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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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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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.
Have you visited parkrun there yet!? Apparently it’s quite tourist heavy, but definitely worth calling in if you’re ever in Paris on a Saturday morning and fancy a free, timed, 5k run.
So I thought there was one there too – but then I looked at the site and it’s at the other major park/forest on the other side of Paris. :(
Ah, nevermind… Suppose that just means a longer warmup! :)
Do you ever catch a parkrun when travelling?
Ha, a dozen mile warm-up!
I haven’t caught any others. Mostly because most of my travel previously for work was on week-days, with trying to get back home for the weekends.
Any wearables being unboxed? Or mostly just PMs and such?
I don’t believe I unboxed any wearables in the last 72 hours.
Runscribe Plus being unboxed?
Formatting for “5)” is a little off. ;)
We used a Topeak baby seat for our 2 kids and it worked out very well. Some things to recommend it:
– Seat has a suspension if the bike doesn’t.
– Lap bar to for little hands to hold onto. Doubles as a head rest for sleeping riders….
– Adjustable height foot rests / straps to keep little toes out of spokes.
– Quick release: Super easy to take off the seat when solo riding. Press a button and pull out a slide to take the seat off the rack.
Ours survived many miles of riding, and was a favorite place for my daughter to nap.
Man, that’s a horrible run of bad luck. I do love the peanut pictures, though. :)
Ray
Have you seen: Speedo connects with Garmin for enhanced swimming?
Uhh, seems like a Murphys Law Weekend…!
But you got it fixed! Thumbs up!
On the broken cable: You should have done a Rigoberto Uran and manually pushed the rear deraileur into the biggest gear, then just grind out a stage win. For my money, that was the best ride of the Tour.
Sounds like Santa is coming early Ray, although you have to send the gifts back. I am assuming with Garmin 520s on sale a 530/830 is imminent. I am hoping for a slimmer form factor Wahoo Elemnt 2.0 to close out my Santa list. Thoughts?
Sounds like a fun/frustrating weekend with peanuts and apples.
Did you notice that the link for your new Di2 cable has DCR in it…
http://www.ama….G/dcr07-20
They just knew!
I just changed from a 16 GB iPhone SE to a 128 GB iPhone SE and had issues. I backed up my old iPhone using iTunes, but iTunes wouldn’t let me apply the backup from the old phone to the new one. The reason: the two iPhones had different firmware versions. Once I updated the new iPhone to be the same as the old one it all went quite quickly. Updating the new iPhone took some time. Was that the issue you had?
I also had password issues with the backup, but it sorted itself out in the end.
Roughly on the firmware. When you corrupt an iPhone, it basically takes it to a small boot loader of sorts that then pulls down the current production firmware. So once that’s done, then you’ve gotta update to the beta firmware (in my case), and then after that you’ve gotta restore your original phone. Each of these steps taking varying amounts of time depending on tidal patterns/etc…
It also didn’t help that the iPhone will attempt twice to fix the corruption issues before it moves on, so that takes a long time before it decides it’s failed on that and lets you move onto the three-step tango above.
Again, not complaining per se, as it all worked out and didn’t require me to send a phone back or anything. I just wish it gave me the option to restore the beta firmware, since it knows my phone is registered as such.
iTunes password-protected backup is normally the best backup/restore way – it’s fast, and it keeps most apps settings including login info; but, as you stated, there is the dreaded “firmware must be the same” thingy… if you’re moving from one phone to another it’s not so bad, you can plan ahead; but if something dies on you you’re in trouble, particularly if you’re not diligent about keeping iOS up-to-date. Trying to bring a new, replacement phone to an old iOS to restore your data is not exactly user-friendly… So the best course of action is to do both a password-protected iTunes backup, and a regular iCloud one.
Lots of PMs – should I bite the bullet on the power2max sale (type S with crank and chainrings from $550-$600)? Presumably some sharply priced units to be announced at Eurobike and/or the bi-annual 20% off at CleverTraining to come in November….
I’d wait till at least Eurobike to see what shows up.
Hey Ray,
I have the same child seat for my hybrid bike, it’s great how it reclines and takes some of the bumps out with its design. Have plenty of pics of my 2 daughters asleep in it too, such as the one attached. :-) My kids are 4 years apart and the seat has lasted well and still going strong with the younger 2 year old. Highly recommend!
