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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
Congrats, Ray!
Congrats to you and The Girl. Little one looks happy and healthy.
Remember to sleep!!
Congratulations!! Both of you… Enjoy this nice time.. :)
Congrats Ray!
Great times ahead
Ok, my cuteness meter got past 100% when Lucy was fetching the toys for Gadgettester Junior :D Congrats and good luck to you all!
Congratulations to the whole family!
Congrats for you and the girl. Would be really interesting to see how your attitude toward sport and sport technology will shift as you become a full time dad.
Big congrats from Nova Scotia Ray!
We have the same bouncer seat and our first loved it. The second (born on the same day as your daughter) isn’t a fan of it yet though.
For baby scales are you rocking the withings one? And have they sent you a thermo yet? It just got fda clearance in the us and I’m debating if I want one now that I’ve got two under 1.5 years running/flopping around.
Congrats on the baby. Best wishes to you and the Girl.
Congratulations!!!
This is a great news, congrats to the three of you !
Congratulations to both of you!
Wow, congrats – lovely pictures.
Congratulations to you both
The polka dot wrap on the velib is just perfect for July in France.
Congrats Ray and The Girl!
Congrats! Beautiful baby, happy family. Sweet dog!
Interested in your sleep stats ;-).
Congrats Ray and Girl, she’s beautiful, and that’s not a platitude, babies aren’t all cute, my second was a miniature troll! You’re going to love fatherhood, most of the time….
Congrats to Daddy & Mommy! Life will never be the same again…it will only get better.
Beautiful pictures!!
Congratulation to all of you :)
Ray, congrats!
As I’m having already two kinds of that product, I can definitly recommand it :)
Chris
Congrats! Take care!
Congrats to you and the Girl, Ray !
Congrat!!!
You’ve been testing everything (sport-tech wise) over the past years…now you get someone who will be testing you!
And the very hard way…
Congratz to you and your family!
Wellcome to the real world.
Congratulations and best wishes!
Congratulations to you both.. Exciting times ahead. :-)
Congratulations !!!
Congratulations!
Whoaaa, congratulations to you both!
Congrats Ray!! What a little cutie! I’m not surprised she likes the mountain stages, given that she was all decked out in KoM polka dots!
So happy for you guys. Yo look like an awesome team!
Congratulations to the Girl and to you!
Congrats !!! Great job to both of you :)
Hope she will enjoy the Parisian these days.
Alles Gute ! as we say in Germany !!!
Enjoy !
Congratulations, she’s so cute!
Maybe just me haven’t found it in the text, but what will be her name?
If his wife is still “That Girl” what makes you think he’ll name the baby anytime soon? ;-)
Cograts, Ray & That Girl!
But who will be The Girls from now on? ;)
The Girl
Yeah, had I realized years ago that The Girl would eventually produce another The Girl, I might have selected differently.
Then again, if I had realized years ago that a random Blogspot blog would be read by more than 6 people…I might have also selected a different name. :)
The Girl 2.0
She is cute! Congrats Ray!
Congrats! Life just got way busier, but so much better.
Long Live the QOM!
Congrats!! Kinda surprised there wasn’t a pic of her on the scale!!
Beautiful little girl! Congrats to the you both!!
Congratulations!
Ahahah, congratulats Ray!
Congrats to the whole family from Schweiz!
Congrats! Take care guys!
ray your baby holding position sems to need some baby-fitting!!!! :-)
Congratulations to both of you. The little one is adorable.
Congratulations to the Girl, who did all the hard work this time… Since my own daughter is 21 now, I predict a whole lot of testing parental testing in your future, and we might see a few more tracking related reviews in a few years…
Congratulations!
Congrats Ray!
When can we expect some roller-pin size comparison shots?
Seriously though, cute kid!!! Take it easy on the ice cream though….you don’t want to go from rad-bod to dad-bod. At least not for a few more years.
Congrats to Daddy & Mommy!
Congratulations!
congratulations!
Congrats to you both. Enjoy every minute. Time goes by too fast.
Congrats, hope you’re enjoying the new family member :-)
Congratulations!
Congrats to you both!
Congrats! Love the pictures.
Congrats!! She is a little cutie!
Congratulations!
What a cutie and she has momma’s chin! Congratulations!
Ray, so pleased for you. I’m sure you don’t need telling to relish these precious, golden moments.
Congrats. Enjoy every single second of it.
Great post. Great pictures. Congrats!
Thanks as always for the great review, Ray. I’ve been waiting for the release of this product for six months and wondering if the Clever Training European opening was related to your latest tech acquisition. Hope you’ll provide updates on firmware upgrades, along with detailed charts on product features and how they stack up to Garmin’s latest gizmo.
One bit of advice: Probably best not to submit your newest toy to the water-pressure chamber. I’m pretty sure that would void your warranty.
Felicitatios!
Congratulations bath of you :-)
Welcome Lucy !!!
