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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Author Archives: Ray Maker
Wahoo KICKR V5 (2020) Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
Wahoo has just announced their latest generation KICKR, now in its 5th iteration. This new unit adds compressing feet to reduce vibrations on hard floors as well as slightly increase motion. It also eliminates the need for calibration by adding … Read More Here
Elite Sterzo Smart In-Depth Review: Here’s How It Works With Zwift
It took a year. No, not just for steering to finally make it from semi-announced Elite/Zwift products, but for me to be convinced there’s value there. And last night, a mere two turns into a race I had my ‘Holy … Read More Here
Zwift Considering $45/Month Plans and Huge List of New Features in Latest Survey
Zwift has sent out a survey to numerous members (including myself) that indicates they’re pondering multiple membership tiers, steering + braking, hosted audio-video workouts, premium racing leagues, and many more features. While the survey is of course meant to gather … Read More Here
Hands-on: FORM Goggles Openwater Swim Mode Released for Apple/Garmin Watches
As previously announced back in May, FORM has released their new openwater swim mode that connects their heads up display swim goggles to certain Garmin or Apple Watches, enabling you to see details of your swim in real-time while openwater … Read More Here
Elite Direto XR/XR-T Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
The new Direto XR has increased specs including 24% simulated gradient, a cassette, and improved ERG mode. But is it just as accurate? I dig in with full in-depth testing! Read More Here
Specialized Quietly Launches New Tarmac SL7 Using Augmented Reality
I initially was going to write about some new and increased functionality changes with the Specialized Ride app and Wahoo’s bike computers, building upon what they launched earlier this year. But then I got distracted trying to take a photo … Read More Here
How To Upload Your Garmin Workout During the Outage
For the last 18 or so hours, Garmin.com has been unavailable. And, if we know anything about endurance sports – it’s that if a workout isn’t uploaded to Strava, it definitely didn’t happen. So, I’m here to help you get … Read More Here
Tuesday Tidbits: Starbucks Card on Garmin Edge/Watches, COROS Mojito, Zwift Hardware Survey
It’s Tuesday, and there’s been a handful of things I’ve been meaning to post some quick tidbits about. Items that slipped out over the last few days (or weeks) but didn’t really deserve a full post of their own. But … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
We’re cresting the mid-point of the typical summer months here (I know, technically summer goes into September, but everyone mentally counts summer as June/July/August). Plus, by September I’m sure it’ll be raining again. Which, in retrospect it did yesterday too. … Read More Here
Week in Review: July 19th, 2020
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
Behind the Scenes on Zwift’s Tour de France TV Broadcast, Plus Zwift’s New RaceView
Over the years I’ve often dug into the behind the scenes technical aspects of the biggest cyclist races in the world. From rider live tracking to the facilities that TV broadcasters use to get that race coverage to you. And … Read More Here
Tacx Flux 2 Smart Trainer (2020 Edition) In-Depth Review
Very few reviews last two years in length, but the Tacx Flux 2 is in a saga level unto itself. For this review I dive deep into the belly of the Flux 2 to see if it’s finally fixed. Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Summer marches on! Sometimes that includes indoor activities, and sometimes that’s including the great outdoors. But more importantly, sometimes that includes pizza. Here’s what I was up to this past weekend. 1) Zwift L’Étape du Tour Stage 2 Well….right. As … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 12th, 2020
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
GoPro Adds Webcam Feature to Hero 8 Black: How-to guide
Today GoPro has launched a beta feature for the Hero 8 Black that allows you to use it as a tethered USB webcam for apps like Zoom, Teams, Twitch, and basically any other app that can use a USB webcam … Read More Here
Garmin Fenix 6/6S Pro Solar Review: What’s new & different
Today Garmin has extended the solar option on the Fenix 6 series to include the Fenix 6S Pro and Fenix 6 Pro units, completing the family. Read More Here
Garmin Instinct Solar Review: What’s New & Different
The Garmin Instinct Solar builds upon the existing Garmin Instinct outdoor focused watch, but completely revams the internals to dramatically increase battery life, touting an ‘Unlimited’ battery mode. How well does it hold up to in-depth testing though? Read More Here
5 Random Things I did This Weekend
As we usher in July (already?), here’s what I was up to this past weekend. Overall, for the most part here in the greater Amsterdam region, unless you were planning on partaking in some event, things are mostly back to … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 6th, 2020
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
Stages Bike (SB20) In-Depth Review
The Stages Bike is a full featured smart bike that’s controllable by apps like Zwift & TrainerRoad, but how well does it work, and what are the quirks? I dig in with tons of details to find out. Read More Here
Polar’s Unite Fitness Watch: Hands-on Details and First Run
Almost exactly a year after announcing the Polar Ignite GPS watch, the company is back with another wearable – the similarly named Unite, which takes all the Polar Ignite features, slashes the internal GPS, and drops the price by $50. … Read More Here
Garmin Acquires Firstbeat Analytics: A Quick Analysis of the Winners and Losers
It was about that time of year for Garmin’s fitness or outdoor business to acquire someone else. It seems to be roughly a yearly tradition, for example last year was Tacx. The year prior, the remains of a bankrupt solar … Read More Here
DCR Video: Riding Zwift on the Actual Champs-Élysées
You know what happens when you’ve got terabytes of old and unused video footage sitting on your recently expanded server? You make a video for DCR Supporters, that’s what you do. And three months ago – I did just that. … Read More Here
Virtual Tour de France & L’Étape du Tour on Zwift: Everything You Need to Know
Today ASO and Zwift have announced a Virtual Tour de France, which will start taking place this weekend with 23 Men’s UCI WorldTour teams, and 16 Women’s UCI WorldTour teams racing. The truncated event won’t quite mirror that of the … Read More Here
Week in Review–June 28th, 2020
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