Tech

Garmin Gets Blingy With The Fenix 3

by editors on October 1, 2015

Fenix3-Family Hr 501

Not content to let Apple run away with all the “rose gold” glory, cycling computer maker Gamin announced today (October 1, 2015) that they are adding two new color ways to their high-end Fenix 3 Sapphire watches.

. . . the Fenix 3 Sapphire multipart watches now include a silver version with a leather band and a white version with rose gold accents. Featuring the same multipart toolset as the original Fenix 3 Sapphire, these two versions put a fashionable twist on the rugged smartwatch for fitness training and outdoor navigation.

Nice to see our favorite watch (that literally does everything, yes, even ANT+ power) looking so handsome, dashing, and stylish. For the official Fenix 3 details, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]

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GoPro Hero4 Session Gets Small, Too

by editors on July 8, 2015

Hero4+Session+For+Exact+Target
GoPro has now pretty much fixed up all the things that bugged us about running a Hero with their new Hero4 Session. This thing is tiny, light, and does exactly what we all want a GoPro to do: bring back the action in living color and up close.

50% smaller and 40% lighter than GoPro’s best-selling HERO4 Black and Silver cameras, HERO4 Session packs GoPro’s Emmy® Award-winning image quality and performance into an exciting new low-profile form factor. HERO4 Session benefits from a durable waterproof design that eliminates the need for a separate housing and features simple one-button control to make capturing immersive photos and video quicker and more convenient than ever before.

The Hero4 Session works with all your GoPro mounts and captures GoPro-quality 1080p60, 720p100 and 1440p30. It will retail for $399.99 starting July 12, 2015. Our only question is, how long is that battery going to last? Anyone? For more info, click the link.

[Link: GoPro]

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Garmin Gets Small With Edge 25

by editors on June 25, 2015

Edge20 25

Lately, it seems like the high end of Garmin’s Edge cycling computers have grown larger and heavier with each release. That’s mostly why we’ve stuck with our trusty Edge 500 far longer than we probably should have. The only downside is that the 500 doesn’t have Bluetooth so we can’t share our rides live with family, and we can’t launch those immediate updates to Garmin Connect (and Strava) like our better equipped, KOM-stealing friends. All that has changed, however, with the release of Garmin’s new Edge 20 and 25 cycling computers. The diminutive new units are being touted as “the world’s smallest GPS cycling computers” and weigh in at only 25 grams.

Water-resistant and weighing only 25g, the Edge 20 and Edge 25’s extremely durable and small design is ideal for travel, training and everyday riding. Their interfaces make it easy to start, save and share activities and both are GPS and GLONASS-enabled, acquiring satellites quickly to track how far, fast and where a user is riding. Both devices feature up to eight hours of battery life.

These units have the basics. No color LCD screens, no power meter stats. And we kind of like it that way. The Edge 20 captures time, distance, speed, total ascent, and location, but doesn’t feature ANT+ nor Bluetooth. That means it cannot connect to any other ANT+ sensors like heart rate, cadence, or speed, nor can it connect to your smart phone. The Edge 25 is a lot like our old 500 except it has ANT+ and Bluetooth meaning it can connect to other sensors and smart phones. The only downside is that it cannot connect and display power meter metrics. Guess Garmin saved that feature for their larger, more expensive units.

The Edge 20 and 25 retail for $129.99 and $169.99. For the official word from Garmin, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]

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Buckshot Pro: Speaker, Light, Battery

by editors on June 2, 2015

Buckshot Pro

Aside from our trusty Swiss Army Knife we’ve always considered do-it-all tools to be the master of none. So when we picked up Outdoor Technology’s new Buckshot Pro we were expecting disappointment. Why? Because, really, who puts a Bluetooth speaker, a camp light, a strobe bike light, a flashlight, and a back-up battery for a phone into one device. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, we were wrong. Turns out this combination of electronic tools is absolutely perfect for biking around the neighborhood, traveling across town, or even taking on the road for an overnight bike camping trip.

The reason we liked the the Buckshot Pro so much is because each individual feature alone made keeping the thing around worthwhile. We used the included strap and took it out for a bike ride to test the speaker. It paired easily with our phone. And while it was pretty difficult to hear anything while traveling above 18 MPH, at cruising speeds, the speaker worked great. And, if we were out past dark, the blinky headlight was enough to light up signs a block down the street. But what we like most about the Buckshot pro is using it in our tent. By hanging it from the ceiling we got bright, yet perfectly diffused light, plus music playback that wasn’t half bad. Later, after turning the light off, we simply unscrewed the light and plugged in our phone to get it charged. We might not take a speaker on a bike trip, but when it’s also a back-up phone battery, and a light it makes sense.

The most ingenious thing about the Buckshot Pro is the way the USB port is utilized. Plug it into the wall and the Buckshot Pro charges. Plug the light in and get four different lighting options: a bright yet diffused camp light, a dimmer mood light, a straight up flashlight, and a blinky cycling light perfect for rolling the streets at night. Plug your phone into the Buckshot and your phone charges. All that and it’s IPX5 water resistant as well.

