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Week in Review–July 30th, 2017

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The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter and Facebook, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!

So with that, let’s get into the action!

DCRainmaker.com posts in the past week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week:

Sunday: Week in Review–July 23rd, 2017
Sunday: Tour de France 2017- The Finish in Paris
Monday: 5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Tuesday: Best Bike Computer 2017: Garmin Edge 520 vs Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT
Thursday: DCR Facebook Live Q&A Tomorrow –July 28th!
Sunday: In case ya missed it: DCR Live Q&A Recording Available

In general, this week would definitely be categorized as a ‘prep week’ ahead of a busy week. It’ll actually flip-flop like this for the next 3-4 weeks till Eurobike. August is gonna be full of goods!

Sports Tech Deals This Week:

Below is the current list of deals in the sports tech realm.

ProductSale PriceAmazonSale Notes
AmazFit T-Rex 3 - $80 off$199This is a solid deal, especially for a watch that has offline mapping.
Amazfit Active 2 - $20 off$79
Amazon Echo Dot Kids - 47% off$31Despite being a tech-focused dude, our kids don't actually get much tech in their lives. However, we got these two years ago for them in their rooms, to play music. They do lots of other things, but our kids mostly just use it to play music (from Spotify and Apple Music too), and occasionally they ask it questions. It has all the parental controls I want, so it locks it down from bedtime/etc...For $31? Solid deal (The coolest 'nice touch' feature is that if you whisper to it, it'll whisper back...in the owl kids voice it has.)
Anker 737 Power Bank (24,000mAh) with 140W Fast Charging - 30% off$76⚡ This is one of my favorite purchases, especially for long hikes. Basically, I can recharge my phone battery about 8 times. Or, I can recharge smaller drone batteries. Or, in the airports, I can power my laptop off it (super handy when no power ports around). I've since converted most of my tech friends to using/buying one as well.
Apple 11" iPad - (Wi-Fi, 128GB) - $70 off!$279⚡ This is an awesome deal. I use my iPad primarily for TrainerRoad as well as Zwift when not with a larger display. I also occasionally use it for other apps, namely Indievelo, Kinomap, Rouvy, and Peloton. But I pretty much test every smart trainer app on it. For all these cycling apps, the graphics capabilities is really pretty irrelevant, so having the absolute top-end/latest model won't make any difference. I prefer the budget options.
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen with USB-C) - $100 off$149⚡ Both myself and my wife have been using these since last fall, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. Sure, they're good for sports, but frankly, I use them on planes, editing, and such more than anything else. In fact, I've been listening to them now for 8 hours as I type away on my flight across the ocean. Only briefly putting them in the case to top-up.
Apple AirTags (4-Pack) - 33% off!$64⚡I make no secret how much I utilize AirTags, mainly, cause they've saved my butt numerous times already. We have them in every suitcase, and every backpack, and every bike bag. They're also hidden in most of our bikes (sometimes two of them). We were able to get our cargo bike back when it disappeared, as well as figure out when all our suitcases went missing during an annual family vacation where they were (for 5 days!), and plan appropriately. Seriously, just get them.
Apple Airpods (4th Gen) - $40 off!$99
Apple Watch Series 10 - $120 off
$399/$499 (cellular)
$279⚡ This is by far the lowest price we've seen to date for the Apple Watch Series 10. Of course, we're probably only 60 days away from an Apple Watch Series 11, but Apple has alreay announced WatchOS 26 last month, which the Series 10 gets all the new features from.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $150 off$649⚡ This is the lowest price on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 we've seen to date. It's likely we'll see an Apple Watch Ultra 3 this September, but like the Apple Watch Series 10 above, WatchOS26 has already been announced and all the new features there go to the Ultra 2.
Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds - $70 off!
$249
$179
DJI Action 4 - $90 off$209While prior gen unit (and probably, 2 generations behind in a few weeks), it's still a very strong contender at this price point especially.
DJI Mini 4K Drone - $60 off$239If you're looking to get into flying with a DJI drone, this is a solid place to start. Of course, moreso than that, the days are very limited for how much longer you can actually buy at DJI drone in the US. So, grab them while you can.
DJI NEO - $30 off!$159This is the lowest price on this drone, and is a great option if you want a follow-me drone that's pretty hard to kill, at a price point that's still super reasonable.
Elite Riser - $250 off!$749This appears to basically just be an Uncle Amazon sale, but hey, if you've got an Elite trainer and wanted Rizer, this is a super good deal for US folks!
FORM Smart Swim 2 Goggles - $50 off$229
Fitbit Ace LTE Kids Activity Smartwatch - $100 off$129This is (by far) the lowest price we've seen on this watch to date. This is their first full smartwatch focused on kids activity tracking and gamification.
Fitbit Charge 6 - 38% off!
$159
$99⚡ This is the go-to sale price for the Fitbit Charge 6. It happens often, but it still doesn't take away from the fast that it's argueably the best bang for your buck fitness tracker out there.
Garmin Edge 1040 Cycling GPS - $150 off!$399⚡⚡ This is a very solid deal, and the lowest price we've seen to date on it.
Garmin Edge 540 Solar - $150 off$299⚡⚡This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 540 Solar to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well.
Garmin Edge Explore 2 - $60 off
$299
$237
Garmin Epix Pro Series - $200 off!
$899/$999
$609I believe this is the lowest price we've seen for the Epix Pro series (which has an ECG-capable HR sensor). Note that while some sites might tout $500+ off, in reality, this watch has been floating around $800 recently.
Garmin Epix Sapphire/Titanium (Gen 2) - $400+ off!$469⚡ This continues to be one of the best deals out there. While this watch won't be getting much in the way of big ticket new features, it does continue to get minor software updates - and for the money, has far more software features than any of Garmin's competitors (or for that matter, products like the Instinct 3 AMOLED lineup).
Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Solar - $100-$200 off
$799+
$499⚡ This is the lowest price we've seen to date for the Fenix 7 Pro series, and is a very strong deal!
Garmin Fenix 8 Series - $100 Off!
$999-$1,199
$899While not as good as last month's $200 off, that annual spring sale price won't likely be seen again till Black Friday-ish type sales. Thus, if you want a Fenix 8 for the summer, might as well take the $100 off and put it towards ice cream.
Garmin Forerunner 165 (Base) - $75 off!
$249/$299
$219
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$199This is the lowest price we've ever seen the Forerunner 255 at.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!
$349/$399
$249This is the lowest price on this watch to date (previous low was $299).
Garmin Forerunner 265 Series - $50 off!
$449
$399
Garmin Forerunner 55 - A Few Dollars Off
$199
$169Honestly, I just put this one in there, merely to point out you shoudn't buy it at this price. Buy the FR255 at $30 more, far better watch. This thing should be priced at $129 or something to move units.
Garmin Forerunner 955 - $150 off!$349⚡ This has been one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and it's down to a very strong price. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. Note this is the base edition without solar. It'd be hard to find any better deal in sports watches today, from any company (given this has full mapping, tons of new features even this week, etc...). I say '$100ish', because it's usually been on forever sale at $499.
Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: $150 off!
$499/$599
$399See everything I said above on the Forerunner 955 base, except this one also has solar.
Garmin Forerunner 965 - $50 off
$599
