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…
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 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.
Ray, what are your thoughts on the Giant Group investing in Stages? Asking as an SB20 owner.
For consumers it’s only a good thing I’d think. Keep in mind that Stages already had a partnership with Giant, as when they launched the latest gen bike computers a year ago, one was under a Giant branded banner (same models/firmware/etc, just two branding options).
Inversely, I could see it giving Stages more funds to double-down on perhaps an SB20 bike refresh.
Any rumours about a Karoo 3 this or next year Ray?
I woud love to step over from Garmin.
To me, it’s expected. Just a question of when. Obviously, late spring is a smart timeframe to launch a bike computer. Though, some have done it end of summer too (but that’s sorta out of fashion now).
The big-ticket items I’d be looking for are:
A) Better battery
B) UI a crapton faster
C) Proper smartphone app/integration
Honestly, anything else beyond that is just icing, given their existing units continue to see strong updates every few weeks.
Hi Ray,
What are your thoughts on the Garmin FR 265 and 965 rumors? Only 9 months after the launch of the 255 and 955.
I guess that Ray has signed some form of NDA with Garmin, so he can’t comment on that before the official release. I’m sure we will see his reviews on the launch day for both devices.
On the other hand, my personal opinion is that releasing 265/965 is very unfortunate decision. Especially if 955 is still not in the state of reliable device (just scroll through Garmin forums how many issues are being reported every day and are still not fixed). I think that Garmin needs to start focusing on quality instead of quantity. Also, the accuracy of the 955’s (and 255’s, too) selling features like HRV status is very questionable, at least. Then we have a half-baked Physio True-up (e.g. not syncing body battery, HRV)… I could go on with the Garmin current issues…
Index S2 software update came out, they claim “Body Metric Improvements”. Not sure if it’s any better. They made a video on how to force update your scale.
Yup. I haven’t noticed any difference with my S2.
Weirdly, you have to manually update it. Flip over the scale do some battery stuff, press some buttons, etc… They sent out a video via e-mail a few days ago: link to youtube.com
I frankly fail to understand how on earth Garmin, on their 2nd gen device, doesn’t have an auto-update process for a WiFi scale that can connect whenever the heck it wants to update. What?!?!?!
This update has BRICKED all devices that took the update. After the software update, the scale does not sync to Garmin Connect anymore.
link to forums.garmin.com
I just noticed that the Garmin Connect app now has a “Set Body Composition” option for the Index S2:
“The values you enter below will be used by your Garmin Index S3 Smart Scale to estimate future body composition metrics. We recommend entering recent values from a trusted source, such as a DXA scan or another reputable body composition measurement.”
Fields include: Date of Measurement, Body Fat %, and Skeletal Muscle Mass (optional).
Ray, it would be awesome if you could review the effectiveness of the new feature sometime… help me (and others) decide if its worth forking out for a DXA (or equivalent) scan just to calibrate this thing? :)
Cheers.
Oops, “S3” was a typo… was meant to be “S2” of course ;)
Hello Ray,
What are your thoughts regarding a new form factor, in the form of a ring, coming from mayor brands like Garmin that can track all the wellness data used for advance options like training suggestion?
I would be really interested on it, as is a bit tiring such a cluncking watch 24/7 and I prefer to use on my day to day my automatic watch. This way you use 24/7 the ring and the garmin watch when you train.
Do you see this feaseble in the future?
Thanks,
ME
I’m not sure. I suppose maybe very long term, but if i were Garmin (or Apple) I’d probably sit on it for a while and let the battery/sensor tech mature.
The other challenge, is that from a SKU standpoint it’s a nightmare. Oura has 8 ring sizes, each with 8 different-sized chargers. Now, multiply that by the number of model finishes/colors you have, and it just compounds over and over again. In this case, Oura has two styles (Horizon and Heritage) and ~5 colors per style. My brain hurts at the number of combinations we’re talking here to stock (~80 styles combos). And while that’s semi-viable for direct-to-consumer, since it’s all Oura does, it’s not viable for retailers/distributors (which is what Apple/Garmin/etc do).
Not to mention sizing as a process. Oura does that with a ring sizing kit, which means they send you a bunch of fake plastic rings, and then you size/test, and then order correct size. The challenge there is barrier to intsa-purchase, as well as cost of shipping the sizing kits out.
Obviously, Apple & Garmin have their own SKU nightmares, but for retailers, they can pick the most popular SKU’s. With Oura, you can’t, as your baseline is literally the size of someon’s finger.
I am kind of surprise that you did not feature the new underwater bike parking here :-D
Or are you planning to shot your own video about it?
Planning to shoot something myself. Giving it a few days to settle in. I believe today is the last day for the older/other parking garages for people to have bikes out of it.
Are you allowed to fly drones through it? ;-)
Hi Ray
Any idea when the Garmin 965 will be released? Will you be offering a discount code if we order it through one of your “partners”? ty
Hey Ray, could you shed some light on today’s situation regarding Garmin’s Physio Trueup? What does it really do and what does it not do, both in the unified version and the old version? Equally important, how well does it perform in your experience? And how does it work with one device that does and one that doesn’t have the unified PhT?
I have used the old PhT in the past with a FR935 and Edge 830, found it rather wonky. I have recently replaced the FR with an Epix2. That has the new unified version, but the 830 hasn’t. To my surprise, the GC app is only showing me one status now, which is identical to the Epix. The toggle between devices isn’t there. On the 830, the numbers are still different, although they seem closer than before. Is GC simply only showing the numbers of the preferred/primary device, or it something more than that? And can the Epix use the data from the 830 in an improved way, even though the latter doesn’t support unified? I assume at least I’ll have to accept the 830 isn’t getting improved results, thanks to the Epix’ unified PhT?
Tnx!!