Great :-). Congratulations to the whole family!
Congrats – may she bring you years of joy and happiness. Maybe you can write a feature about how to run a marathon on sleep-deprivation :)
Congrats.
Oh, and things will start to change… Now.
Congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was looking forward to this post. Congratulations. From now on every product review should have at least one dog and baby picture.
Congrats you two! So happy and healthy! good job!
Great product. Congratulations.
Thanks for the quick look report. When can we expect the full product review?
Congratulations- and enjoy all the firmware updates. these products keep getting new features (and bugs).
Welcome little Lucy!!! Congrats to you and The Girl, Ray!
Congratulations to all the family!
Congratulations!
Congratulations from Canada: a new athlete in a team is always a good thing :)
Congrats, Ray!
Congratulations ! enjoy this time they grow up so fast ! Take billion of videos they are the best to remember how they were !
Congratulations, lovely little girl!
Cute.
Thank god she got her mothers looks!
;-)
Looks like a great space for a wonderful girl. Congratulations to you and your growing family!
Congratulations! Any name yet for the new product…?
She’ll need to be in France for a while to be eligible for French citizenship…the earliest age seems to be 13 with continuous residence since the age of 8.
Congratulations to you both
congratulations Ray, she is so beautiful
Many congrats! She’s a beaut! May she grow healthy and happy…
Congratulations! Love the pictures, the room and the stories!!
Congratulations.
Congrats !!!!!
Congrats Ray!!
“Mazal Tov” from Tel – Aviv
Congratulations Ray to your entire family.
Congratulations!
Congratulations Ray & The Girl! :) Fantastic news, super glad everyone’s doing well
As an aside my I became a Dad (for the second time) about a week before mini-maker came along so am travelling the same journey of disruption :)
Congratulations to both of you!
great pics!
Thank you for sharing! Blessings to you and your family!
Congratulation to all of you :)
dude… where is garmin?????
heheheh
congrats man!!!!!
Congrats, The Girl and Ray!
Congratulation for all of you three! I wish you happy times.
Nice to see Lucy in such a caring role as well.
Congratulations to you and the Girl, Ray. Lovely baby.
Backing up your data is important, including your DNA, so kudos for getting that covered.
Congratulations!!!
You know that the best of having a baby is… having another one!!!!
Ray, awesome to see you have a baby-girl. You’ll love the experience! Congratulations to you and the Girl.
Kudos!!! :-)
Congratulations once again guys. A great post as always. can’t wait for you to start do comparison charts of baby monitors!
Aw, she is so beautiful. Congratulations! And best wishes for speedy recovery for The Girl.
Random question, what model Britax is that? Loving the cow print.
Looks like the one we have…Britax Marathon 70 in cowmooflage.
My daughter still misses her “cow seat”.
That and the Bob Revolution are on our list of best baby purchases that we recommend to all friends.
Yup, a Britax. We’ve got the Britax 2016 B-Agile 3 Stroller & B-Safe 35 Car Seat:
link to amzn.to
It was given to us by my parents, both us and the baby love it! So easy for us to fold up and carry up stairs, since it doesn’t fit into our little apartment elevator. One button and it insta-folds up. Also, Lucy enjoys sitting in the bottom basket…constantly.
Congrats. Enjoy it, as it is a wonderful part of your life!
Your daughter is adorable. Congrats! (Perhaps a white jersey, given her young age!)
Congratulations to you both. Still the first blog I go to for running tech reviews.
Congrats to you guys!
Congrats to all three of you!
Great congrats from Canada – hope all three are doing amazingly well.
Congratulations to you and the Girl!
Congrats to DCR family !
Congrats Babymaker!
Good work!
I was going to post this with your two weeks ago podcast, cause you told the story:
8 years ago, our labor was long too. Water broke at 4 am, went to the hospital. Kid born a 1:45 am, the next morning! The two of them did stay in the hospital for 3 days – and were sick of it and ready to go home by day 3.
But we went home in a downpour (mid winter in California)
Time flies and any other cliche you can think of!
Enjoy it.
Congratulations to you all, super cute!
Congratulations!!
A very DCRainmaker way of making a birth announcement.
You really get a week in the hospital after giving birth in Paris?
Seems much longer and civilized than the US method of kicking them to the curb within a day.
Congratulations – Hope you all enjoy the last day of Le Tour ;-)
Congrats to you both!
Congratulations. Nice work as usual.
I’m glad you didn’t include the unboxing pictures this time.
Congrats to you and The Girl on The Baby or The Nugget (not sure what her official name is) she is absolutely adorable. Can’t wait to see you capture all her adventures. Her room is great. The Girl looks skinny already!!
Many congratulations! She looks quite adorable.
Congratulations Ray
Congrats
Congrats Ray!
Congrats !
Congratulations on the new addition.