$549This had been $499 for much of the spring, so $549 isn't that great of a deal.
Garmin Instinct 2 Series - $75 Off$169⚡I believe $169 is the lowest price we've ever seen for the Instinct 2. Or at least, I have no record of it being sub-$199. Very solid deal for a solid little watch.
Garmin Instinct 2 Solar$266
Garmin Instinct 2S & 2S Solar$217
Garmin Lily 2 - 20% off
$249
$199The leather version is also on sale as well.
Garmin Lily 2 Active - $50 off!
$299
$249
Garmin Venu 3 - $50 off!
$449
$399
Garmin Venu 3S - $50 off$399
Garmin Venu Sq 2 - $100 off
$249/$299 with Music
$149
Garmin Vivoactive 5 - $110 off!
$299
$189This is a great deal for Garmin's little-sibling to the Venu series. It has almost all the same features as the Venu 3, except the voice calling related bits.
Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way) - $20 off$379This is a pretty small deal for this product. This is my defacto satellite communicator when out of coverage area, and I've used it on a number of major treks over the past two years when well outside of cellular service, both in a 24x7 tracking mode for friends and family, but also there in case of emergency. Would strongly recommend for anyone doing anything in the wilderness.
GoPro Hero 12 Black - $100 off!$279This is the older gen model, and to me, $279 seems a bit high. Get the Hero 13 Black for $50 more and have access to all the new accessories. Or, save yourself $50 and get either the DJI Action 4 (prior gen) or Insta360 Ace Pro 1 (prior gen) models.
GoPro Hero 13 Black - $70 off$329
GoPro Hero 4K - $20 off$199This was released back in September, and is GoPro's budget option, which includes a full color touchscreen on the back as well. It was previously released at $199, but price increases forced it up to $219. Now, it's back on sale for $199.
Google Nest WiFi Pro - 6E (3xPack) - $110 off!$289I've been using the Google Nest WiFi packs for years. And then I converted over to this last fall. Super happy with this three pod pack.
Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm) - $100 OFF$249
Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm) - $100 OFF$299
HoverAir X1 Drone Combo - $100 off!$279This has become one of my favorite drones, given it's tiny size (fits in my running shorts pockets) and ease of use. Plus, you can crash the crap out of it (hundreds of times for me and my wife) without any issues. This combo includes an extra battery and fast charger.
HoverAir X1 Pro Drone Combo Kit - $155 off$599This is a solid deal on a solid drone, and one of the two main ones I use when taking videos of myself hiking or running. This includes the two extra batteries as well as the fast charger (so 3 batteries total).
HoverAir X1 ProMax Bundle - $190 off!$765This includes three batteries, the drone, the vast charger, and some extra accessories.
HoverAir X1 ProMax Cycling Bundle - $332 off!$969This includes three batteries, the drone, the vast charger, and some extra accessories, plus the Beacon (handelbar remote)
Hyperice Normatec Elite Leg Recovery System - $100 off$999
Insta360 Ace Pro Action Cam - $50 off$239This is the previous edition, as the Ace Pro 2 just came out last fall. But for this price, it's hard to beat.
Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station - $100 off!$159This is something I use frequently when shooting out and about and I need to re-charge a crapton of drone batteries, action cameras, or just cameras and such. I've also bought solar panel to hook up to it (surprisingly effective) for very off-the-grid locales. Heck, I've even powered a KICKR trainer ride from it!
Nespresso VertuoPlus Coffee and Espresso Machine by De'Longhi Delux Kit - 30% off!$149⚡ Let's be honest: This place runs on Nespresso (or, well, the knock-off pods we buy). But, the machine is Nespresso. Without it, reviews most definitely would not get done (and certainly not on time). This is a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel Outdoor Pizza Oven - $80 off$319I use the Fyra 12 (with wood pellets), and love it. The Karu 12 is essentialyl the newer version of that, and there's both a gas-only version, and a multi-fuel option (gas or wood). Love it!
Oura Ring 4 - $50 off!$299This is the first time we've seen a deal on the Oura Ring V4.
