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 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.
Author Archives: Ray Maker
Aero Optim 20J – The Wind Tunnel For Everyone: A Brief Explainer
Tucked away in a corner of one of the many desolate halls of Eurobike this year was Japan Wind Tunnel Manufacturing, and two of their wind tunnels under the Aero Optim names. When I first saw them early on the … Read More Here
Shimano’s Dura-Ace & Ultegra Power Meter (2nd Gen): Technical Deep-Dive
While much of the attention of this week’s new Dura-Ace R9200 & Ultegra R8100 Di2 product launches have been focused on the wireless and 12-speed access, far less has been written on the 2nd generation power meter. Likely because unlike … Read More Here
Wahoo Delays POWRLINK ZERO Speedplay Power Meter Pedals
This post will be a quickie. Namely, because I only have one line of information to share, but nonetheless, for what seems like a constant flow of people – that’s the one line they want to know. As you may … Read More Here
Fitbit’s New Charge 5 Details: Starts To Go After Whoop
At Fitbit’s annual end of summer announcement event, the company did not announce a Wear OS device (of any type). Though, they did (re)-commit to building one sometime in the future. Instead, they announced the Charge 5. The company says … Read More Here
FORM Adds Structured Workouts To Smart Swim Goggles
FORM has just announced structured workout support for their heads-up display swimming goggles. This marks the second major summer update for the goggles, which last summer got openwater swim support added (when paired with a Garmin or Apple Watch). This … Read More Here
Wahoo Adds New RIVAL Features: Race Distance Snapping, Find my Phone, and More
It’s been a couple of months since the last Wahoo RIVAL GPS watch feature update, but true to their word, Wahoo has continued to add new features to the RIVAL GPS watch. Some of these race/athletic focused, and some of … Read More Here
Openwater Swim GPS Test Extravaganza Results
A few years back I took a week while warm-water swimming to test a slate of GPS watches in openwater. Like a race, each watch got essentially one go at it, competing against another watch on the other wrist – … Read More Here
COROS VERTIX 2 Deep-Dive User Interface Video Posted
Just a super quick post to note that I’ve published a full unboxing of the COROS VERTIX 2, but more notably a complete user interface tour. In the video I walk through all the pieces of the watch from a … Read More Here
COROS VERTIX 2 In-Depth Review–With Maps and Music
It’s been just shy of a year since COROS’s last new model hardware release, the Pace 2. And while we’ve seen the many software updates over the last year, it appears their hardware team has been well-fueled with Mountain Dew … Read More Here
Strava Adds Major New Privacy Zone Features, Plus More Privacy & Map Options
Today Strava announced two sets of privacy-focused changes, arguably the biggest shift the platform has done in years with respect to user privacy. These new features allow you to significantly change what others can see about your activities, including everything … Read More Here
Samsung Outlines Galaxy Watch4: First New Google WearOS Watch–Full Details
Today, Samsung announced their Galaxy Watch 4, which is the first watch to utilize the new Google + Samsung variant of Wear OS. This new operating system (or, slightly rebranded one) allows access to the Google Play store, while Samsung … Read More Here
Garmin Adds New ‘Adventure Race’ Activity Profile: An Explainer
While scanning through the list of beta firmware updates that posted this week, I noticed a curious addition – a new ‘Adventure Race’ activity profile designed for races that prohibit GPS navigation during the race. Meaning that some races require … Read More Here
Week in Review–August 8th, 2021
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 Tidbit: Wahoo RIVAL Chirps Happy Birthday To You
While it’s been quiet the last week on the site, that’s largely because I’ve been on vacation. Or at least, vacation from posting (while on vacation). And while I had grand plans for many pre-planned posts, those never entirely materialized. … Read More Here
Elite RIZER In-Depth Review: Incline & Steering Simulation Accessory
The simplest way to explain the new Elite RIZER is that they merged a Wahoo CLIMB with an Elite Sterzo Smart, marrying both the steering aspects of the Sterzo Smart with the up and down functionality of the Wahoo CLIMB. … Read More Here
Suunto 9 Peak In-Depth Review
I’ve been wearing the Suunto 9 Peak for about two months now, getting a feel for how it handles workouts as well as day-to-day wear. In many ways, the Suunto 9’s biggest changes are physical in nature – the design, … Read More Here
Favero Assioma DUO-Shi Power Meter In-Depth Review (Shimano SPD-SL variant)
Favero has launched their newest Assioma variant today, the DUO-Shi, which simply takes the existing Favero Assioma pedals, but now with Shimano SPD-SL compatibility. Sorta. See, while that’s the end-point, the DUO-Shi product is actually just the pedal spindles … Read More Here
Heads Up: 48-Hour Wahoo 10-20% off KICKR, CORE, BIKE, Speedplay & More Sale
Just a super quick Monday heads up that Competitive Cyclist is running a 2-day sale on a boatload of Wahoo gear, for 10-20% off almost everything. We’ve semi-occasionally seen these 20% off sales on Wahoo products the day after the … Read More Here
JetBlack VOLT Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
I like being pleasantly surprised by smaller companies that nail a product. And the JetBlack VOLT is one of those such products, from one of those such companies. Sure, in the past JetBlack didn’t always have the most competitive or … Read More Here
A Few Random Things I Did This Weekend
We’re almost back at full ‘5 Random Things’ capacity here, though, this time topping out at 4 Random Things instead. Here’s the gadget and non-gadget filled goodness from the last few days. 1) Openwater Swim Testing Friday afternoon I headed … Read More Here
How to Screen Record On the Wahoo BOLT V2
Here’s a quick (and totally awesome) tip for Wahoo BOLT V2 users. You can now screen record what your Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT V2 is doing, which is useful for approximately two of us: Me and GPLAMA. Actually, three if we … Read More Here
A Few Random Things I Did This Weekend
Things are heating up! No, not the weather, but finally a bit more normalcy around these parts. And if you know anything about me and July, it tends to be one of the busiest months of the year, though usually … Read More Here
Let’s Talk About The Energym RE:GEN Smart Indoor Bike
Floating across my virtual desk this morning is a crowd-funded campaign for an indoor smart bike, the Energym RE:GEN indoor bike. Among its claim to fame is that you can charge your toothbrush with it. Also, it has a glowing … Read More Here
Shimano Connect Lab Launched: Hands-On Look At New Training Platform
Today Shimano launched their ‘Shimano Connect Lab’ training and analytics platform. This new platform is designed to replace that of the Pioneer Cyclo-Sphere online platform that they disconnected recently. However, it’s also designed to be a training platform for non-Pioneer … Read More Here
Lachlan Morton’s Tour de France Alt Tour: How the Tracking Device & Site Works
(Lachlan Morton and his full self-supported setup, credit: Grubers) By now you’ve undoubtedly heard of Team EF Education First’s Lachlan Morton’s so-called ‘Alt Tour’. In short, he’s solo riding not just the entire Tour de France route, but also all … Read More Here