Heads up!!! Here’s your massive Cyber Monday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $619, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) 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.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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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.
Are you going to review the eos swim better ?
For the most part, I try and find a balance between things people want to see reviewed, and things people are actually going to buy from a pricing standpoint.
A $799 swim device is a really tough sell. A $90-$130/year membership atop that is an even harder sell. Given all the devices that are in my never-ending backlog, I’m really struggling to see how to dedicate time to this, given how few people would benefit from a review, unfortunately.
But, maybe I’m wrong.
Totally understand Ray, you must have loads of products backed up and I’m sure you get asked to review a plethora of apps especially the explosion of ‘AI’ coaches.
I’ve been interested in these having used the now defunct Incus Swim device (victim of realistic pricing on the devices but no recurring revenues model, then a pivot into pro peloton tracking 🤦🏻♂️) we need to clone you!
You are 100% not wrong Ray. The pricing on this is way too high, possibly just quite high without the subscription but that’s a deal breaker for me. Same with the Form goggles, having swimstraight as a subscription only is crappy customer service.. put stuff behind a paywall when I’ve paid good money for hardware and I’ll never be a customer.
If you believe their marketing hype then the QIDI Vida – Smart AR Glasses for Sports will solve all the issues of existing HUD sports glasses, not sure how it will deliver though.
link to kickstarter.com
Those Nike outfits! 😆 The thing about swimming power meter reminded me of the swim goggles with head up display from a few years ago and, not totally related but I have been looking at the ENGO 2 HUD sports glasses. I don’t think you’ve ever reviewed that. From stuff I’ve seen on the interwebs, they look good but a little bit unreliable with people complaining that they break after few weeks or a month or two. Any plans to do a review of those?
Quote of the day…
“Professional athletes should be able to compete without dedicating brain space to constant pube vigilance”
Hey Ray, while I agree with your reasoning on testing the eon swim better, part of the fun of your work is that you do often test some very different technology items that most of us wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. There isn’t a ton of great swim tech out there so let me put in my modest vote for you giving the eons a whirl. Also, some of my favorite Ray stories have to do with swimming (remember when the stingray tried to kill you?!) so there is always the chance for some magic…
I do wonder if such a power meter would measure the force applied to the nose of certain underwater animals ;) Of course, no harm should come to animals or any other creatures (including Ray).
Cycling Weekly tested the Campag Power Meter – doesn’t seem great.
link to cyclingweekly.com
I’d call that more of a “first impressions” rather than a “review” especially because it was a “test unit pre-release and as such, the My Camp 3.0 app has yet to receive its update in order to recognize the power meter. Thus, we could not conduct any in-app calibration, should that be required.” So not clear that it was final hardware or firmware and cannot be properly calibrated because their app isn’t compatible yet…
You think peloton is ever gonna land in NL? I’d like to use it for the classes but in europe is only vbaible in germany
I expect so.
Peloton keeps saying in their investor calls each quarter, that this is the year for expansion in Europe. I’ve gotta imagine that the Netherlands is the easiest of Easy Buttons (high rate of English language, high rate of German language). I’d also imagine Spain being on the list too.
Of course, as always, we’ll see…
Would you consider updating buyers guide for smart trainers? I find to be whole product space bit overwhelming haha.
Yeah, all the guides need updating.
Super short guide though:
If going with Zwift, and don’t want to spend more than $1,000 – get the Wahoo KICKR Core Zwift One Hub Deal. If playing the app field, get a KICKR CORE with the cassette of your choice.
If spending more than $1,000 – you can basically decide between:
A) Wahoo KICKR V6/Move
B) Tacx NEO 3M (or, a Tacx NEO 2T with the Motion Plates for far far far cheaper)
C) Elite Justo
There ya go. :)
Thank you!
Thanks very useful. How do used trainers slot into this? There is Kickr V5/V6 to be had bellow 1K.
Any idea what’s going on at Stages Cycling? Every product now shows out of stock. Weird??
Reddit has a few threads mentioning layoffs on 19 April as well as no responses to inquiries. Anyone have any solid info?
link to escapecollective.com
Interesting ad I saw in Facebook for a new imu st is releasing that I’m guessing will have uses in sports.
link to content.st.com
Would be interesting to see how advances in imu sensors impact measurements. Would be interesting to see how much they are changing. For example how much difference is there from the imu in the fenix 7 and the Fenix 8 when that comes out? Will newer more accurate sensors allow significantly better running power data? Everyone talks about how software improves to allow for better features but how much depends on better hardware
Thanks for posting about my eoSwimbetter video!
I wonder how many years it will take Zwift to fulfill their promise to open the Click Button protocols to other companies? I would love to use the Click Buttons for electronic shifting in apps like Rouvy and MyWoosh.