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Week in Review– March 7th, 2021

WeekInReview22

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!

Sports Tech Deals:

There’s a handful of sports tech deals out there right now, here ya go (the Fenix & Instinct Solar ones are new):

ProductSale PriceAmazonOther siteSale Notes
Apple Watch Series 10 - $50 off
$399/$499 (cellular)
$349
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $75 off$725This is a nice little deal for this unit which just came out.
Fitbit Ace LTE Kids Activity Smartwatch - 22% off$179This was just announced this summer, and is their first full smartwatch focused on kids activity tracking and gamification.
Fitbit Charge 6 - 38% off!
$159
$99This 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.
Fitbit Inspire 3 - $30 off$69
Fitbit Sense 2 - $70 off$179
Fitbit Versa 4 - $40 off$119
Garmin Edge 1040 Cycling GPS - $100 off!$499This 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.
Garmin Edge 540 - $100 off$249⚡⚡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.
Garmin Edge 540 Solar - $100 off$349This 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 840 - $100 off$349⚡⚡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.
Garmin Edge 840 Solar - $100 off$449This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 840 Solar to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well.
Garmin Edge Explore 2 - $40 off
$299
$269This is a great little unit, though, with the sales on the Edge 540 and 840 series, you might want to look at those instead.
Garmin Epix Pro Series - 20% off!
$899/$999
$649⚡ 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.
Garmin Epix Sapphire/Titanium (Gen 2) - $400+ off!$399-$429⚡⚡⚡ 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.
Garmin Fenix 7 Pro - 31% off (All Variants)
$799+
$549+⚡ 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.
Garmin Forerunner 165 Music - $50 off!$249This 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.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$249This 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.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!
$349/$399
$299This 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.
Garmin Forerunner 265 - $100 off$349This is the first time we've seen the Forerunner 265 on sale, and it's solidly priced right now at $349
Garmin Forerunner 265s - $100 off$349This is the first time we've seen the Forerunner 265 on sale, and it's solidly priced right now at $349
Garmin Forerunner 955 - $100ish off!$399This 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.
Garmin Forerunner 965 - $50 off!$499This 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.
Garmin Instinct 2X - $100 off!$349This 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).
Garmin Tactix 7 Pro - 20% off$1,049This 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).
GoPro Hero 12 Black - $100 off!$299The 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.
GoPro Hero 13 Black Bundle - $60 OFF!$339This is the first time we have seen the newly announced GoPro Hero 13 Black on sale. Solid deal, this is my daily use action cam!
Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm) - $70 OFF$279Click to add $70 coupon into the cart. Bringing price down to $279!
Insta360 Ace Pro Action Cam - $50 off$299This is the previous edition, as the Ace Pro 2 just came out a few weeks back, but this is still a very solid camera from a year ago.
Insta360 GO 3S Tiny 4K Action Camera - $60 off!$239This 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.
Jackery Portable Power Station - $60 off!$199This 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 also use it on trips to Eurobike and elsewhere to keep equipment charged. I've even bought a solar panel to hook up to it (surprisingly effective). Heck, I've even powered a KICKR trainer ride from it!
Tacx Flux 2 Smart Trainer - $200ish off
$899
$499I mean, I guess. Really, I don't see why anyone would buy this trainer at any price above $299. With the JetBlack Victory at $399 being more accurate, quiter, including WiFi, including Zwift Cog support (or mechanical cassette), including dual-Bluetooth, including Race Mode, and...one could go on and on.
Tacx NEO 2T Smart Trainer - $200-$300 off
$1,399
$899This is the go-to sales price for the NEO 2T, though has become more frequent over the past year. It's still an incredible trainer, and is the top-end non-moving trainer from Garmin/Tacx.
Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One (COG V2) + Play Controllers
$499
$499This package includes the KICKR CORE with the Zwift V2 Cog, but notably now also includes the Zwift Play controllers. Basically, this saves you about $100 or so, and is the first time we've seen them bundle it.
Wahoo KICKR MOVE - $300 off!
$1,599
$999⚡⚡ This is actually a very solid deal, and the first time we've seen this discounted. In fact, frankly, this is the first time in years it feels like Wahoo is actually doing a legit sale on something. Kudos.
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $100 off
$599
$499
Wahoo KICKR SNAP - Lowest Price Ever
$499
$199This is lowest we've ever seen the KICKR SNAP priced. While the trend has moved towards wheel-off/direct drive trainers, this is still really solid deal if your budget it tight. That said, if you're in Europe, Decathlon has the D100 on sale for $199 also, and in my testing, I'd go with that almost every time.

DCRAINMAKER.COM Posts in the Past Week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week

Tuesday: DJI FPV Drone Review Published To YouTube
Wednesday: KOM Cycling $59 Trainer Desk In-Depth Review
Friday: Zwift Plans Three At Home Fitness Hardware Products

YouTube Videos This Past Week:

Here’s what hit the tubes over on the You of Tube, definitely don’t forget to subscribe there to get notified of videos the second they hit!

Stuff 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. Also, there’s a few things this week that were actually from a week or two ago – I’m just catching up on this list:

1) FPV Drones Following a Golf Ball – Behind the Scenes: Even if you don’t partake in golf, nor flying drones – I think you’ll find this pretty incredible.

