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.
Sports Technology News and Reviews
Tech Tidbits: New Stages Dash Models Soon, Garmin HRM-PRO Bluetooth Expansion, Zwift Clearancing Hardware
As we sail into the weekend, there’s some tech tidbits that are worth mentioning – covering the gamut of companies, as the sports tech world starts to heat up going into spring. Stages New GPS Bike Computers: Stages began teasing … Read More Here
Hammerhead Updated CLIMBER Functionality No Longer Requires Route
There’s nothing more consistent than the biweekly drop of new features coming from Hammerhead to their Karoo series bike computers. And this update brings a huge one: The ability to automatically get climb information as you ride, without needing to … Read More Here
Tacx NEO Motion Plates In-Depth Review
You know what I like about this product? It’s two pieces of plastic that wiggle, and install in about 15-20 seconds. There’s no electronics, no secondary applications or uses, no complex installation manual. It’s as simple as it gets, yet … Read More Here
Best Bike Computer for Climbing: Garmin vs Hammerhead vs Wahoo
Long gone are the days of bike computers showing you just a single elevation profile for your entire route, or even just the near-term elevation profile. These days, the bike computers will automatically break down and even categorize the climbs … Read More Here
Strava Reverses Course: Turns back on Apple Health Sync Functionality
Strava has reversed course on their recent disablement of Apple Health sync for 3rd party workouts (e.g. data from Zwift, TrainerRoad, Garmin, etc.), after abruptly disabling the feature last week without notice. That move impacted many Apple iPhone users that … Read More Here
Strava Abruptly Ends 3rd Party Data Sync to Apple Health
[Update – March 15th, Strava has reversed course and re-enabled Apple Health sync. Full details here.] It’s been a few years since Strava has managed to irk the Internet, but over the last few days, they’ve unleashed a torrent of … Read More Here
First Look at Garmin’s ECG Functionality, and Clinical Trials Details
Garmin has tipped their hand, demonstrating that one of their most recent watches actually has ECG hardware built inside, along with the foundations to utilize it. Read More Here
Just Getting A New Garmin Fenix 7 or Epix? Update it First.
If you’ve been around this site long enough, you know that one of my life-goals is to reduce the quantity of certain types of messages that end up in my inbox. Not merely the notices that I’m apparently heir to … Read More Here
How to Install Satellite Imagery on Your Garmin Fenix or Epix Watch (Fenix 5 Plus/6/7/Epix)
Long before the Garmin Epix (2nd gen) or Fenix 7 came out, Garmin has been selling maps. In fact, they’ve been selling maps for basically their entire existence. Lately these things are built into devices, but it wasn’t that long … Read More Here
Zwift Racer Caught Cheating Using Recent Weight Changing Hack
Well, that didn’t take long. Zwift’s official race partner, WTRL, has seemingly disqualified their first individual for using the recently published mid-race weight-changing cheat. The individual cheated last night during Race 8 of this season’s WTRL Zwift Racing League event. … Read More Here
Peloton Offers $300 Discount For Bike/Bike+/Tread Units (Plus Other Thoughts)
Peloton’s just announced a $300 discount for their base Peloton Bike, Peloton Bike+, and Peloton Tread units. However, this one is actually kinda interesting in how they’re doing it – for two different reasons. The first, is the fact that … Read More Here
Fitbit Recalls Fitbit Ionic Smartwatches Due to Burn-Hazard, Offers Refund
Fitbit has announced a recall of their older Ionic GPS smartwatch, due to situations where the battery can overheat and cause burn injuries. The Ionic was introduced back in 2017, which was really their first smartwatch to support a 3rd … Read More Here
Zwift Bans Cheat Whistleblower: A Deeper Dive Into the Issue
[Update – Feb 26th, 9:30AM US Eastern: See ‘Updated’ section below – Zwift has backtracked and rescinded the ban.] On the doorstep of Zwift’s biggest event of the year – the UCI sanctioned Esports World Championship, which is later today … Read More Here
Lifeline Pro Trainer Desk Review: This Time with USB & Power Ports (and just 100EUR)!
In much the same way I have an apparently unhealthy obsession with USB charging cables, I also potentially have such an obsession with finding the perfect trainer desk. This is of course all started with the Wahoo KICKR Desk years … Read More Here
Wahoo Trainer Lineup Sound Test: KICKR vs CORE vs SNAP vs ROLLR
Today’s post is one of those ones that’s best done via video. Or, at the very least audio. Thus, the above video. As the title of this post implies, this is a direct sound/volume/noise comparison between all of Wahoo’s current … Read More Here
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
Wahoo has now formally announced their KICKR ROLLR smart trainer…err…smart roller. I’m not super sure how you classify it (Wahoo themselves officially calls it a “smart trainer” in their media release), but whatever it is – it’s here and … Read More Here
Whoop Begins Sync from Garmin, Strava, and More: How it Actually Works
Last week Whoop started rolling out, in beta, a new feature that allows external workouts to be synced into the Whoop platform, via Apple Health (on iOS). This means you can now complete a workout on any device that … Read More Here
Peloton Tread In-Depth Review on YouTube Posted
This is just a super-duper-quick post to let folks know that I published up the full video review of the Peloton Tread over on YouTube (or simply hit the Play button above). You may remember back in late December I … Read More Here
Garmin Instinct 2 vs Fenix 7: A Very Detailed Comparison
For this post, I’m going to dive into all the differences between the Fenix 7 and its mini-me, the Instinct 2. Comparisons have long been drawn between the two, and whether or not the Instinct was essentially a Fenix-lite. And … Read More Here
GoPro Outlines Four Distinct Camera Types for 2022, Plus New Cloud/Desktop Features
Earnings call season is among us, and that means plenty of interesting tidbits to be had. By far, the most interesting earning call to date in the sports tech segment was GoPro’s Q4 2021 earnings call yesterday, where GoPro announced … Read More Here
Random Buried Treasure Reminder: Komoot and Polar Give Free Map Region To Users
This will seem like an oddly timed post, but, it’ll make sense in a second. Maybe even more sense than my absurdly long title. Way back in October, before that entire Black Friday & Holiday sale craziness, Polar launched the … Read More Here
How-To: Using Zwift and TrainerRoad Concurrently
For many of you more tech-focused folks, this quick how-to guide will be old hat to you. However, as was made abundantly clear to me a few days ago when I posted a picture on my Instagram stories of me … Read More Here
Bryton Rider S500 Bike GPS First Ride Thoughts
This past week Bryton announced their new Rider S500 cycling GPS. The unit adds in a new climb functionality (called Climb Challenge), as well as switching over to a USB-C port. It also notes increased brightness and battery, on a … Read More Here
Wahoo’s Custom Alerts, Hammerhead’s New Features, TrainerRoad Strava Images, and Xert with Bike The World
The past 7 days have seen a nice strong sweep of updates for cycling tech, and even some new cycling units, like the Bryton Rider S500 (more on my recent ride with that, tomorrow). So, let’s just do a quick … Read More Here
Is Zwift About to Acquire TrainerRoad?
If one were reading the tea leaves of the indoor trainer industry, they’d probably be seeing some pretty interesting things. Over the past three weeks, we’ve seen increasingly clear signs that something substantial is about to occur between the two … Read More Here