We found that the Buckshot Pro cleaned up the clutter by keeping several things use all the time together in one compact package.

The Buckshot Pro comes in six colors: black, gray, red, orange, glow, and army green and retails for $79.95. For all the details, click the link.

[Link: Outdoor Technology]

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Fitbit & Strava Agree To Swap Data

by editors on May 12, 2015

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Popular fitness tracking device manufacturer Fitbit today announced a partnership with Strava in a deal that has the two companies giving users the ability to automatically share their fitness data between the two ecosystems.

Once users connect their Fitbit and Strava accounts any activity logged on Fitbit will be posted to Strava and any activity posted to Strava will end up on a user’s Fitbit timeline.

This comes as a welcome surprise to Fitbit Surge GPS watch owners who only last month got the ability to easily track bicycle rides on their devices. On the launch of the new bike feature many Fitbit Surge users felt that tracking a bike ride without being able to post it to Strava defeated the whole purpose of tracking the ride in the first place. That appears to no longer be a problem.

Strava already syncs with many GPS enabled devices and now a legion of Fitbit users will have to opportunity to see their activities tracked and ranked against Strava’s competitive disciples.

The only downside is for those who like keeping their two fitness timelines separate. Some use Fitbit for tracking casual activities like walking, sleeping, and dietary intake while saving Strava as a record of serious training efforts. Once the two apps are connected users will no longer have the ability to keep the two timelines apart.

In the end Strava gets a whole new set of compatible devices and Fitbit gets access to loads of location based fitness data while the users get a smoother way to combine their activity tracking timelines.

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Garmin Goes Pro With New Cams

by editors on April 21, 2015

We liked the old Garmin Virb cameras for a couple reasons: they were streamlined, they rolled in GPS data easily, and they worked. Unlike our GoPro 3+ (which requires that the battery be removed up to five times before it will even turn on) the Garmin Virb had a switch — flip in and it was recording. The only problem was that the lipstickish shape of the Virb meant it was impossible to mount the camera on a chest strap. There were some other mounting issues as well. Garmin has changed all that with their new Virb XE action cameras. They’ve placed the camera in a similar form factor to the GoPro (conventional camera shape), but with all the Garmin bells and whistles. Truth is, this may be a favorite new action camera. We’ll let you know when we get to try one out.

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Incase Has Your GoPro Covered

by editors on August 21, 2014

Incase Gopro

Those who’ve actually used the GoPro camera that their mom’s got them last Christmas know what a nightmare it can be keeping all the pieces together. There’s the cords, the cases, the mounts. Never having the right piece was enough to make us mothball our camera for weeks at a time. But incase has a solution with their new Mono Kit.

The Mono Kit, an innovative silicone travel case that serves as a protective container for one GoPro® camera as well as batteries and accessories; the Dual Kit, which holds two GoPro® cameras and the Accessory Cartridge, the ideal travel bag for camera cords, batteries, mounts, housings and back doors.

Hear that mom? If you bought the camera, looks like you’re going to need to buy the case as well. They go on sale at Best Buy and Goincase.com on August 31, 2014. For the official word from incase, follow the jump. [click to continue…]

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Light Up Your Bike With RydeSafe Reflective Stuff

by editors on May 27, 2014

RydeSafe makes all kinds of cool stuff that reflects. The idea help cyclist show up better at night. Their stuff looks cool during the day time and reflects up during the night to make cyclists more visible. They’re currently trying to raise money (and sell buttons) with a funding campaign on Kickstarter. Check it out and if you want some cool buttons, that reflect, buy some.

[Link: RydeSafe]

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RoadID Goes Mobile In IOS

by editors on May 5, 2014

Roadid App Landingpage Fa

We all ride with Road ID bracelets all the time. Kind of morbid, yes, but it’s something we do because it makes sense. Now, the company behind RoadID has a new app for IOS that takes the RoadID one step further. With the Road ID App friends and family can now follow along on your rides in real time, and even be alerted if you stop for more than five minutes.

With amazing features like eCrumb Tracking, a Stationary Alert, and a custom Lock Screen creator, the Road ID App is your perfect training partner. With the ability to track your workouts in real time, your friends and family can stay better connected whenever you head outdoors…delivering peace of mind like never before.

We haven’t tested it out, and we’re not sure we’d like to share too much info with too many of our friends, but for people trying to meet up on a ride or for nervous spouses, this could be a great solution. Then again, we use Apple’s Find My Friends app on our phones all the time so we might not even need this. Check it out and let us know how it goes.

[Link: Road ID App via Gizmodo]

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Strava Global Heatmap Lights Up Cycling

by editors on April 24, 2014

Strava Heat Usa

Want to know where people are riding these days? Well, not to shock you, but it’s California. And mostly Southern California. To find other spots of hot cycling action just check out Strava’s Global Heat Map. We apologize in advance for wasting your next 15 minutes.

[Link: Strava Heatmap]

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