one in the box.