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:
Despite what you might think – the sports tech deals are cruisin’ on! In fact, especially for Europe, which has seen the lowest prices ever for many items, much of which is still matching Black Friday sales. All of these are detailed on the massive deals post that I still keep updating.
Still, here’s the rundown of major deals still cookin’:
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.
⚡ This is the lowest price to date for the Garmin Epix Pro series, likely due to the Fenix 8 coming out a few months back (Epix as a brand was merged into the Fenix 8 branding). Still, if you don't care about diving or voice bits, this is an incredible deal.
⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal. Note the Epix received all of the software updates of the Epix Pro. This deal keeps floating between $399 and $429 - frankly, at either price it's an awesome deal.
⚡ This is the lowest price to date for the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro series, likely due to the Fenix 8 coming out a few months back. Still, if you don't care about diving or voice bits, this is an incredible deal.
This is the first time we've head a meaningful sale on the Forerunner 165, released earlier this year, down to $249 for the Music edition, and $199 for the non-music edition.
This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics. This model also includes offline music such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
This is 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, so $399 is a strong price, though, it dipped to $319 for Amazon Prime Day.
This is the lowest price we've seen ever on the Forerunner 965, since it's launch. It's still Garmin's top-end Forerunner watch, and I expect it to stay that way for a while. It's one I often use in comparative testing as a reference device.
This is a solid deal. Garmin Instinct 2X - $100 off!It's best thought of as an Instinct 2.5, as it has almost enough features to really be more of an Instinct 3 (which doesn't exist at this point).
This is the largest discount we've seen to date on the Tactix 7 Pro unit. Note the other Tactix 7 Pro units/variants are also on sale for 20% off too (this link takes you to all of them).
This is a good deal, especially since it's gotten virtually all of the Edge 1050 updates, and then a boatload more. That said, it wouldn't surprise me to see this drop further to $449, as it did this past summer.
⚡⚡This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 540 to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well. This is kinda an insane deal for this unit.
⚡⚡This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 840 to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well. This is one of my main units I use daily.
The new Hero 13 just came out, which mostly just adds a bunch of new accessory options. If you don't plan to purchase those accessories, then this is a solid deal.
This is a great deal for this tiny little thing, which should really be named the Go 4, given how many new features it has (including 4K). It also has all the Insta360 sport integration features with Garmin & Apple, to overlay your Garmin/Apple data automatically on your footage.
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) The most incredible bike share photo: This photo shows what happens when you fill an entire football field with discarded bike share bikes…and stack it as high as some buildings. Unbelievable, you really need to see this photo.
2) Jumping into an airplane with a wingsuit: Undoubtedly, many of you have seen this by now. But if not, enjoy. And if you have already, enjoy it again. It’s worth it, as you know.
3) Getting the GoPro Shot (further details): Last week I shared a GoPro video on the behind the scenes of just one brief sequence in the launch video. This post however details that out even further in a more textual manner.
4) SoulCycle now offered as benefit on a points credit card: For those in Europe, the whole credit card points thing is illogical. But for those in the US/Canada, you know it’s all about the points card. This card apparently offers free days at SoulCycle. I thought it was interesting (I’ve never done SoulCylce however).
5) Fitbit selected for long-term national health study: Regardless of which vendor is selected, it’s good to see some long-term studies being done with vast numbers of people. Let’s just hope that there’s at least a few people that understand technology helping with this study, so that we don’t end up with all the flawed ones we see recently on wearables.
6) GlovePay, it’s a thing: Forget Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay, for the upcoming winter Olympics, you’ll be able to pay by rubbing your gloves against the payment terminal.
7) FDA approves first EKG reader for Apple Watch: This is an interesting one, but one you shouldn’t be misled by the main headlines about it. This is NOT the FDA approving the Apple Watch as an EKG reader. Instead, it’s the FDA approving an accessory for the Apple Watch by a 3rd party company as an EKG reader. The cool part here though is that it’s doing it via an Apple Watch band/strap that you then place your finger on. I’ve gotta believe the company will look to make straps for other devices like Fitbit and Garmin, since it’d be easy for them to leverage app platforms on both companies devices.
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.
Zwift update: You can now control the camera with far more granularity, allowing you to rotate it around you like drone shots. Also a pile of other new features and stuff, but the camera one stood out to me as nifty.
I just recently found out about the Apple Heart Study. I’ve installed the app on phone and watch and signed up but nothing has happened yet. I don’t know yet whether they’re going to take data from anyone who signs up or only a selected few. Looks like it’s being paid for by Apple and run by Stanford.
What a shame that the Chinese government is just creating a giant scrap pile of bikes, rather than stuffing them in to containers and sending them somewhere that could really benefit from them through something like link to worldbicyclerelief.org. I’m sure that the vast majority of those bikes could be repaired by cannibalising parts from other bikes, at least before the were heaped up so high, which has likely bent anything more than a few feet deep beyond rescuing.
Indeed, that was both my and The Girl’s first thought as well. Just thinking that WBR could likely whack the bike locks off of these and call it macaroni.
