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…
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!
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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 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.
Ray,
Thanks for sharing your adventures!
I was really impressed by the chocolate painting. Would your chef friend be willing to share any tips and tricks for making one? Things such as the choice of materials and how he prevents the chocolate from sticking to the glass? I would love to make one for Christmas.
+1, that’s what MyGirl wanted to know too!
Would love to know that as well!
I’ll ask him if he has any tips. Essentially one of the biggest things was chocolate temperature. For example all of the chocolate for the initial painting was kept in sous vide baths, and then also for the end covering. Ensuring that it wasn’t too hold or too cold was key to working with it, especially from a time standpoint (obviously if you had all the time in the world you could be more flexible).
Thanks Ray. It would be great if he could share some tips for amateurs making a chocolate painting for the first time. Also, please congratulate him on his excellent web site. Paris is probably the only place in the world where you can make a living selling picnic baskets to romantic couples!
I can’t tell from the pictures, but were you painting directly on glass? I came across a link which talks about chocolate painting on lightly greased parchment paper.
link to instructables.com
What did you use as a base for your painting? Was it greased?
Hey everyone! Happy to see so many people interested in the chocolate painting. We use a dark chocolate for the the outlining and back of the painting to bring out the colors and colored cocoa butter for everyone to paint with. As Ray mentioned, when working with chocolate, temperature is key. We use Valrhona chocolate and the temperatures for making it workable are listed on the bag. In this instance, first you have to melt the chocolate at 52 degrees Celsius then bring it down to 28 degree and finally back up to 32. That will allow you to have the perfect shine and snap that tempered chocolate has. We use a sous vide set up as it allows for more precise temperature control and less waste. The colors we mix ourselves using edible pigments. The paintings are done on a sheet of acetate film over plexiglass. I make smaller bags that the artist, Mark uses for painting and then larger ones for covering the back of the painting. This really started with the artist and I happened to join in with the technique that we use to melt the chocolate. Here’s some more info about Mark, the painter. If I can answer any more questions, feel free to ask!
Whoops, forgot the link to Mark’s site. http://www.markalsterlind.com
Thanks for the tips Justin!
You mentioned that you mix the colors yourself using edible pigments. For the novice in chocolate coloring, can you explain how you create the colors. Do you use white chocolate as a base and then add coloring. What type of coloring do you use?
Hi Max,
For the colors, we use plain cocoa butter that we melt down and then add edible pigments to that. What you have access to regarding colors may vary depending on which country you live in but we are fans of Chef’s Rubber colors which are available in the the US.
We use a really good quality dark chocolate for the paintings and prefer not to mask the flavor too much so we don’t use any white chocolate, just cocoa butter mixed with white pigment.
Also, you should check out the Serious Eats post on the different methods of tempering chocolate. Kenji has a few options that may work for you depending on what you have at home.
link to seriouseats.com
Thanks Justin. Sorry for the amateur questions but some of these items are new to me.
I Googled cocoa butter and it seems to be sold as a base for a beauty product. Some of the names are RAW, PURE, ORGANIC. What should it be called for a colored chocolate application. Do I just melt it or do I need to add oil or something else to it?
I checked out the Chef’s Rubber site and they seem to list a large number of colorants. Some are water based while others are oil based. They also have a colored cocoa butter but I’m not sure if this is a colorant or a finished product. Which colorant do you recommend?
link to shopchefrubber.com
Is the white layer you cover it with on top also cocoa butter? In the video on Mark’s site it looks like melted white chocolate.
Want to try this over the holidays. Any other chocolate brands/types you recommend? Also, rough estimate how much chocolate needed for doing a painting the size of a standard piece of paper?
Thanks again!
Bruce
Sorry for the late reply Max! I get my cocoa butter from a supply shop so I would maybe check there. It’s just plain cocoa butter though. We use the chef rubber colored cocoa butter. We melt it down and then add it to our melted cocoa butter to color it. It also allows us to stretch out the colors more so they last longer. If you just use their colors, they’ll be beautifully intense. Hope that helps!
Justin,
Thanks for all the information and for the inspiration to try something new. I really appreciate it!
Max
what a busy weekend!! glad the many parties were a success!
You can’t not us the suspenders…I am sure you have a pic
Come on Ray don’t be shy show us your lovely suspenders!!!
I love the chocolate painting!
Hi Ray,
When testing the Powerpod are you using a magnet/reed switch based speed sensor or a newer accelerometer based speed sensor like the Garmin model’s which mount on the hub. I know the accelerometer based versions are subject to more noise on rougher surfaces like cobbles… then again so is the Powerpod I suppose.
I have a Powerpod waiting for me in UK customs and will be attaching it to my bike shortly to test against some of my other powermeters. One thing I am particularly interesting in seeing is how it copes in wet and damp conditions as this can be a difficult environment for detecting air speed.
Finally, when is the Vivosmart HR review due to land. I’m in the market for an optical heart rate based activity monitor for my girlfriend for Christmas. I was almost about to pull the trigger on a Polar A360, until I read your review! She has quite small wrists and doesn’t want a large bulky GPS model.
I’m using a magnet-based one (BlueSC v2).
I may try and see if I can sneak out the Vivosmart review at the end of the week, else, first day or two of next week. In short, don’t get it for cycling HR (pretty much horrible), but it’s not too bad on running for me.
Thanks Ray, much appreciated.
She doesn’t cycle much so she wants it mainly for running and general fitness tracking.
The Garmin one uses a magnetometer I believe in the speed sensor and not an accelerometer.
is that basically a crape for you’re pizza dough?
No, you can buy pizza dough that’s sorta rolled up. It’s just over 1EUR per pizza. Simple and easy!
If you ever need to cut PVC again, get a pipe cutter like one of these:
link to google.com
Also, include me as wanting more info on the chocolate painting thing!
This chocolate painting thing looks awesome!
That chocolate painting is awesome or was awesome.
I’m impressed you figure the whole crank/power meter(s) configuration stuff and being able to use them all, pretty amazing.
Thanks for sharing your weekend – Wishing you and the girl a great Christmas/New Year!
Hi Ray
Wish to know that I saw your post about First Ride of PowerPod.
So are you going to do PowerPod In-Depth Review anytime soon?
I wish to see that. Thank you so much. :)
Yup, I’ve started the review process, but given I’m travelling for the holidays, it’s not something that’ll be up immediately unfortunately. Sometime in January. Like most power meters, I usually ride for 30-60 days or so.
Ray,
I’m nearly scared to ask but are they American suspenders (UK braces) used to hold up trousers in place of a belt or UK suspenders (the holding up silk stockings type)?
Ray,
Curious here about your recovery, have you ever used tools like Normatec, Compex or MarcPro? Do you plan to make a post about recovery tech maybe next year?
“others like a Stages dual system”
So that’s confirmed as real/upcoming? Or is it like on the TdF that it was for select pros only?
Currently it’s selected Team Sky riders (+ others we probably don’t know about). But given they’ve got boxes for it now, I’ve gotta believe it’s only a matter of when, not if.