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 2023 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.
How to Load Zwift or TrainerRoad on a Peloton Bike: A Geek’s Guide
This post started almost 100% for my own reference as a simple notepad file. But enough people asked about my random Instagram stories using it for Zwift and TrainerRoad, that I figured I’d write it up into something semi-cohesive. While … Read More Here
Week in Review–June 14th, 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
Strava Rolls Out New Local Legends Feature: Here’s how it works in action
Strava has rolled out a new feature today to a subset of the population that lets all Strava users earn a new type of crown equal to that of the KOM/QOM, simply for doing a given segment more times than … Read More Here
Garmin Shows Off New On-Device Sleep Tracking Widgets
On the list of things that I didn’t think would be all that exciting, I’d put forth ‘Widget that shows my sleep from last night’. Turns out, I was wrong. This past weekend I had put a couple of random … Read More Here
Lezyne’s Komoot & Relive Integration Update: How it all works
Last month Lezyne rolled out a new integration with Komoot and Relive, as part of what they see as their primary substantial firmware update for the 2020 season. It applies to a slate of GPS units (including the higher end … Read More Here
Timex R300 $129 GPS Smartwatch In-Depth Review
If you had asked me late last year for a list of surprisingly capable devices I expected to find on my wrist in Spring 2020, I certainly wouldn’t have said a $129 GPS watch from Timex. But here we are, … Read More Here
GoPro Rolls Out Labs Feature: Adds Pile of New Features to Hero 8
In a move that comes entirely out of left field, GoPro announced a new GoPro Labs feature (hosted on GitHub no less) that lets you tweak the heck out of your Hero 8 Black camera. With it comes the ability … Read More Here
Whoop 3.0 Band & Platform In-Depth Review
The Whoop platform is one of the most talked about athlete analytics platforms in recent years, but is it actually accurate? And if so, is it actually useful? I spent months comparing data to find out. Here’s my in-depth findings. Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Yes, this series is back! It’s been a while, but as the weather warms up, and people start getting a bit more freedom back in their lives, it seemed like a good time to bring back the weeklyish ‘5 Random … Read More Here
Week in Review–May 24th, 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
Trying Out Zwift’s New Boost Mode Feature in Beta
No, your Zwift bike doesn’t now have a new hub standard option. But for a select number of people as part of the Club Jarvis test group, there are now events with a new Boost capability that allows you to … Read More Here
First Look at COROS’s new Structured Workout & Strength Training Features
COROS has announced a slate of structured workout features for both inside and outside that’ll be pushed to the majority of their watches next week, specifically the VERTIX, APEX, and APEX Pro Series. So basically, everything except the budget-focused PACE. … Read More Here
Strava Cuts Off Leaderboard for Free Users, Reduces 3rd Party Apps for All, and More
After roughly five months of appeasing users with new feature after new feature after new feature, the other shoe has finally dropped. Today, Strava sold its segmented soul. At least, if you believe Strava Segments are the soul of what makes … Read More Here
Week in Review–May 17th, 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
How To: See Map Overlays of Varia Radar Data, with Vehicle Counts
As part of my Garmin Varia RTL515 & RVR315 radar review last week, a few eagle-eyed readers spotted a unique data field within my Garmin Edge device: The ‘Vehicle Count’ field. Except, more meets the eye here than just a … Read More Here
FORM Swim Goggles Adds Openwater Swimming with Garmin & Apple Watches
Today, FORM, maker of the heads-up display swim goggles, announced that it’s partnering with Garmin and Apple to bring openwater swim support to their goggles this summer, if you’ve got a compatible Garmin or Apple Watch. The move is notable … Read More Here
Garmin Launches Strava & Komoot Route Sync: Works on devices a decade old
Here’s how to link up your Garmin account to Komoot and Strava for automatic route/tours sync to your Garmin device – even crazy old ones! Read More Here
Garmin Varia RTL515 and RVR315 Cycling Radar In-Depth Review
Like clock-work, two years after releasing the last version of the Garmin Varia radar, the company has released its now third generation version. While this new version looks identical from the outside, it’s not internally – sporting new features and … Read More Here
Wahoo’s New 2020 TICKR & TICKR X: In-Depth Review
Wahoo has just announced a set of new TICKR & TICKR X heart rate straps that include some modest feature updates, most notably running dynamics support in the TICKR-X, as well as multiple concurrent Bluetooth Smart connections so you can … Read More Here
IQ2 Power Meter Pedals: First Rides Testing & Data Accuracy
[Updated note – Nov 2020: Please read the text. All of it. Especially the parts where I’m concerned about their ability to execute on the timeframes they’ve specified, and whether or not the unit I received for test is what … Read More Here
New DCR Cave Arrivals: SRM X SPD Power Meter, Wattbike ATOM X, Casio GBD-H1000
In a bit of a quiet week – a calm before the storm that will be early May in sports tech, I’ve got a few arrivals that I figured I’d drop a quick note here and some minor first impressions … Read More Here
DJI Mavic Air 2 vs Skydio 2: Cycling Test Shootout!
Today DJI announced their latest drone, the DJI Mavic Air 2. For those of you that follow the gear I tend to use, the original DJI Mavic Air is one of my main drone go-to’s, largely because of its small … Read More Here
Tour de Suisse Goes Digital: A Look at The Biggest Esports Cycling Race To Date
Over the past few days, and over the coming days, Rouvy is hosting the Digital Swiss 5. That confusingly named event is basically the digital version of the Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland), one of the major pro cycling … Read More Here
Hammerhead Announces Plans to Announce Karoo 2 Bike GPS
It looks like at some point in the year 2020 we’ll have at least one more cycling GPS added to your table of options. This week Hammerhead, in conjunction with one of their lead investors, announced plans for their next … Read More Here
Polar Grit X GPS Watch In-Depth Review
The Polar Grit X is Polar’s newest watch, focused on trail running, but also still a full featured multi-sport watch. I dive into all the details from accuracy to new features and plenty more. Read More Here