2) Peloton’s Coming to Australia: Get ready Lama, you too can own a Peloton Bike or two.

3) BikeRumor Sold to Lola Digital Media: This is part of the AllGear Media Group, and covers other sports tech sites like GearJunkie. The sports and gear realm is relatively small, with only a few entities in the grand scheme of things. Congrats to Tyler and his team.

4) Explaining how women’s prize money isn’t the whole picture: Good article detailing how just looking at the final prize money alone, can be misleading into the larger picture at hand.

5) Popular Vacmaster fan in UK now makes a trainer mode: All because too many TrainerRoad users kept buying it, since they can’t get Lasko fans here in Europe. I’ve actually been using a Vacmaster fan as well for a long time now too. Works great. mixed on whether  I’d pay the premium though for the remote switch, since I’d just rather use a smart connected outlet instead (since I rarely change intensity).

6) Gatorade makes a wearable patch telling you how much Gatorade to drink: Though, in reality it’s not actually connected to your phone. It’s an interesting concept, and I’d love to understand from a science aspect whether or not this…umm…holds water. (via Hugh)

7) The Ice Bike: I know, this is like three weeks old. Four weeks almost. But gosh darn it, it was in my list floating around and didn’t make it. Despite the fact that 62 million of you have already watched it, here’s a link nonetheless….just in case!

8) Google measures heart rate via camera: This is slated for tomorrow, to Google Pixel devices. I’ve got an OG Pixel, so not entirely sure if it’ll work there. But if so – I’ll give it a whirl. My expectations are low…but I’m happy to be surprised!

Sports Tech Device 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, Wahoo, Polar, and a few other firmware updates.

(A very quiet week this past week for updates);

Garmin Forerunner 45 Beta Firmware: Just bug fixes

Garmin Instinct & Instinct Solar Beta Firmware: Just bug fixes

GoPro Hero 9 Firmware Update: Performance-related tweaks

Polar Vantage V2 Firmware Update: Stability fixes and backlight switch fix

With that – thanks for reading!

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16 Comments

  1. Paul S.

    Several apps in the App Store claim to do the same kind of HRM using the camera for iOS. Haven’t tried any of them.

    • I’ve used Azumio’s iOS Heart Rate app and it works pretty well.

    • Yeah, I’ve seen various apps over the years. I think it’s mainly notable to see en entity the size of Google getting into it.

    • sabeard

      I have used the android version of Azumio’s Instant HR on my old Android 2.3.4 phone back in the day. I was very surprised at how accurate it was when I compared it to my Garmin chest strap. My experience was it would pass the DCR accuracy test. It is interesting to see Google brining it to their fitness app.

    • Anton Peterson

      Another Azumio user here (not much as I used to though). Bought a pulse oximeter several years back and the app (on android) was pretty much spot on with it. I wouldn’t use it for exercising but for checking resting HR in the mornings or evenings, it will do the job greatly.

  2. Joop

    There are a few apps for checking HRV. Fibricheck and HRV camera for example. It is for those who have a heart rhythm disorder, like me since a year (too much exercise according my cardiologist; especially a risk for men in their fifties who have done lots of ultra’s, biathlon, cyclists and triathlon, read the Haywire heart about it)

  3. Roger Hamby

    Have I missed something? What has happened to the newsletter?

  4. Andrew M

    I’m ordering popcorn now for the Lama review of Peloton.

  5. Bobson

    Suunto updated their app last week, and you can now (finally!) create and sync POI’s to the Spartans, 5s, and 9s.

  6. Andrew

    Interesting – VacMaster will do you the standard fan for 69.99 with a 5 year guarantee – bang a remote on it, charge 30 more and they’ll only promise it’ll work for two years – not a great look!

    • Will

      I agree. To make it more bike specific I’d look to give it 5 power levels rather than 3.
      But still, it’s half the price of the Wahoo fan!

  7. Mr T

    The golf shots look like GGI.

  8. Nik Wakefield

    Great content as always. Little off topic but… I just bought some new tech, based on your reviews, and am wondering if you have recommendations for using hrm pro, edge 830, vector 3, kickr core, and zwift on imac? I’ve tried a few options and not sure of best setup. Any advice much appreciated!

    NB some issues: want indoor rides to be included in training effect; am concerned that edge’s sync with kickr might be interfering with zwift erg(?), and finally rides that I haven’t actually done in zwift are being sent to strava…

    Lastly, referring back to your last summer I think post about Garmin’s acquisition of first beat, will garmin eventually allow training effect to be computed from zwift recorded workouts (so I could leave edge out of indoor)?

  9. Jase

    Interestingly…. Garmin Australia have a sale right now with A$400 off the entire Fenix 6 range

    • Nicholas Wood

      Thanks to this deal I now own a 6x pro. $849 AUD ($650 USD). Used gift voucher deals to get an extra 5% off

  10. Ian

    Vacmaster claims to ship to Switzerland for £15, but when you click through to complete the order it gives an error saying that they don‘t deliver (and gives the same for Germany). Also doesn‘t appear to deduct the UK VAT even if they do deliver. Disappointed!