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!
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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.
Swim fin racing and Scuba racing is some of the most hilarious swimming I have ever seen!
About the battery test, I noted that the weather has a quite large effect on the barometric altimeters! Is this not a reason for choosing GPS-based altimeters?
You wanna check out bog snorkeling! :)
link to youtube.com
My Garmin 810’s battery life significantly dropped even after a year. I never tested it but I would guess it dropped to about 60-70%.
Concerning the swim fin racing: wow. (will take my phone to the pool just to show to my coach…errr…. better not, don’t want to give her ideas)
For the ASUS vs Asics thing, may not be that useful a link as I get:
To continue reading, you need a subscription to WIPR. Start a subscription to WIPR for £455.
Maybe:
link to bizjournals.com
link to ipmetrics.net
Seems like it worked out well when they did the same thing to underarmor earlier. They probably just want a license fee.
If I read correctly, Adidas is essentially claiming to patent any system that includes live tracking of fitness workouts?
Not sure, the full list of patents they are basing on isn’t on the news sites
Sorry about the link. It went from free to paid over the last few days. You can see the formal complaint here: link to bizjournals.com
The suit centers around 10 Adidas patents, 5 of which ( 7,480,512, 7,805,150, 7,805,149, 8,068,858, 8,858,399) Adidas got when it acquired Austin, TX-based Bones in Motion for $5M in February 2007. The remaining 5 appear to be from a husband & wife who are inventors on the side. These are the Technikka Connexion patents ( 8,579,767, 8,725,276, 8,814,755, 8,968,156, 9,415,267)
All 10 patents were originally filed between 2001-2004, and thus predate all the smartphone app makers. Some even predate the Garmin 101 (first GPS watch) launched in March 2003.
The patents cover very broad concepts (patents are purposely broad) such as:
* a GPS device that can track time, distance, pace and can wirelessly connect to shoe pods & heart rate monitors.
* WAN (e.g. cellular) uploading of data, plotting data on a map, audio readout of statistics, audio notification for incoming calls
* downloading/storing a training plan on a GPS device
* playing songs at specific waypoints
* real time activity tracking of other athletes
* racing against your past performance or that of a 3rd party’s. (ghosting)
* view & rate routes on a map
* dynamic selection of workouts based on past performance
* Comparison of performance & health data
In the broadest sense, these patents can be used to go after Asics’ Runtastic & MiCoach, UnderArmor’s MyFitnassPal/MapMyFitness/Endomondo, (already settled), Nike/Apple, Garmin, Suunto, Polar, and every other GPS related company.
Personally, I think that some of the more important patents can be invalidated by prior art, but I’m not a lawyer, so who knows…
Adidas has been on the receiving end of patent lawsuits covering clothing tech, so this is just business as usual in the industry.
At any rate, Adidas can hold just about any competitor hostage for ransom with these patents. I guess it was $5M (plus whatever it paid for the Technikka patents) very well spent.
Of course, for consumers this whole thing sucks.
Oops- disregard my mention of MiCoach. That’s obviously an Adidas, not Asics product.
Fin-swimming was my first sport. 02:44 in 200m my best time whenIi was 16.
There is also Underwater Rugby, Hockey, Underwater Orienteering , Spearfishing
Rugby
I’m in France over Easter, in Paris. Will things be open? What markets will be open, if any?
The battery life test is very off for a major use case. I’m talking about using the gps for navigation. I know with my 810 if the GPS is left on the map screen during a ride battery life is much worse then if I avoid that screen as much as possible
SRM Pc8 firmware? Its been out since March 15th with no mention.
link to srm.de
Grr, I had that on my list. Doh. Will try and remember for next week.
Generally speaking, I track changes based on subscription to an RSS feed. So sans-RSS feed, I usually miss it.
Nashbar had the Garmin Vector 2 on sale for $699 last week. At this price what would you think about this power meter?
That swim fin racing looks like something that should be on ESPN 8 – The Ocho.