I don't buy any gadgets without checking his reviews first. He's a breath of fresh air in the business of reviews. I don't listen to the pros and the crap they shill.

I'll say this, though. If i ever get the sense he's in kahoots, locked in, or works with a vendor, i'm out. period.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Cool. thanks for posting.

Same here. Always check his site before buying a triathlon related gadget. He's the gold/platinum standard when it comes to reviews. If I can I buy stuff through links on his site too to support him through referral programs. But if he starts working for somebody...

i rarely go to his page now... i think it's gone to his head and reading this article kind of proves... asking mfg for early prototypes... thats BS.

More than a cool article, it's a rather poignant one - the author died in a cycling accident in February. DC Rainmaker wrote a nice post about it.

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http://www.extramilenutrition.com

Not at all, he is doing what he can to get the jump. It’s being smart and leveraging his position imho.

LOL. Why? He understands what the market needs and wants. If he can help give early feedback, that's a good thing.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I don’t understand why you think this is BS. Oftentimes Ray gives valuable feedback to the manufacturer. He also signs NDAs with firms that do this; he usually has reviews he’s sitting on waiting for the ok to post them. He’s been getting early prototypes for years now; this isn’t anything new.

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Given the amount of time he takes to test products, the only way to get a review posted close to the product release date is to test pre-production versions.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

This.

I'm thankful for his articles. He really does the most thorough gear reviews and reporting I've ever seen. Clearly passionate and geeky about data and real performance, fun to see, and seems quite neutral. I like that he shares his opinions without advertising driving them.

Sad to see that article posted now after Andrews passing. He will be missed and my thoughts are with his family.

I am a little surprised that Outside didn’t mention anything of his passing at the end.

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https://twitter.com/mungub

I imagine they went to press before the occurrence.

Hello len and All,

Thanks for posting .... I often follow his postings but never knew his background.

Good story.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

If he was involved in anything like that fhe odds of you finding out would be ridiculous. Also, he's rich now and richer with every day that passes. He could retire in shame and laugh all the way to the bank.
Face it, believing reviews and reviewers is a leap of faith.

It's a tough business.

Can he really afford to retail purchase all the latest Garmin, Polar, FitBit, Suunto, etc., releases to give a nice broad review?

If he's at least somewhat dependent on getting free, or loaner, or pre-production devices from manufacturers, he can't be totally brutal in his reviews.

If one manufacturer starts giving him higher affiliate $, does that affect his reviews, even subconsciously?

A cautionary tale, from the world of mattress reviews of all things.

The article says he started on 100k a year at (probably) 18 years old. He then worked for Microsoft for years, presumably earning more each passing year, and said when he quit MS his finances didn’t change much. I doubt dropping money all the time on new products - considering that is his job - is a big concern for him financially.

I really appreciate his reviews. They are thorough and detailed but easy to read. They seem to be even-handed and unbiased. I feel like I am making a much more informed buying decision as a result. Good for him in finding a market for his talents.

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Blog: https://swimbikerunrinserepeat.wordpress.com

What's your source for this?

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Random tidbits:

A) In the grand scheme of things, buying the sum total of all Fitbit products released in a year isn't actually that much, less than a Ironman entry. Polar makes a device or two per year, Suunto in the 3-4 units per year. Garmin a fair bit more, but I don't generally bother to get all the model variants. Obviously, in total it's a fair chunk of change per year - but not if you look at it as a business expense like any other business would.

B) It sounds like you probably haven't read my reviews. I routinely crap on units that suck, loaner or otherwise. Big brand or small brand. You can pick any brand you'd like and find a review/preview/whatever post of mine in the last 6-9 months or so that exemplifies that.

C) I don't take part in any individual manufacturer affiliate programs for exactly that reason. Instead I use Amazon/Clever Training/REI, so I don't much care what you buy (none of those entities have differing rates per manufacturer, Amazon merely categories like Tech/Health/etc...). In general most regular readers would agree I usually argue for the lower cost option, and usually find reasons why I think the higher cost variants are overpriced.

Cheers.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

Have you read many of his reviews? If so, you'd see that while he does get units from the manufacturers to reviews, ALL of them get sent back to them at the end of the review. He doesn't keep anything. In fact, he then usually proceeds to go out and buy the unit on his own dime so that he can provide support, update his reviews as firmware changes, etc.

As far as asking manufactures for early prototypes...he's earned that right. He's not just some look at me blogger reviewing their Garmin...he is the go to. It's why Outside does an article on him. Manufacturers send early prototypes to lots of people and media. I would guess that very few are sending them back at the end of their review or specifically rejecting advertising $ from the company. Ray does. Pretty hard to criticize someone that is that above board.

It's my understanding that he doesn't take advertisement from product manufacturers.

This is the quote from the Outside article.

Thanks for chiming in. I meant to add that I have read your reviews and think they are great, and at least so far (wink wink), are fairly balanced.

My comments were meant as a cautionary tale, like the link I posted. You wouldn't think there is much to be gained in the tiny niche of triathlon training devices, but who would think that mattress reviews would be huge?

Thanks for clearing up how you handle affiliate programs. Sounds like you are avoiding the pitfalls.

I don't take any money (advertising or otherwise) from any companies I review. In fact, I don't take any money/trips/etc from any manufactures. Even speeches/etc are all free (in the case of the ANT+ Symposium, I specifically have them donate my 'speaking fee' to a Canadian kids sports organization - KidSport). And in the case of airfare, like when I give the keynote next month at the Garmin Connect Summit - I'm paying my own expenses too. My income streams are super simplified*.

Ads come purely from Google AdSense (I've tried other avenues, they all suck), and are based on whatever you were searching for. Search for women's underwear, you'll get women's underwear ads. Drug/gambling ads are blocked, as is a separate manual blacklist of URL's of all companies I review or might review.

Certainly, one can argue the pros and cons of any business model. But I think it's pretty reasonable and quite a bit more than most publishers can say. To each their own.

*Simple version of income: Amazon, Clever Training, REI, Google AdSense, magazines I write gear articles for, and Wall Street firms that want investment advice but are too lazy to read what I already wrote online. Actually, I think that's everything.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

An article by the 5k runner if you mean him being rich. If you mean the second sentence I cant help you with that ;)