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
A look at AmpStrip–the really cool heart rate sticker & activity tracker
Yesterday I got the chance to catch-up with FitLinxx, which is making the AmpStrip sticker that does 24×7 heart rate monitoring, step tracking, sleep tracking and even body temperature. But wait, I realize you’re probably still back on the ‘sticker’ … Read More Here
Hands-on with the new Garmin Vivoactive GPS smartwatch, and the Garmin Vivofit2
Garmin has announced a metric crapton of products today, but it’s the Vivoactive that I’m probably most excited about. Or, at least, it’s the device I feel has the most potential and the widest possible appeal. But, perhaps I’m getting … Read More Here
Hands-on with the Garmin Epix GPS mapping & multisport watch
Today Garmin introduced a full color mapping GPS wrist watch that doubles as a multisport watch – making for the first time they’ve merged the multisport world with their historically separate handheld mapping units. This new unit – the Garmin … Read More Here
Hands-on with Garmin’s new Fenix3 multisport GPS watch with color screen
(Note: My Fenix3 In-Depth Review is now published and available here, go forth and enjoy all the details there instead!) Today, Garmin announced the latest iteration of their Fenix lineup with the Fenix3 multisport GPS watch. Described at its simplest … Read More Here
Giroptic edges closer to 360° action cam release, YouTube announces support for 360° footage (huge deal)
°° Giroptic was on-hand last night at the CES Unveiled event showing off their 360° action camera which had debuted on Kickstarter this past summer to very strong backer support. The action camera is somewhat a descendent of previous attempts … Read More Here
Withings shows off new lower priced Withings Activité Pop
Overview: Here at CES Withings showed off their latest activity tracker, the Activité Pop. The Pop is a daily activity and sleep tracker but in a non-obvious form factor. It’s designed to look like a regular watch, but with the … Read More Here
Polar Announces A300 Activity Tracker Watch, also MyFitnessPal automatic sync support
The A300 Overview: This weekend ahead of CES here in Las Vegas, Polar has announced their latest activity tracking watch, the A300. This watch aims to take the M400 GPS watch, remove the GPS part, and then call it the … Read More Here
Welcome to CES 2015!
Yup, today kicks off another year at the biggest and most important gadget show on earth – the Consumer Electronics Show – aka CES. Held in Las Vegas each year the first full week of January, this event has long … Read More Here
Week in Review–January 4th, 2015
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
Why you shouldn’t always trust “peer reviewed” studies: The Polar vs SRM papers
Earlier this week a peer reviewed university backed research paper was released that essentially said that Polar power meter pedals shouldn’t be trusted, and that instead, SRM was better: “The power data from the Keo power pedals should be treated … Read More Here
Huge Garmin Edge 510/810/1000 Update: Cycling Dynamics, Di2 Support, Edge Remote, Segments and more
Today Garmin has released an oft-asked about feature update to all of the Garmin Edge cycling units released in the last two years, bringing the Edge 510 and Edge 810 the vast majority of the new features found in the … Read More Here
Week in Review- December 27th, 2014
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
Wahoo introduces gym strength workout recognition to TICKR X, announces TICKR X API
Wahoo Fitness has announced their first major addition to the TICKR X heart rate strap, which brings with it a gym workout functionality mode that automatically recognizes a slew of different strength workout routines. This new functionality allows you to … Read More Here
Mio Fuse Activity Tracker and Optical HR Sensor In-Depth Review
This past summer Mio announced two new products to their lineup – the Mio Fuse and the Mio Velo. These products just recently started shipping in the past few weeks, giving me an opportunity to use the final hardware and … Read More Here
Week in Review–December 22nd, 2014
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
Friday Fun Video: How we got the treadmill underground into the DCR Cave
Earlier this week in my post about the DCR Cave, I noted the addition of a treadmill to the space. However, getting the treadmill to where you saw it was not quite the cake-walk we had hoped it would be. Rather, … Read More Here
First Look At The Névo Activity Tracker Watch
Last week the folks behind the Névo Watch that recently launched on Indiegogo swung by the DCR Studio to give me a hands on demo of their minimalist smart watch that also functions as an activity and sport tracker. As … Read More Here
A Roodepoort, South Africa Runaround
I arrived yesterday morning into Johannesburg around 7:30AM after an 11 hour flight from London. While I thought I might run in the afternoon following a day of meetings, my body was apparently able to rather successfully get rid of … Read More Here
The new DC Rainmaker Cave…and new Bertie’s Cake Studio in Paris!
This announcement has been a super-long time coming. As in, babies have been made in less time. Almost exactly one year ago The Girl and I started looking at expansion space – both for The CupCakery as well as a … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Woah, this was a crazy busy weekend for us. Pretty close to about as jam-packed as I think we can make things fit. Here’s the low-down (and this is skipping all sorts of stuff like a company that came and … Read More Here
The Santa Corrida de Noël 10K Race Report (2014)
This is our third year racing the annual Santa 10K event just on the edge of Paris. It has half a dozen different start waves over the course of the morning, from kids races to drop-dead serious racing of elites. … Read More Here
Week in Review–December 14th, 2014
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 ‘Anything On My Recommendations’ List Giveaway Results!
Over the weekend I held the ‘Anything on my Recommendations List’ giveaway, which basically meant that as long as I liked the product and it was listed on my Winter 2014-2015 Recommendations Guide – then you could win it. This … Read More Here
A London Weekend Runaround
Two quick reminders: First, the Giveaway Closes at the end of today, get your entries in! And second, if you’re in/around Paris this weekend, remember the DCR Open House is coming up on Saturday, along with the Santa 10K on … Read More Here
The ‘Anything On My Recommendations’ List Giveaway!
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could pick any gadget that’s on my ‘2014 Winter Sports Gadget Recommendations’ list and call it your own? Yup, I agree. And, so does Clever Training. So they’re offering up to one lucky holiday duck … Read More Here