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
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
Author Archives: Ray Maker
Peloton’s Seatpost Recall, Zwift’s Curious Steering Rebirth, and GoPro Price Drop
Things have been heating up this week in the sports tech space – albeit, not all of the heating has been of the new product variety. Still, here’s a few things I found worthy to dive into deeper. Peloton Seat … Read More Here
Suunto Vertical: The Complete User Guide
Just a quick heads up for those that aren’t subscribed on YouTube, that I’ve just hit publish on my detailed 45-minute-long user guide for the new Suunto Vertical watch. In this guide I dive into virtually every feature and how … Read More Here
Suunto Vertical GPS Watch In-Depth Review: Solar, Mapping, WiFi, and More!
<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span> Suunto has finally delivered. With the new Suunto Vertical, the company appears to be heading down the right track towards having a more competitive hardware offering. The new Suunto … Read More Here
Strava Expands 3rd Party App Developer Program
Strava has announced an “updated developer program”, which is the program that some 85,000 developers and apps use to leverage the platform via its API (application programming interface). Unquestionably, in the sports world – there’s no online platform that’s had … Read More Here
Sports Tech Tidbits: Whoop Adds Strength Training, Garmin eBike Varia eRTL615 Radar, Wahoo’s RGT Elite Sterzo Support
We’ve got three tidbits of sports tech coming in today, from three very different realms. First up is the oft-rumored, and finally here, addition of Strength Training to the Whoop platform. Then there’s Garmin launching a wired version of their … Read More Here
Suunto Expands Coaching & Training Analytics With New Update
Suunto is joining the fray of companies releasing major software updates over the last two weeks, with a suite of updates on their smartphone app that are available for all Suunto App-capable watches. The first part of this update changes … Read More Here
Wahoo’s Injunction Request Against Zwift Hub Denied By Judge
A judge has denied Wahoo’s request to prevent Zwift from continuing to sell the Zwift Hub smart trainer. That smart trainer is the center of a legal dispute between the two companies, which Wahoo says infringes on their existing patents, … Read More Here
Apple Expands Running Track Mode to France, Spain, and Netherlands
Finally, I’m able to run on a track with an Apple Watch! Apple has turned on the previously launched running track mode for additional countries – notably France, Spain, and the Netherlands (my home). Apple’s running track mode automatically detects … Read More Here
Massive COROS Spring 2023 Update: Navigation to Pace 2, WiFi Maps, Price Drop, and More
COROS appears to be coming out of their winter hibernation with a bang for existing customers. While COROS had gotten themselves into a loose monthly-ish firmware update cycle most of the last few years, things got pretty quiet since December. … Read More Here
Wahoo Announces Summit Freeride: First Ride Thoughts!
Here’s a quickie of a post, at least until I can properly test it. Wahoo has announced their own free-riding version of their climbing metrics, akin to Garmin’s free-ride ClimbPro and Hammerhead’s free-ride CLIMBER. This allows you to ride without … Read More Here
Garmin Edge 540 Cycling GPS In-Depth Review
Garmin’s Edge 540 is part of a twofer of new cycling GPS units, alongside the touchscreen enabled Edge 840 that was concurrently launched. These two units are nearly identical in software features and functionality, while their core hardware difference is … Read More Here
Week in Review–April 16th, 2023
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 … Read More Here
Quick Video: Using the Edge 840 Touchscreen With Rain & Gloves
Here’s a super quick post, for a super quick video, to demonstrate something that’s been frequently requested: Using the Edge 840 touchscreen with rain/water on the screen, as well as how it works with gloves. I had meant to include … Read More Here
Zwift Outlines Summer Features, Plus Zwift Hub Firmware Update
Yesterday Zwift announced their summer feature plans, which include a number of actually pretty useful features. And in this case, ‘summer’ really means anything vaguely warm, including May. Also, this is not Australian summer, but Austrian summer. Atop that, as … Read More Here
Strava Launches Spotify Integration: Hands-On Quick Overview
Look, I’m a sucker for Spotify integration in anything. Be it watches, Ikea speakers (because I’m too cheap to buy the fancy-proper SONOS ones), or as is the case today, Strava. Don’t worry, this post is a quickie, and more … Read More Here
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar In-Depth Review: Bigger and Flashlight-Equipped!
Garmin’s new Instinct 2X aims to complete the threesome size lineup of the Instinct 2 series, offering now a small, medium, and large edition. However, most notably, it becomes the next series of watches to include the flashlight, which Garmin … Read More Here
Garmin Edge 840 Cycling GPS In-Depth Review
Garmin has just announced the new Edge 840, as well as Edge 540 units. And like last year, with the more expensive Edge 1040, both the 540 and 840 get Solar variants. However, the changes go far beyond just sunny-side-up … Read More Here
A Week of Sunshine Swim/Bike/Run/Hike in Mallorca
Last week was a busy one, packed with cycling, running, swimming, hiking, and all sorts of other things. I was down on the Spanish island of Mallorca, a short 2ish hour flight from home in Amsterdam, putting in the miles. … Read More Here
Garmin Adds New Beta Features to Fenix 7/Epix Product Family
The next quarterly public beta program has begun for the Fenix 7/Epix family, with the initial list of new features and changes being released. These features include features recently launched on the Garmin Forerunner 965 and Forerunner 265, such as … Read More Here
Previously Disqualified Zwift Cheater Tries MyWhoosh, Gets Promptly Disqualified
While cheating happens every day, all day, on Zwift and other virtual cycling platforms. Every few months there exists a story worth writing about. And today is one of those days. I’m out riding, running, and swimming a stupid number … Read More Here
Bryton Gardia R300 Cycling Radar In-Depth Review
Last summer at Eurobike 2022 Bryton sorta-kinda-but-not-really announced their new Bryton Gardia R300 cycling radar. For those unfamiliar, a cycling radar detects overtaking vehicles (or cyclists/mopeds/etc…), and warns you on your bike computer/watch. At the time of announcement it … Read More Here
Garmin Changes Public Beta Program For Faster and Easier Access
Garmin has announced a set of changes to their public beta program, which they say are based on feedback from customers. While Garmin has had public beta firmware versions for a number of years, it was only a year ago … Read More Here
Week in Review – March 19th, 2023
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 … Read More Here
Tech Tidbits: Supersapiens DQ for Pro Cyclist, Wahoo/Zwift Court Update, and COROS 1-on-1 Coaching
Spring is nearing, and as a result, we’re starting to see sports tech things warming up. And, also, as is applicable today – racing spring events using sports tech things. Overall, I think this is gonna be one of the … Read More Here
Fitbit Makes Some Premium Subscription Features Free
Fitbit has announced that they’ll be making a set of their Fitbit Premium subscription features free to all Fitbit users – including for Pixel Watch users which leverage the Fitbit features. These features are mostly historical data access features (versus … Read More Here