Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple AirTag 4-Pack for just $69, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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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!
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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 2024 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.
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Thanks! Also, you can read the archives here: link to dcrainmaker.com
My vivoactive 3 updated to v7 this week. no mention on the linked page though.
Looks like it’s still in phased rollouts. But here’s the release notes:
https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivoactive-3-3-music/206886/phased-rollout-20—vivoactive-3-sw-7-00-and-sensor-hub-6-60
Change Log 7.00
Bluetooth improvements
Stability improvements
Allow entering three-digit pool lengths
Fixed an issue with pace stopping during treadmill activities
Fixed an issue where multiple battery percentage icons would show on the watch face
Connect IQ fixes and improvements
Auto activity start fixes and improvements
Fixed an issue with heart rate zone graphs incorrectly displaying zones
didn’t see a sensor update. maybe it did it and didn’t tell me. Will check
Yeah, sometimes it quietly does that. Though, in theory both are phased – but I would have presumed it would have concurrently done the phasing on both (meaning, you get both updates at once).
Good spot on the 530 deal! Nabbed it. :)
Awesome!
That tarriff thing is interesting (for a UK person looking in). I thought the tarriffs were designed to force US manufacturers to make their goods in the USA and therefore create jobs. This change would suggest it was all a PR stunt after all and Trump doesn’t actually have the country’s best interests at heart after all. If that’s the case then all he’s achieved is raising prices locally.
Tarriffs to the UK are set to rise to insane levels after Brexit (40% in some instances, but apparently people voted for that too), so things aren’t better here either!
Yup. :)
It’s actually interesting. Of course, none of these tariffs have moved manufacturing to the USA from China. And of course, all they’ve done is raise prices on US consumers or negatively impacted the bottom line for US companies that have simply swallowed the tariff costs rather than passed it onto consumers.
However, the singular thing it has done though is actually hurt China. Countless companies (including many huge ones) are either in the process or working towards moving manufacturing out of China to nearby countries. We see that within our little sports tech segment for example. Every company I’ve talked to that has manuf in China is either already moving manuf out, or working towards and end-post there.
So I suppose in that sense it worked. But it’s a bit of a ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ approach. As has been said numerous times by the worlds ‘Really smart people’ (economists): Trade warns never help anyone. Well, I suppose unless you’re in Thailand or Vietnam, and then this worked out fantastically for your manufacturing industry.
I feel like a move out of China was coming anyway as China began to get richer and labour costs rose. This just gives a neat excuse. Certainly Africa has been talked about as the next target for cheap labour and materials once the eastern costs go up – there’s always someone else to exploit!
If you think moving the manufacturing will hurt China I’d say wait and see. They will (by sheer area of land) still likely supply most of the materials to wherever handles the factory bit next. Also, for every iphone moved overseas a domestic need will replace that in the factory so worst case China will probably remain static for manufacturing but grow in shipping and materials. Even Garmin watches have a low cost Chinese counterpart which will probably jump into the factory as soon as it’s vacated, and I’d bet that’s the point we start to see local demand in the region for sports tech.
Yeah, there’s lots of talk about Africa – but I think that’s mostly misunderstanding the continent. As the saying goes you’ll hear countless times when in Africa: “It’s Africa”.
Which is to say, business is Africa is exceedingly challenging on numerous levels. For tech manufacturing, a massive part of that will ultimately just be the fact that components are still coming out of Asia. Nobody is going to want to ship those to Africa by ship, and then put them back on a boat somewhere else.
I don’t think we’ve seen any international scale assembly/manufacturing in Africa at this point for any major western products (aside from apparel).
I wouldn’t underestimate what greed can achieve. Africa will have its day as the cheap exploited labour force once other options are exhausted. I’m sure it will also be used as a materials source eventually once economics make it worthwhile “fixing” the political issues.
Completely missed deals on Garmin HR straps.
Ray, do you thinks it’s worth waiting for updated HRM-TRI (with the same communication hardware as HRM-DUAL) or it’s not going to happen within a reasonable timeframe (e.g. 1 year from now)?
It’s tough. When the HRM-DUAL first came out, Garmin was clear that all their sensor lineup would get refreshed (or, the majority of it anyway). It seemed like that was a relatively short to medium term thing.
But nearly a year later and we’re still waiting on the one people most care about: HRM-TRI (or, the one us geeks care about).
My suggestion would be that if you have a use-case for using it heavily today (meaning, until triathlon season), then go forth and buy it and benefit from it. Whereas, if it’s more of a ‘I might use it next spring’, then I’d probably just wait and buy it next spring and hope something comes out.
I keep hoping for the day a Garmin variant of a Polar H10 comes out – as that reduces the number of devices I need to take on runs primarily (where I often record the chest strap data on another device). I don’t like using the Polar H10 since it requires triggering the recording with the app.
Nothing on Racefox + Polar H10 ?
Yeah, I meant to include it in the list above – will add it to next week’s.
I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. To me though, I honestly don’t see the appeal of paying $15/month for it. It’s a non-starter. And that’s before we even talk about dealing with carrying a phone connecting to a HR strap to get real-time feedback, or the messiness of starting/stopping the Polar Beat app for runners for offline feedback.
I guess the challenge is that by and large nobody seems to care about running efficiency metrics after about week 1 of using something. Same is true for Garmin Running Dynamics. Even if this were free, I’m not sure I’d bother setting it up or using it. There are so many companies that have tried doing this here, and the *only* way it *barely* works (as defined from a business standpoint) is built into a watch that people are using. And even that’s questioanble.
Just my two cents.
Too bad, those Garmin Edge deal link to Amazon.com don’t apply to Amazon.ca.
Do you know any site which list the new feature and bug fixes for new versions of garmin connect? Both App Store and the app only says a vague “ general improvement”
Looks like there is a new firmware update out for the CycleOps/Saris H(ammer) trainers, will install it on my H2 tonight.
Edit: Available according to their site, the Saris app claims otherwise…
Ordered a discount 530 to replace my old 520 so the deal is still available for now. Thanks for the heads up.
Hi Ray, I am in my 60’s and trying to stay in shape riding my bike and running. I have done bicycle touring from overnight to 9 days of touring up and down the California coast. My job keeps me busy so short runs in my neighborhood to get in shape for a half marathon and short rides on the bike along the coast as a reward for a hard day at work was the best I could do. I stumbled onto your podcast and decided to up my game. I just bought a Wahoo Kickr to setup in my garage based upon your videos and website recommendation. I also bought a Garmin Fenix 5 plus and use the free running training programs because its got a program for running 3 days a week. I bought a Garmin 1030 for my bike which downloads to Garmin connect and Strava. I am buying stuff on Clever training to support you. Thanks for doing what you do.
Understanding that you’re hard at work and family duties, figured it was still worth checking in to see whether there’s any chance of the Fliiiight review posting before CT’s 20% off sale ends on Sunday?