Peloton Bike - $300 off!$1,083⚡ This is the lowest price I've ever seen this (according to my records). This is still a solid bike, and actually one that I use at home (I have the newer Peloton Bike+ at the office). Both my wife and I use these bikes interchangeably, and while the Bike+ has a bigger screen and better accuracy, there's very little difference in the core Peloton experience. I'd still recommend this model to most people.
Peloton Bike+ is $500 off$1,995This is a solid deal for the Bike+, albeit largely the normal sale/deal price. Both my wife and I use both the Peloton Bike+ and the regular Bike (one at home, one at office) on a weekly basis. We like both. The Bike+ is more accurate than the regular bike, and also has a bigger screen and automatic resistance control. That said, the core Peloton experience isn't any different between the two - it's the same platform there.
Peloton Row - $330 off!$2,964
Peloton Tread - $300 off$2,694This is my main treadmill at home, and I really like it. I've got no complaints about it, and am happy I went with the smaller Peloton Tread versus the bigger unit.
Polar H10 Chest Strap (Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) - 27% off
$89
$76This is a great dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart (with two Bluetooth Smart connections) chest strap that you'll often find me using as a reference strap in heart rate sensor testing. We only tend to see deals on it around Black Friday, always topping out around 20%.
Polar H9 Chest Strap - $15 off$55If you're looking for a good solid high-quality strap, that does both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart, for a reasonable price...look no further than the Polar H9
Polar Verity Sense - 15% off
$99
$84I use this as one of my reference devices for heart rate accuracy testing.
SHOKZ OpenRun Headphones - 31% off$89
SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2 - 31% off!$124
SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2 Mini - 31% off!$124
SUUNTO Aqua Swimming Open-Ear Bluetooth Headphones - 22% off!$139
Samsung Galaxy Ring - $115 off$284
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (40 & 44mm) - 50% off$159As with the Samsung Watch Ultra, Samsung is less than 24hrs away from announcing a new version of the Samsung Watch series.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra - 50% off$325Look, Samsung is less than a day away from likely announcing a new version (on July 9th), so if you buy now, you might want to wait a few extra hours after delivery to decide if you want to return it. Otherwise, this is Samsung's best watch to date.
SanDisk 1-4TB Extreme PRO Portable External SSD - 30% off$128-$279⚡This is one of the two the high speed drives types I use to store the footage I'm actively video editing. I typically buy the 2TB and 4TB ones, and then eventually offload the footage onto a NAS array when I'm done.
Sennheiser Momentum Sport Earbuds - $60 off$129
Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-frame Mirrorless Camera w/ 28-70mm Zoom - $400 off$2,398This is the main camera I use for still photography and video b-roll. I recently wrote about all the photography gear I use, linked at side here.
Suunto Race - $100 off!
$449/$549
$349⚡ This is a solid deal on this watch, which has offline mapping and continues to get new features. Further, it's the lowest price we've seen to date on it.
Suunto Vertical - $200 off!$399This is, by far, the lowest price we've seen on this watch (which also has offline mapping).
Vacmaster AM201R Fan + Remote/holder (15% off)$67This is another very popular fan that people use for indoor training/cycling, especially due to inclusion of the remote and remote holder to clasp on your handlebars.
Wahoo BOLT V2 - $30 off
$279
$279
Wahoo KICKR Bike V2
$3,999
$2,974⚡ This is one of the lowest prices we've seen the Wahoo KICKR Bike at (ever).
Wahoo KICKR CORE with Zwift Cog+Click ($75 off)
$499
$424
Wahoo KICKR Desk - $30 off$169
Wahoo KICKR MOVE - $190 off
$1,599
$1,104⚡ This is a very solid deal.
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $90 off
$599
$509
Withings Body Comp WiFI Scale - 26% off$169
Withings Body Smart WiFI Scale - 31% off$89