Congrats to you Both. Cute Girl, but how can she not be!!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
Congratulations, Ray and The Girl!!!!
Beautiful baby! Welcome to parenthood. Kiss your restful sleep goodbye for a while! :)
-Paul
Congratulations and good luck.
IK
The best thing that will ever happen to you both. Soak up all the goo-ing and gaa-ing. They grow up way too fast. Make sure to take care of your two girls and spoil them rotten.
Congrats, man1
Congratulations
Congrats!!!
Congrats to you both! Cherish every moment; they get big in the blink of an eye.
Congratulations here!
Here’s to a childhood of health and happiness. :)
Congrats! She’s beautiful.
Congrats, no doubt we will be seeing some additional comments on resistance to liquid/semi-liquid damage in future reviews.
Congrats Ray – prove everyone wrong ! You will not get fat and out of shape :)
How have you been balancing your fitness since the baby?
I’ve roughly been working out every other day. Usually prior to that I alternate bike/run each day, with a random swim tossed in. I hope to stabilize back on 5-6 days a week over the next few weeks, but the wonky sleep is making it tough.
Congratulations!
You and the Girl are blessed…Congrats.
Congratulations Ray on such a happy occasion!
Enhorabuena!!!!
Congratulations!!!!
Ciao Ray,
Congrats to all the family! Bravi!
Wonderful News and Congratulations. She looks so sweet. Enjoy being parents, it is full of good times.
Very nice family! I think you will love the BOB… and at least you will be able to mount a lot of cameras and other devices on the handlebars to do your testing!
When my little girl was born and we were leaving the hospital (here in Canada) they also wanted to check the car seat. A nurse usually walks with you to the car and check it before dismissing you. I told them we were walking home – we live 3 blocks away – and it was funny to see their reaction.
Cow seat?! That’s clearly the Queen of the Mountain seat. She’s going to rule the hills!
Congratulations! She’s so beautiful, and so lucky to have Lucy to make sure she’s adequately stocked with stuffed critters.
awesome – congratulations!
Congratulations! Just curious what her first powermeter will be :P Enjoy each other company and all in good health
Congrats to you both!!!
Fantastic post. Congrats and have fun!
Congratulations to you and the Girl. A baby is hard work but a happy one. :)
Hi Ray,
Congrats again to you both. I’m glad to hear everyone is doing well and that they take such good care of new parents in Paris hospitals.
Should we refer to her as “The Girl 2” or “Girl 2.0”?
Wow, huge congratulations!
YES the images are in!!!, Our biggest congrats to you all. It amazing.
Félicitations à vous deux ! Congratulations to the Maker Family for this wonderful addition :)
And the picture with Lucy is funny and adira
Congrats to you and The Girl! She is a cutie!
Congrats!
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!!
Congrats Ray , The Girl and welcome The cute little Girl :)
A truly life changing event of the best kind.
congratulations to you both.
Dom
Mazel tov!
I’m sure you’ll be a good dad. Congratulations
Congrats to both of you!
Bravissimi! Great time ahead, guaranteed!
Congrats! This will change a lot in your life – have fun together!
Congrats,, She’s got yr nose
Congratulations, welcome to the club!!!
Congrats!
Congratulations to you both.
Ray I see one of these convertible stroller bikes in your future! link to tagabikes.com
Congrats!!!!!
Congrats to you both, lovely images! best wishes from here on out
Just super! Congratulations. All the best. Lucy has reported on her blog that you guys are doing a great parenting job.:)
Super cute introduction of your new product tester! Congratulations!!!
Congratulations! I think you’re probably used to the sleep deprivation so you’re one step ahead there. And in just about 12 months time you’ll have a new training plan, running after a toddler all day! Enjoy!
Congrats!!!
Congratulations! All the best to you guys
Congratulatons!
Wonderful news…and a whole new endurance adventure!
Enjoy every moment!
Peter
Time to use that TACX Cobblestone feature to lull her to sleep!
Congrats Ray. Welcome to the magic and adventure of being a parent.
A new story just starts.
You never be alone.
Congrats both of you…all the best
Congratulations to the family!
Is time to see a Parents Sleep Report.
Congratulations to you both. Enjoy!
Congratulations to both parents and extended families. Your new life starts now.
I foresee new lines of product testing. Late deadlines due to lack of sleep and those already in the know will fully understand.
Why do new fathers always look awkward when holding the baby?
Congrats Ray! What an awesome post!
Felicitaciones a los nuevos padres!!! Congrats to new parents!!
Congratulations to both of you!
Terrific news and congrats to you both. Very exciting. Hope you are adjusting well!
Congrats to you both.
Congrats Ray!
Congrats! Guess this explains all your upcoming product testing. Can’t wait to see more from Baby Maker.
Congratulations Ray! She’s very cute!
Congratulations to the Maker clan! Fun times ahead. Hope you avoid the round shape that I assumed when the kids were little.
Congratulation!!