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.
A Quick Look at the Withings Go Activity Tracker
As expected the early part of CES week saw a lot of new product announcements. There are lots of new players on the field with some innovative new products (and some obvious knock-offs and re-makes of existing technologies); but also … Read More Here
First Run with Lumo Smart Running Shorts
As the week goes on here at CES, I continue to add to my collection of first-time experiences that I’ve had recently. The most unique of the week thus far would go to Lumo Body Technologies, who makes running shorts … Read More Here
Thoughts on the Skulpt Chisel
I ran across the folks from Skulpt at CES this morning. You may recall Skulpt from a previous brief mention here a couple of years ago. That first generation device was a success and now they are out promoting their … Read More Here
Wahoo Fitness Announces GymConnect: Treadmill integration & control
One tiny step at a time Wahoo is slowly increasing their fitness related turf. This week at CES, they announced the GymConnect System, which allows you to control your treadmill and get it talking over ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart to … Read More Here
A look at Mio’s Personal Activity Intelligence Index, and a little Slice
We’re at kind of an odd place right now with the rapid developmental pace of sports technology. What we see happening is a misalignment of the hardware/software technology and the scientific and practical use cases for that technology. An … Read More Here
Fitbit’s Bad Day: How it ended up with multiple optical HR lawsuits, and a 20% stock drop
For the San Francisco based firm Fitbit, yesterday was likely the mother of all bad roller-coasters. They started off the morning at 7:30AM with a packed press room in the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Convention Center with the launch of … Read More Here
First Runs Impressions: Under Armour’s Speedform Gemini 2 Connected Running Shoes
Over the last few weeks I have charged a water bottle, charged a pair of sunglasses, and most recently – ‘turned on’ a pair of running shoes. As part of today’s HealthBox announcement, Under Armour is announcing the next generation … Read More Here
Under Armour’s HealthBox: WiFi Scale, Fitness Band, HR Strap, and more!
Today Under Armour has announced a flotilla of fitness products, likely to take the cake for the most unique fitness products announced by one company at the show this week. They’ve done so by partnering with HTC and delivering a … Read More Here
Fitbit Announces New ‘Fitbit Blaze’ Smart Fitness Watch
Update – March 2016! I’ve published my full Fitbit Blaze In-Depth Review here! Swing on over for all the details after extensive use! Today at CES Fitbit announced their latest wearable, the Fitbit Blaze. This new unit is effectively a … Read More Here
First Ride: Garmin Varia Vision–Heads Up Display
Today Garmin introduced their first heads up display, the Varia Vision. The $399 heads up display takes data such as speed, power, and even approaching cars from the Varia Radar – and plops it up on a small screen at … Read More Here
Hands-on: Garmin’s new Fenix3 HR with optical HR, new Fenix3 bands, major software update
Update! My Fenix3 HR In-Depth Review has now been published (click here)! You can swing over to that post to read all the details! Today at CES Garmin has introduced three new fitness devices, first up is the new Fenix3 … Read More Here
Polar Balance Scale In-Depth Review
Today Polar announced that they’ve joined the weight scale club and are now making their own Bluetooth Smart scale. This scale integrates straight into the Polar Flow ecosystem. You step on the scale, and it then syncs to your phone, … Read More Here
Welcome to CES 2016!
Yup, it’s that time of year again – when tech blogs the world around explode with news about fancy new gadgets at CES (Consumer Electronics Show). All sadly mere days after you just finished unwrapping new Christmas gadgets. Such is the … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Whoa – it was a crazy weekend spanning two transatlantic flights, three countries, and a whole lot of busy. 1) Flew Back from US/Canada After I wrapped up my run in Newark, it was time to head home back across the … Read More Here
Week in Review–January 3rd, 2016
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
A Newark Airport Layover Runaround
I figured I’d share a brief runaround from this past Thursday, if for no other reason than a bit of entertainment. We were working our way back home from St. John’s (Newfoundland, Canada) to Paris when we found ourselves with … Read More Here
Giveaway Winner: The You Didn’t Get What You Wanted $500 Gadget Giveaway
This past week was the giveaway for all those left disappointed by their Christmas tree offerings. No, not the pine needles, but rather the lack of proper sport gadgetry! Some 5,928 of you entered in expressing some form of displeasure … Read More Here
A Few Days of Christmas in Seattle
So I’m running a wee bit behind on getting posts up, as I’m currently underwater with Consumer Electronics Show (CES) related prep posts for next week. But I figured I’d fill in some of the non-tech things that we’ve been … 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 a half-eaten gel packet in their Christmas stocking from their not-so-significant others, I’ve got … Read More Here
The Wahoo KICKR Desk In-Depth Review
It’s been over 5 years since Wahoo’s first product, the Wahoo Fisica ANT+ adapter for the iPhone. That was later renamed to the Wahoo Fitness Key. Then came the BlueHR, a Bluetooth Smart heart rate strap. But their ‘breakout’ product … Read More Here
Week in Review–December 27th, 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
How to get your trainer apps on the big screen
With the explosion of new trainer apps over the last few years, many of us are running apps on numerous platforms – from iOS to Android to Windows. Not to mention numerous form factors such as tablets, phones, and desktops. … Read More Here
A Few Days in New York City
Last week The Girl, Lucy, and I jetted away from Paris to the US for what will be a bit of a whirlwind trip around the country for the holidays. The first stop on the list was New York City, … Read More Here
Polar rolls out Strava Automatic Sync
Earlier this morning Polar rolled out their long awaited (and previously promised) ability to automatically sync Polar Flow activities to Strava. This means that upon completion of an activity, the activity data will automatically sync to Strava’s site. No more … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
There happens to be a few weekends each year that we know will be crazy busy…and this is one of them. It’s just a bit of a stars aligning sorta of things, where every possible event is on one weekend … Read More Here