New this week include $20 off the GoPro Hero5 Session, and 20% off GoPro accessories (except Karma accessories for some bizarre reason.)

Also of note is that the Wahoo ELEMNT rebate ends tomorrow, as does the $100 off the Edge 1000.  And the Cycliq sale ends Tuesday.

YouTube Videos I Published:

Here’s some YouTube goodness that I published this past week, don’t forget to subscribe!

Well…no YouTube this time, but on Facebook instead (you don’t need an account to watch).

Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:

Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet.

1) GoPro’s Tour de France 2017 Final Edit: They did a bunch of mini-edits throughout the Tour (see the full playlist here), but here’s the final edit for this year’s Tour.  It’s a bit different in tone than past years, but more of a storyline this time.  I saw the small team of these guys around often, and they hustled their ass off on every stage.

2) Wait, TomTom’s dead too? This is definitely not the best month for sports tech.  With Recon bowing out last week, insinuations from TomTom’s own investor call says they may be exiting the sports tech portion of their business.  This would definitely be a blow to the inexpensive end of the market (for which TomTom thrives).  Their challenge though is gaining interest in North America, alongside finding ways to get mainstream/tech press excited about their products (which again, are incredibly good values for the prices).

3) Fitbit’s app store will be based on Pebble’s SDK: No real surprise here, but nice to see the confirmation of it.

4) Chief Commissaire who disqualified Sagan calls for video reviews: Well then, don’t be bringing in logic too fast now!

5) Another look at the tracking airplanes of the Tour de France: I talked a little bit about this during my TdF Dimension Data behind the scenes post, but this video showing the trace of the airplane as it follows the route is pretty darn cool. (via Rodrigo)

6) Tour de France Speed and Distance Trends – 1947 – 2017: Super interesting stuff, from where this race sits as far as overall speed, to overall distance per stage.  Fascinating plots by Alex.

7) Rapha set to go for $262 Million USD! Potential buyers include Aston Martin.  It’ll be interesting to see what it actually goes for though, as this seems a bit…over the top…to me. (Via Race Radio)

8) Suunto sees financial recovery in Q2 compared to Q1: Some interesting tidbits in their just released Q2 financial report, which shows them tracking 7% higher than last year. That’s logical, since last year would have been pre-Spartan, whereby people were waiting for new products.  However, what was most interesting was going back to the Q1 report, which I hadn’t seen before to see the huge hit they took in Q1, being down 27% YoY.  But they’ve done good work in 2017 addressing many of the Spartan shortcomings, and so they’re seeing the results of that.  All of the quarterly reports are available here, including full presentations.  Suunto is categorized as ‘Sports Instruments’.

Sports Technology Software/Firmware Updates This Week:

Each week I quickly highlight some of the new firmware, app, software and website service updates that I see go out. If you’re a sports technology company and release an update – shoot me a quick note (just one-liners are perfect, or Tweet it at me is even better) and I’ll make mention of it here. If I don’t know about it, I won’t be able to post about it. Sound good?  Oh – and if you want to get a head start on things, this page is a great resource for watching Garmin firmware updates.

Garmin VIRB 360 Firmware Update: Improved photo quality, and streaming 4K options (for the co-announced Facebook 4K live streaming functionality).

Garmin Fenix3/Fenix3 HR BETA Firmware Update: Yup, it actually got an update.mostly fixes, though one additional new feature for recording HR data into the files.

Garmin Fenix 5/5S/5X BETA Firmware Updates: A pile of fixes, and some new features.

GoPro Hero5 & Hero5 Session Firmware Update: Adds new QuikStories feature to have autocreated movies ready to go.  Also adds some performance tweaks.

Thanks for reading!

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19 Comments

  1. giorgitd

    Sorry to see negative news about Tom Tom. I’ve been on Garmin for many years, but have almost bought TT just out of curiosity. Products seem solid and the value continues to go up relative to escalating Garmin pricing. Hope that they can find a way forward.

    • the5krunner

      Yep, I think they will find a way forwards.

      As Ray, others (and me) point out the runner/spark IS good and IS good value.

      I don’t think ANYONE who has commented on the TomTom statements knows exactly what products might be the root of the ‘issue’.

      One scenario could be the ‘all the future R&D eggs in the runner/spark basket’ then we might see great things come out of this in 2018 with a runner/spark5

      As Robert (Black?) points out further below, there are still some peripheral bit of functionality that need adding. BUT, as Ray said recently, every user/athlete has similar such peripheral areas of functionality that are important to them. All those little dents of missing functionality add up to a hole in the overall functional offering.