Of course, it’s far more complex that that – but certainly some org must be able to use these in rural locales.
Here in Hong Kong I first thought that bike sharing was a good thing until it became obvious that many users are just too irresponsible and just leave the bike where they need to get off. That is in the middle of the walking/running path, in front of stairs or anywhere else they get in the way of other cyclists and pedestrians. The bike share companies are not much better, pushing out their bikes in public bike parking to the extent where there is no spot free for people to park their private bikes. Setting aside the fact that its a waste to just discard them, I would not mind if I saw a pile like the one of the pic here in Hong Kong.
I do remember a similar but smaller pile on a pic form Beijing, It was outside a hospital and it was bikes left by incoming patients that had to be piled up so they didn’t block access to the hospital.
The Hammer study summery says they are comparing to a “scientific SRM system” while the full text says its Powertap P1 pedals. Gee, I wonder who funded this…..
“The last 45s of each measurement was analyzed.”
Doesn’t a persons power output get steadier towards the end of a 3 min interval so easier to measure? Seems like steady state was accurate but the sprint test wasn’t so good based on figure 1.B
Nice find, I couldn’t find it quickly. That is odd.
What’s funny is that in looking at the authors of the study with their affiliations listed in the full text, I know from some other things just being local they work very closely with PowerTap/CycleOps on other projects. Didn’t recognize the author names, but definitely the orgs. Good call…
The comment on the dual sided WatTeam power meter says:
⚡⚡THIS BRINGS IT DOWN TO 300GBP/342EUR FOR A SINGLE SIDED UNIT – BY FAR THE CHEAPEST DIRECT FORCE POWER METER OUT THERE.
It’s £300 for a dual one or £204 for single (as you say in the next line down).
And the DCR discount applies too, so it’s even cheaper! :)
Tourism Flanders has created a website ‘Cycling in Flanders’ to promote its cobblestones classics to foreign cycling tourists: cool!
Info on http://www.cyclinginflanders.cc
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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.
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.
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!
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.
$349 for the PowerTap C1 chainring power meter is an amazing deal. I just purchased – upgrading from left-only Stages. Thanks Ray!
I just recently found out about the Apple Heart Study. I’ve installed the app on phone and watch and signed up but nothing has happened yet. I don’t know yet whether they’re going to take data from anyone who signs up or only a selected few. Looks like it’s being paid for by Apple and run by Stanford.
What a shame that the Chinese government is just creating a giant scrap pile of bikes, rather than stuffing them in to containers and sending them somewhere that could really benefit from them through something like link to worldbicyclerelief.org. I’m sure that the vast majority of those bikes could be repaired by cannibalising parts from other bikes, at least before the were heaped up so high, which has likely bent anything more than a few feet deep beyond rescuing.
Indeed, that was both my and The Girl’s first thought as well. Just thinking that WBR could likely whack the bike locks off of these and call it macaroni.
Of course, it’s far more complex that that – but certainly some org must be able to use these in rural locales.
Here in Hong Kong I first thought that bike sharing was a good thing until it became obvious that many users are just too irresponsible and just leave the bike where they need to get off. That is in the middle of the walking/running path, in front of stairs or anywhere else they get in the way of other cyclists and pedestrians. The bike share companies are not much better, pushing out their bikes in public bike parking to the extent where there is no spot free for people to park their private bikes. Setting aside the fact that its a waste to just discard them, I would not mind if I saw a pile like the one of the pic here in Hong Kong.
I do remember a similar but smaller pile on a pic form Beijing, It was outside a hospital and it was bikes left by incoming patients that had to be piled up so they didn’t block access to the hospital.
The Hammer study summery says they are comparing to a “scientific SRM system” while the full text says its Powertap P1 pedals. Gee, I wonder who funded this…..
“The last 45s of each measurement was analyzed.”
Doesn’t a persons power output get steadier towards the end of a 3 min interval so easier to measure? Seems like steady state was accurate but the sprint test wasn’t so good based on figure 1.B
For those who want the full text: link to fredericgrappe.com
Nice find, I couldn’t find it quickly. That is odd.
What’s funny is that in looking at the authors of the study with their affiliations listed in the full text, I know from some other things just being local they work very closely with PowerTap/CycleOps on other projects. Didn’t recognize the author names, but definitely the orgs. Good call…
The comment on the dual sided WatTeam power meter says:
⚡⚡THIS BRINGS IT DOWN TO 300GBP/342EUR FOR A SINGLE SIDED UNIT – BY FAR THE CHEAPEST DIRECT FORCE POWER METER OUT THERE.
It’s £300 for a dual one or £204 for single (as you say in the next line down).
And the DCR discount applies too, so it’s even cheaper! :)
Hello Ray
Tourism Flanders has created a website ‘Cycling in Flanders’ to promote its cobblestones classics to foreign cycling tourists: cool!
Info on http://www.cyclinginflanders.cc
Kind regards
Ed
I think you have discussed this before but I can’t find it — do we know how long for tomtom have committed to supporting their web platform?
I’ve commented on the wrong post ?