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
Week in Review–Feb 3rd, 2019
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
Polar Vantage M Multisport GPS Watch In-Depth Review
It’s been nearly five months since Polar first announced the Vantage series watches, including the Vantage M and Vantage V. You probably saw my Vantage V review a couple months back. Since then I’ve transitioned to using the less expensive … Read More Here
Garmin HRM-DUAL Heart Rate Strap In-Depth Review
Garmin’s finally released a dual-capable ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart heart rate strap – but is it worth buying? I dive in with plenty of data to see if it does the job. Read More Here
My Strava Unique Uploaded Device Tally
Back a few weeks ago while at CES 2019 I met up with the crew at Strava to catch-up on a variety of topics. While Strava doesn’t do booths or even off-floor suites, they do get a lot of miles … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
With our first full weekend here in Cape Town in the books, we went all-in on seeing animals with the kids and getting our fill of touristy related things. Of course, with tons more to see in the region and … Read More Here
Week in Review–January 27th, 2019
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
Zwift Finally Rolls Out World Choice…Sorta.
Finally, one of the most wanted features is now live in Zwift as of this morning. If you’ve got yourself a Mac or PC and Zwift, you can now select which world (map) you’re going to ride that day. As … Read More Here
CycleOps H2 (Hammer 2) Trainer In-Depth Review
Update: The CycleOps H2 has since been replaced by the Saris H3, though frankly, the only meaningful difference is noise. Here’s the link to my full H3 in-depth review. This past summer at Eurobike, CycleOps somewhat quietly announced their new … Read More Here
DC Rainmaker Cave Video Tour – January 2019
It’s been almost two months since the DCR Open House, when nearly 200 folks descended on the DCR Cave to take their first look at things. And while I’d like to say that things are dramatically different – the reality … Read More Here
Wahoo CEO Details Fixes for Issues Surrounding KICKR 2018 & KICKR CORE
Since the Wahoo KICKR 2018 and KICKR CORE were announced back at Eurobike 2018 (in July), it hasn’t entirely been smooth sailing for either product. While both have been enormously popular, and certainly the vast majority of people haven’t had … Read More Here
Hello Cape Town! I’m crashing your city through February!
It’s a sunny day here in Cape Town, and we’re ready to enjoy all the outdoors offerings this city and beyond hold. As we’ve done for the last three years, we’ve migrated south a bit for a month or so. … Read More Here
Suunto announces decommission plans for Movescount platform, impacting some watches
Two days ago Suunto announced plans to retire their online training platform, Movescount, sometime around Summer 2020 (~18 months from now). Instead, users will use the newer Suunto online platform (previously called Sports Tracker – no relation to SportTracks). That’s … Read More Here
CVRcade Trainer App: My adventure with trying it out
In the indoor cycling space, it’s becoming clear that money is a key easy button to success. Lots of money that is. We have Zwift with its $165.5 million, or Peloton with its $994.7 million (yes, $1 billion dollars). Of … Read More Here
Quick Update on Stages Dash L10, M50, and L50 Bike GPS Units (First Test Ride)
(*** In case you missed it, an in-depth review was posted of the three Dash L50, M50, and L10. See the link for more info.) While most of the cycling focus this week may be on the Tour Down Under in … Read More Here
Round-up video of all my CES 2019 final thoughts up!
With CES behind us, I’ve wrapped up and published almost everything that I plan to talk about from CES 2019 on the site already. While it was a bit of a quieter year for sports tech and wearables at CES, … Read More Here
Suunto expands TrainingPeaks support, as well as opens integration doors
The easy title for this post would simply be “Suunto adds TrainingPeaks support”, but that’d be both confusing and only half-correct. First, Suunto as a company has actually long sync’d to TrainingPeaks from their Movescount platform. That’s the platform that … Read More Here
4iiii Shows off Power Meter Theft Tracking Capabilities
Sitting innocently enough in a booth for Tile-competitor Chipolo sits a 4iiii dual-sided power meter. To say it’s out of place in this booth at CES would be an understatement. But, it’d also be missing the point of a fascinating … Read More Here
First Look: Body Heat and Solar Powered Matrix PowerWatch 2 GPS
Each year at CES people invariably ask me what’s the most interesting thing I’ve seen on the show floor. Some years, there’s many options to choose from. This year? Not so much. Still, my answer this year oscillates between this … Read More Here
First Look at the new $129 Withings Move ECG
It seems that Withings finally has its mojo back. After they were bought by Nokia, they entered what was more or less the dark ages for the company. We saw little to no innovation, and in fact, moving backwards in … Read More Here
First Look: Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music Cellular/LTE (for Verizon)
Today Garmin begins their journey with cellular enabled wearables, announcing the first such device, the Vivoactive 3 Music Cellular/LTE. Actually, technically it’s called the Garmin Vivoactive 3 connected by Verizon, leaving zero doubts about who exactly it’s available for. And … Read More Here
Apple’s Beddit 3.5 Sleep Tracker In-Depth Review
Most times I buy or receive products I’ve got a mental expectation of how that product will probably turn out. And most times, it’s correct. Sometimes a product hits it out of the park well beyond my expectations (the original … Read More Here
TreadTracker Treadmill In-Depth Review (And a Treadmill Accuracy Rabbit Hole)
We’re starting off the New Year with something from the old year. I bought the TreadTracker a year ago, and I’m finally getting around to posting about it. Fear not, what’s old is new again. And, for many of you … Read More Here
The Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway Results!
Last week I held the “You Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway”. It was an opportunity 5,289 of you with perhaps good intentioned, but uncalibrated loves ones, that didn’t get you the gadget you wanted over the holidays, … Read More Here
Week in Review–Dec 30th, 2018
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
The 2018 Sports Tech Year In Review: 12 Months in 12 Minutes
This past year has been a pretty substantial one for new sports tech products. Across nearly all categories we either saw piles of new devices to choose from, or saw a few really good new devices stand out from the … Read More Here