  2. Adriaan

    …question on this Garmin updates…
    Is Garmin done with sw version 9.30.0.0 at 920XT for good? No further updates?
    The sensor settings are really annoying!
    Before starting multi sport activity, all sensors must be enabled. So the device is searching for Speed and Cadence sensor at Swimming leg up to the running leg. And in T1 (after swimming) the device is dropping the connection to HRM-Tri/HRM-Swim, so that one must be reconnected.
    If Garmin exterminated bike profiles, they should set up automatic detection for previously paired sensors and keep those connected till activity is not sent to history…

    • I don’t expect to see any further updates, at least feature updates. Usually you still see some random bug updates here or there, things that might be caught on other platforms and ported back. But at nearly 3 years old, it’s run its course.

    • Adriaan

      Thanks for the answer Ray. And I am sorry for trolling…
      In my opinion, 920XT as a device is much better then 735/935XT together.
      And I got it – it came out 3 years ago.
      But it was and still being used by Pro and hobby triathletes around the globe.
      Nobody found that functionality annoying since then? Or they did and it is just Garmin’s approach to customers?

      Thanks again…and please make a separate section/quick link to the Week in Review series…

    • I think the challenge is that the FR920XT is only better if one likes the larger screen. But if the rectangle screen isn’t ones thing, then I’m not aware of anything it actually does better to be honest.

      Nothing wrong with the FR920XT, as you point out, many triathletes use it. But if we fast forward to a year from now, there will be less triathletes using it and more and more using the Fenix5/FR935/FR735 (which as a lineup are the real successors).

      I do think some people (including myself) found the attempted pairing during the swim (or run to power meters) thing weird – but it never really did anything aside from being an annoyance. Meaning that come the bike it connected properly to sensors, and come the run the same. Not saying Garmin shouldn’t have fixed it, but also just being realistic on what they consider a sunsetted product.

    • Mr T

      It’s interesting. Look at Nike’s Breaking2. All the athletes wear 920xt. There must be something there

    • ekutter

      Adriaan, I’d be interested in knowing what you think is “much better” about the 920 than the 935. I’ve had several friends that won’t switch because of the round screen. I too thought that would be a problem years ago when I got the 620 for running because of the light weight. I quickly grew to love the round face over the rectangular one. Partly because you could put longer fields on the top/bottom for things like time and distance. HR, Cad, Speed fit perfectly side by side in the middle. Add in totally customizable CIQ fields and its even better. And now with the 935/F5 actually having a larger total area than the 920 with a very crisp screen, I can’t imagine going back. And for tri’s, the quick release kit for the 935 is definitely superior, IMO.

  3. Robert

    TomTom could have had it all, the watch had Bluetooth, why not throw in support for a footpod? But the deal breaker for me was it’s restricted intervals. I had the original runner and offloaded it a week later. Had it worked with footpods and had pace targets i wouldn’t own the 3 Polar watches I do now

    • Mr T

      Agree but my issue was the inability to change the screen metrics. It was limited.

      Garmin is pricing itself out of the casual market.

  4. simon

    fenix 3 beta firmware update ! – gasp, wasn’t expecting that. Seems like they broke something on this so they’re promising another one in a week or so

  5. Ryan M.

    Ray,

    Have you gotten to try out the new Beta for Garmin Connect on iOS that has a new My Day view? A huge improvement from the prior layout in my opinion. Have been a fitbit user for my day-to-day tracking as I like to wear a normal watch, and wasn’t a fan of Garmin’s UI, but the new layout could be enough to get me to switch.

  6. Steve Aitken

    Awesome video of the tracking planes from the tour. Another insight into just one of the behind the scenes aspects that we pretty much take for granted. I reckon that the pilots may have grown up as track riders. Fairly hand at turning left…

  7. ZeSweets

    Hero5 Session is actually 20% off ($239.20) on Amazon!

    link to amazon.com

  8. Tim Lambie

    Awesome depth, inspiring, personable and entertaining ecosystem. All the best. Tim

  9. MTB

    New Wahoo Element Mini was released today. Anyone else intrigued?