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
1
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.
2
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 – Jan 14th, 2024
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
Garmin’s 2024 Q1 Wearables Beta Update: Huge New Features!
This is the first time I’ve written one of these quarterly posts where I can actually put “Wearables” in the title, rather than specifically ‘Fenix’ or ‘Forerunner’ or ‘Epix’. That’s because Garmin is actually close enough now that all … Read More Here
Garmin Connect App Revamp: Complete Walk-Through
Earlier this week Garmin announced the beginnings of a revamp of the Garmin Connect Mobile app – something that many people have been eager for…for many many years. As part of this revamp, they’ve also opened it up to … Read More Here
Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs Garmin Epix Pro: The NYC Test Gauntlet
It’s that time again – for another New York City GPS accuracy test. Just like the annual Christmas Tree by cargo bike tradition, so is the NYC GPS accuracy test posts. Albeit, this time I’ve got an interesting double-date test. … Read More Here
Polar Announces Deep Platform Integration With New Sennheiser Earbuds
Polar has just announced a super interesting new product. Or rather, Sennheiser has just announced a new product and Polar is a key part of it. This is the first non-Polar product to fully integrate into the Polar ecosystem, including … Read More Here
Garmin Lily 2 In-Depth Review
Garmin has just announced the Lily 2 smartwatch, which continues to be aimed at being a minimalist fitness and health smartwatch that contains most of the behind-the-scenes wellness tracking features of the rest of Garmin’s watches, but without as … Read More Here
Garmin HRM-FIT In-Depth Review: Best Women’s Heart Rate Monitor?
Garmin’s newest heart rate strap is one designed specifically for women, which essentially takes the features of Garmin’s high-end HRM-PRO Plus, but molds it into a strap that snaps onto your existing sports bra. The design aims to increase … Read More Here
Week in Review – Jan 8th, 2024
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
How Strava Accidentally Got Their Annual Report Stats Wrong
Welcome to 2024, and the year’s first legit DC Rainmaker Sports Tech Rabbit Hole. Every year Strava publishes their year in review stats, both in individual athlete form (more recently), but many years of total global and regional user-compiled stats. … Read More Here
A Strava Race Is Getting Spicy for Free Burritos
While digging around through press releases for a different post, I stumbled upon an announcement for a new Chipotle and Strava promotion running the month of January. While this press release had a lot of hand-waving feel-good New Year’s resolution … Read More Here
Peloton Adds Automated Power Zone ERG Mode: Hands-On
Peloton has launched automation for power zone workouts, allowing the Peloton Bike+ (that’s the fancier of the two models) to automatically adjust resistance according to the power zones specified by the instructor. Previously, the Bike+ would only change resistance levels … Read More Here
Getting the Christmas Tree Home via Bike: 2023 Edition
After crossing through the decade barrier last year, we’ve moved onto the 11th year of getting the Christmas Tree by bike. With Christmas itself nearly over, it was high time for me to finish this post. Obviously, this happened a … Read More Here
Xert’s New Forecast AI Let’s You Pick Future Max Power
As we slide into the quiet period around the holidays and end of year, companies are doing their best to finish off projects. And one such project that Xert has launched into beta is their Forecast AI tool. Essentially, the … Read More Here
Wahoo Fitness CEO On Future Wahoo Products, Past Mistakes
Last week while visiting Wahoo Fitness, I sat down with the founder and current co-CEO of the company, Chip Hawkins, for a wide-ranging interview discussing everything from past Wahoo initiatives (and failures), to the status of current products, as … Read More Here
DC Rainmaker Open House 2023 Recap!
Two weekends ago we held the 8th annual DC Rainmaker Cave Open House, where a couple hundred people descended upon the DCR Cave for an evening of sports tech geekery. As usual, they could explore the entire DCR Cave/Studio, and … Read More Here
Apple To Halt Sales of Apple Watch Ultra 2 & Series 9: Explained
Apple has confirmed they’ll be halting sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, following a ruling this past October by the International Trade Commission that ruled in favor of a patent dispute with Masimo, a … Read More Here
Apple Watch and TrainingPeaks Integration: How-to Guide
It’s been more than 6 months since Apple and TrainingPeaks announced plans for integration back at WWDC, and it’s finally here. In some ways, it’s kinda funny. From an end-user perspective, this actually isn’t some mind-bending new fancy feature. … Read More Here
Tech Tidbits: New Zwift Features, New Strava CEO, Apple Watch Siri Health Integration
Here’s a quick round of notable new sports tech things in the last 24 hours or so. New Strava CEO Appointed: After a 10-month search, Strava has announced the name of their new/upcoming CEO – Michael Martin. He will replace … Read More Here
Today’s Plan Announces Closure
Training & coaching platform Today’s Plan has announced they’ll be closing early next year. The Australian-based company has long been the chief competitor to TrainingPeaks, especially for coaches and high-performance teams. Numerous Tour de France teams have used the platform … Read More Here
Garmin Fenix & Epix Release History and Future Timelines
With all the sales of various sports tech products for the holiday period, there’s the inevitable question of whether or not new releases are around the corner. After all, companies offloading older inventory to make way for newer inventory is … Read More Here
Wahoo KICKR MOVE vs Tacx NEO 3M: The Definitive Comparison Guide
With the just released Tacx NEO 3M from Garmin this week, Wahoo’s KICKR MOVE smart trainer finally has a legit competitor in the built-in motion-enabled trainer space. Sure, you could (and still can) plop any trainer atop a rocker … Read More Here
The Massive 2023 Sportswatch Year in Review with DesFit
It’s December – and you know what that means: It’s time for the annual (and sprawling) – Sportswatch Year in Review video! This marks half a decade in a row of this annual video, where Des of DesFit, and … Read More Here
Behind The Scenes: DC Rainmaker Cave Tour
Last weekend was the annual DCR Open House, which was the most packed it’s ever been. However, after the beer, tech, and dust settled, Matt Legrand spent the following morning doing a full tour of the DCR Cave. And … Read More Here
Tacx NEO 3M In-Depth Review: Motion and Accuracy at a Price!
After a four-year wait, the next generation Tacx NEO series trainer is here – the Tacx NEO 3M. As one will quickly assess, the ‘M’ in 3M stands for ‘motion’, as this trainer isn’t sitting still. Instead, Garmin/Tacx has … Read More Here
Garmin Adds Wrist Temperature and More: How it Works
Garmin has begun rolling out wrist temperature tracking to watches with the newer Garmin ELEVATE V5 optical heart rate sensor in them, which includes the Garmin Epix Pro, Fenix 7 Pro, Tactix 7 AMOLED, and Venu 3 series. Those … Read More Here