Cheers,
Ben
thanks for the assioma video. Was waiting for your thoughts on this new version.
2 questions:
-is there anything changed in the dimensions of the pods to prevent damage of the pod when clicking out of your pedals? read somewhere that this could be solved by installing the grey cleats?
-when the cleats are worn, do you need special cleats from favero or can you just by the look keo pedals? You said in your video they are not 100% the same…
A) The pods are indeed slightly smaller. Additionally, they’ve removed the battery door now (since they use contact charging), so that also removes potential ingress issues.
B) It’s really going to depend honestly on your specific cleats and how worn they are. In general I’d recommend using theirs, but you can certainly try out yours first and see if they work. You’ll know within just a few minutes. Simply do a quick sprint or two. Easy to test. Note, these are the same cleats that the PowerTap P1 uses.
Ok Thanks!
quick questions – looks like you’re wearing the FR935 for the TT ride, any more details on the HR reading issue when on cobbles/off road – I have some massive difference between the strap and 935 reads going downhill (roadbike on paved roads) seems like the 935 cant settle down and is well above the strap data (+20-50bpms) ?
example – consistently same result on all downhill segments
How tight is the watch on your wrist? Where is it on your wrist (distance above wrist bone as it needs to be kept away from bony parts of the wrist) Try it on the inside of your wrist instead of the outside?
Some of these tips may help:
link to help.fitbit.com
Good info on issues with optical heart rate here: link to valencell.com
Thanks Eli
Good article on Valencell !
My question was specific to some error reading seen in bike riding where the conditions seem to play in more than the standard issues with OHRM..
anyway not a big problem for me as I do not use the watch for biking (and have not had any issues while running)
Thank you for the pictures of Peanut asleep in the bike seat. I was just getting depressed by all the news and FaceBook posts about Charlottesville. Her picture made me smile and brightened m day.
Second that! Incredibly cute – you’ve done good work!
:)
Hi DC,
I did your ride “Go East They Said” this afternoon. Some pleasant roads in the countryside with in an extra-ball in the woods. Many roundabouts for trajectory practice ;op.
Though, the D4 is quite horrible from La Queue en Brie to Chennièvres, didn’t you agree (see pic)?
In heavy trafic conditions, I fear my time travel exceeds my survival expectancy.
Thanx for the ride and everything
Haha, I didn’t actually mind the D4 portion, as almost all of it had a cycling lane save for where that little snippet is to the right.
It was after crossing the Marne that kinda sucked for a bit. I was trying to avoid dealing with the riverside path, as it’s usually full of meandering people and kids and dogs and cows and goats and everything.
The woods was nicer than I expected.
I think with some tweaking it could be a solid 2hr route. Though I gotta figure out that first portion and last portions and make them nicer. And same goes for some of the routes through neighborhoods. I was using Strava heat maps to figure things out, but in some cases it ended up being more local commuters than road riders.
A suggestion to avoid the lethal D4 and the crowdy “bords de Marne” : see pic
I praticed many times this course.
Don’t expect here a bucolic road of course, a lot off crossroads and so one. Anyway, you’ll be pleased to cross the “so chic” La Varenne. It follows a climb (1 km at 6% grade) located “rue du pont” (red potato on pic).
sorry for the potato, here it is…I hope
Very nice, I’ll give it a whirl next time!
Ray, when are you planning to compete in triathlon? I read all you race reviews, they are so interesting.
I actually did one back in June, I just haven’t gotten around to finishing my race report. I may do next weekend as well, we’ll see.
I loved the Beeline concept. I usually have troubles with navigation when exploring a city (especially those that you don’t know) by bike. Of course you have phone, watches and so on, but that is always a mess. Looking forward to know if it works well :)
Hey, I have the Thule Ride Along? bike seat. Looks exactly like yours. Reclines, a little bounce, 48.5 lb weight limit. My kids like it a lot. Well, not at the same time.
Check out the wee-ride bike seat. It sits in front of you, you have to splay you knees a little (only a problem if you are riding the tour de france with a kids seat) but the kids love it because they are up front and the balance of the bike is so much better that the rear mounted ones.
Just get a Galaxy. Problem solved.