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…
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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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!
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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?
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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 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.
Hey Ray – any thoughts on if/when you’ll have some info about the DJI Mavic up?
Likely later this week. The DJI PR peeps in Europe were trying to get a unit, but it seems like they’re behind there.
No worries though, I have a few units on order through different spots, that are expected to arrive over the next few days. In theory anyway…
Thoughts as to when/if Suunto spartan review?
This week.
Cool. Do I keep my order I placed this weekend on the sport…primary concern is accurate tracks and current pace…
I’m waiting for the Sport to come in (probably tomorrow or Tuesday I understand), I only have the Ultra.
How did tracks and pace look on the ultra since your first look videos? Hearing mixed out there. Better than vertical, on par with ambit 3, etc
It’s definitely not on par with the Ambit3, in any scenario, than I can find. It’s roughly on par with the Vertical, which isn’t on par with greatness.
Thanks for all the responses today, that makes my decision easy, so is the 920 worth picking up now with the tri bundle under $400 or do we wait it out until CES?
It’s hard to say. Though, you do have Black Friday sales coming up in about a month, so unless one needs a device in the next 30 days (of any type), I’d generally wait.
Note that of course I’d not expect any new devices to see sales, with new being defined as announced in the last 6-8 months.
Surprisingly, there were plenty of free loaner Quarq Qollectors still available late Wednesday at Kona. I would have thought people would have snapped them up by then. Anecdotally, some people needed a different mount mechanism (more gel slots in the race belt) or found the device too large/heavy, and others just didn’t want to give an advantage to their competition if they were shooting for a top AG finish.
Also, the official GPS tracker for the pros was now on the Beacon platform, but the Ironman site didn’t seem to have any links to the service during the race.
It was also weird that pros didn’t get any official splits on the course this year.
PS. The podcast hard link still points to DCR47.mp3.
Thanks, fixed the link. :)
Interesting to hear about Quarq availability from someone there. Thanks!
Nice call on the Dr Oz iBeat device. I know the founder, Ryan Howard, and his original startup. Great hype guy, but I have massive doubts about his move into hardware. I suspect he’s trying to pump up interest so he can get a chuck of investment cash and dump his shares.
I know him, and pretty much the whole team, as well as I actually worked at his original startup. This thing will be a massive failure that he will cash out on, just like Practice Fusion.
@GavinNewsom I’m 100% sure that we know each other. ;-) How are those PF options working out for you?
@TechNerd thankfully I never exercised any of them.I know some people who did, especially after they streamlined the process for doing it. Yikes.
Just found out today that :-
1) Robin Williams collected bicycles (and he had a good eye)
2) They are up for auction here : link to m.paddle8.com
Some very interesting stuff there – thought others may be interested.
Are you planning on reviewing the new Oakley Radar Pace?
link to oakley.com
Ray,
Just an update on the VIRB Edit software; haven’t downloaded the latest version but as of a week ago when I talked to Garmin, Picture-in-picture only works with paired VIRBs. If they’re not paired together prior to shooting your footage you can’t do PIP & it won’t work with GoPro footage either. This stinks because (until your above link) one has to use a GoPro 3/3+/4 with the Feiyu gimbal, which means first editing in VIRB Edit software to get the GPS altitude/heading/speed info embedded & then exporting to another package to be able to do the PIP with the GoPro footage.
Really cool to see that you’ve mentioned “Throw your GoPro for a unique angle”, as these guys are from the university (University Twente in the Netherlands) I’ve used to study at.
Thank you for all the work you put in!
Any thoughts on when you would have an in-depth review on the Polar M600?
Tomorrow morning.
Thanks! Looking forward to it!
Actually you can get stable video from running. Just use your hat :)
I ran few times with simple goprolike camera (gitupgit2) and it works (i know it looks silly ;P )
If you want, i can send you sample to mail/pw.
Chestmount is good for MTB :)
Should I buy now or wait 6mos Garmin Forerunner product? Anything exciting to wait for?
Hello.. anyone know how to setup the Di2 / Garmin light function on an Edge1000 please?
@Martin, I don’t have a 1000, but my 520 has Gears and Lights categories under Data Screens with various configurable data fields. There is also a dedicated Lights Network page that can be toggled on or off and configured.