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…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
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.
2
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!
3
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.
4
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!
5
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.
Pan & zoom is a welcome feature on the new Bolt.
Slightly irritating is the main screen position of the further menu selection.
I’d suggest it would be better using the three buttons by offering the further labels back / route / pan
Text of the US email:
COMING SOON:
A brave NEW world.
When you’re out there, you need something you can trust to get you through the most demanding situations; whether it’s your partner, your judgement, or your equipment.
IT’S TIME TO GEAR UP!
This is clearly a specializaed gear to explore… Volcano craters. Canarias here I come!!!
Sounds like Polar LTE to me…trying to beat Fenix 7 off the line?
Strange that their Marketing Team uses the title of a book (Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley) that describes a dystopian world and in which the main character kills himself in the end…..weird, just saying!
On the other hand, Huxley taken the title from phrase in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, so they can always claim they were referring to it ;)
But they might have taken it from the recent TV series (which took it from the book, which took it from the tempest etc). In that show he survives, after having numerous very athletic, original olympian type adventures. Which may
mean we get a watch that measures more than just how much you sleep.
I think there’s also something to be said that the term is kinda a more generic phrase these days. I personally wouldn’t have associated it to any given past starting point.
Don’t know Ray, maybe they’re using some sophisticalated encryption in their URL, like rot13. So maybe it’s going to be an announcement for the Polar Tevg.
re: Polar – looking at the HTML source where you will find various javascript tidbits for tracking etc.. it looks like it’s the Grit x2 as per my screenshot attached.
and some more…
“input type=”hidden” id=”product” name=”product” value=”X2″”
Don’t worry, Ray knows exactly what will be released, it has been on his wrist for several weeks now. But he can only talk about it after the NDA expires… unless it’s something pretty obvious like this url blunder. :D
I’m ok with the addition of the Pan & Zoom feature but I don’t like their choice of where to put it. It’s not a feature I’ll use much but I have to deal with it every time I want to go to the route screen. It’s an extra button press when I almost always never need to make a choice at that point. But, more annoying is that they broke how Di2 integration works. While navigating, I used to be able to press the left Di2 button to see the cue sheet. Now, it takes a left button press and a center button press, which I can’t do with the Di2 buttons so I have to reach for the Bolt instead
Garmin Edge touchscreen devices already support pan and zoom, so this is more catchup feature, yes?
Not a catchup feature, careful buildup for a future generation that comes with a touchscreen (preferably in addition to the existing buttons, not replacing them). Show them what they will be missing if they refuse to upgrade (in 2024).
Hi Ray, Have you seen Stryd’s announcements this week? What are your thoughts on the their current offering and how they are developing their platform?
Yup…saw it as well. Good iteration. Still a bit concerned about the viability of that market in terms of growth potential to the scale required to make investor money happy.
Would it be GRIT X2 or GRIT PRO ? Would be an odd marketing twist to rename a 2nd generation as “pro” instead of current stream of V2, M2, Ignite 2 …..
Now even the heading of the below support page states Grit X 2.0:
link to support.polar.com
That’s 2.0 as in regard to the firmware version for the current Grit X.
Not the new one.
Off topic, Ray, but a tech tidbit. I noticed that in the last few days there is a Zwift update for Apple TV that supports the arrow keys on the (new) Apple TV remote. Much better!
Indeed, great to see!
Ray, do you think Polar or Garmin will release a sports tracker in 2021/2022 like the old A370 or Vivosmart or have both companies moved away completely from smaller tracker devices? Any thoughts on this welcomed.
I believe they are moving away form the low tier trackers.
There are so many actors on the market and the margins are slim.
Honestly not sure. It’s a tough market, and even tougher these days/recent years with $160-$170USD Apple Watch Series 3. Certainly that’s in theory a different market, but in practice – less so.
Place holders
Standard Version:
link to runningshop.se
And for the titanium version.
link to runningshop.se
Wahoo is overwhelmed by simple functions. Screen swipe is available with the point-and-go feature. But moving this function along with a designated route is a big problem.
So is the huge underexposed and hidden ROAM problem. Continuous freezing when you exceed 250km – 300km. Answer from service wahoo that the meter is directed to users what do 200km WHAT ??? such a company answered me so. It’s strange that they don’t write anything about this restriction on their website.
Looking at the boldv2 map I don’t like its malleable and out of focus appearance. Streets not legible. It looks better on ROAM with fewer colors.
Late to the party on ‘pan and zoom’ as I’ve just used it for the first (and probably last) time on my new Roam (to replace 6 year old Bolt). Disconcerted to see it ignores the ‘screen up’ command and defaults to ‘north up’, which makes it much harder to use, given the screen and definition isn’t that great. Gave up and pulled out my phone instead …