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
Polar’s New H9 Heart Rate Strap: Everything you ever wanted to know
Polar has announced today a new heart rate chest strap, undercutting slightly their higher-end H10 strap with a less expensive offering that ditches the onboard storage, while still maintaining the trio of connectivity choices (ANT+/Bluetooth Smart/5kHz). Essentially, it’s Polar’s perfectly … Read More Here
The StagesBike: A Quick Hands-On Update
Update: You can find my final Stages Bike In-Depth Review post here! It’s been almost 5 months since Stages first announced their StagesBike at Eurobike. At the time they stated they planned to ship in Q1 2020 (which is, sometime … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend in Singapore
Phew – it’s been a whirlwind last 10 days! Flying to Australia for the Tour Down Under (with more posts to come, especially some cool behind the scenes bits on tech), and then now just getting back home this morning. … Read More Here
Garmin Adds Bluetooth Heart Rate & Running Data Broadcasting for FR245/FR945
Garmin has quietly begun offering the ability for users to start re-broadcasting their heart rate over Bluetooth Smart with certain wearables, via an open beta program. While virtually all Garmin wearables made in the last…ever…support re-broadcasting of heart rate over … Read More Here
New DC Rainmaker Partnership with Wiggle for Europe/Australia/New Zealand
I’m excited to announce a new partnership here on the site – this one primarily focused for Europeans, as well as Australian and New Zealand readers (and other places Wiggle delivers). A perfect fit for right now given I’ve spent … Read More Here
Bike Computers of the 2020 WorldTour Pro Peloton
Never have I ever seen so many Garmin Edge units in one place, than is on show at the Tour Down Under this year. That’s of course partly because Garmin in recent years has shifted away from being a major … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2020: Sports Tech of the Pro Women
Each time I inventory the women’s pro ranks, things get better and better in terms of equipment. Back a few years ago, it felt like a push to even have the same bike frames on a team. Whereas this year … Read More Here
Hands-on: Wahoo adds Specialized ANGi Helmet Sensor Integration
Wahoo and Specialized have announced a new integration that lets Wahoo users automatically start and stop the Specialized ANGi helmet live tracking and crash detection features, directly from their Wahoo ELEMNT/BOLT/ROAM computers. This integration (as you’ll see), seems more of … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2020: Power Meters Of the WorldTour Men’s Teams
Looking for what the riders of the 2020 UCI WorldTour are using as their power meters? Here’s a complete inventory from the Tour Down Under 2020. Read More Here
NPE Runn Treadmill Smart Sensor: Everything you need to know
A few weeks ago when Zwift announced their new running track within Watopia, a bunch of you were curious about the NPE Runn device I showed briefly within that post. But then yesterday Zwift sent an e-mail out to about … Read More Here
A Look at EatMyRide: Automated Nutrition Planning with Strava/Garmin Integration
While at CES last week I had the chance to get a bit of a demo from one of the companies within startup pavilion. This pavilion is a bit like speed dating for companies. They’ve got a very small stand … Read More Here
Week in Review: January 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
First Look: Amazfit’s Crazy Treadmill & Wall Display System
The most common question I get while walking around the CES show floor each year is: What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen here? Every…single…person asks me that. Every hour, every day, every year. And generally speaking this year it was … Read More Here
Stages Further Lowers Power Meter Pricing to $299
No matter how you feel about single-sided power meters, there’s zero denying that Stages and their timing of the decade deal with then Team Sky, dramatically increased power meter consumption. In the rising tide lifts all boats department, they took … Read More Here
Suunto 7 with Wear OS–Maps, Music, Payments: Everything you ever wanted to know
(**UPDATE: There has since been a Suunto 7 In-Depth Review. Follow the link for the most up to date information**) There’s only two words to describe the just announced Suunto 7 GPS watch: Hail Mary. How this story ends will … Read More Here
Coming Up Next Week: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020!
If I had to summarize what I expect I’ll see next week at CES into three words it’d be: Huh, that’s different. CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, is of course the annual gathering of the world’s tech companies to show … Read More Here
Zwift’s Running Track Is Open: Here’s what a structured track workout is like
Yes, I just ran in Zwift. For real. On purpose. And somehow, someway…it didn’t suck this time. Earlier this week in an apparent New Year’s Eve ‘let’s do this’ moment, Zwift rolled out its last course edition of this year: … Read More Here
The Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway Results/Winner
Last year…err…I mean earlier this week, I held the ‘You Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway’. Wherein some 5,014 of you awoke from your holiday slumber just long enough to enter and express your desire to one-up the … Read More Here
The Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway
I’m sure many of you received various sports gadgets over the last few weeks as part of the holidays. But for those unlucky elves who received only a half-eaten gel packet in their Christmas stocking from their not-so-significant others, I’ve … Read More Here
GoPro Light Mod Accessory In-Depth Review
Way back when the GoPro Hero 8 was announced, the company also announced a series of ‘Mods’, err…accessories as the rest of the world calls them? In any case, there were three announced accessories at the time: 1) The Media … Read More Here
Just Got A New Sports Gadget? 37 Tips To Get You Started
So, you just got a new gadget under the tree (or, perhaps for some other holiday – or random sale – in the last while). Congrats! Now, you’ve gotta figure out how to channel your inner sports geekdom to get … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
As we wind down the year, it seems just as busy as ever before. Here’s what we were up to on this holiday, geek, and bike-themed weekend wrap-up! 1) Year-end photo consolidation (Warning: Photography geekery ahead, skip to the other … Read More Here
Getting the Christmas Tree Home via Bike: 2019 Edition
In now it’s 7th year, we’ve been moving the Christmas tree home by bike. It started when we lived in Paris, using a bike share Velib to make the trek from our favored Christmas Tree vendor at the flower markets … Read More Here
Friday Tidbits: Trainer App news, FR245/FR945 gets major update, KICKR Bike gets profiles
Here’s your quick round-up of news that I didn’t quite get to this past week. Or, that wasn’t quite worthy of an entire separate post. Either way, it’s Friday, let’s get on with it. Rouvy & RGT (Road Grand Tours) … Read More Here
DJI Mavic Mini In-Depth Review
This is DJI’s lightest drone yet – but have they cut too many features to make it one of their best drones? After more than a month of testing, I detail all the nuances. Read More Here