It’s that time of year again! The now annual 20% off sale. Now technically, it’s semi-annual since it happens now and in the spring. But I don’t think anyone’s complaining about the chance to buy a brand new just released trainer for 20% off.

No matter what you call it, there are some amaze-balls deals in here. And while my title says all trainers and almost all power meters, the reality is that this applies to boatloads more devices/products too. More about your imagination than anything in finding solid deals.

To briefly back up: Historically speaking we see the biggest sports tech sales clustered in two timeframes: November (up to/around Black Friday), and May. It’s now November, and last weekend we saw companies start to announce sales. Plus we’ve seen some Black Friday ads start to appear (nothing earth-shattering yet in the sports tech world).

In general, sales fall into two buckets:

A) Retailer driven sales

B) Manufacturer driven sales (specified by the manufacturer, but then sold through retailers)

Within the US, manufacturers have to approve virtually all sales, to stay compliant with MAP policies (Minimum Advertised Price). Said MAP concept doesn’t exist elsewhere. So in the case of the Garmin sales below, those fall into bucket ‘B’ above. Whereas everything else in this post falls into bucket ‘A’ above. Make sense? Good.

Garmin Fenix 5 & Edge 820 Sale:

So we’ve got one major sale here being driven by Clever Training for 20% off, though we’ve actually got a secondary Garmin sideshow sale going on, which I’ll briefly cover first – because it’s pretty solid! The Clever Training 20% deal starts TODAY (right now), but the Garmin deals start TOMORROW/FRIDAY, November 10th, and essentially run through Christmas. These do NOT require any VIP deal, but are straight up discounts available starting tomorrow:

I’m going to let Captain Obvious point out that this is the first time we’ve seen the Garmin Fenix 5 on sale, and Garmin didn’t disappoint here. Even more is that deal on the Edge 820 actually, which is also incredibly solid – that’s a mere $50 more than the non-mapping Edge 520. This is pretty much Garmin giving Wahoo the middle finger (after Wahoo did that courtesy to Garmin all summer). I wouldn’t expect an Edge 820 replacement anytime soon (it’s only been out just over a year). And while Garmin has historically announced Fenix series refreshes each January (alternating major or minor, with major happening this year), I’m not as convinced that we’ll see that happen this upcoming year per historical norms.

Plus, these two that already started last weekend:

Note that this being the start of the holiday sales period, things will obviously come into play over the next three weeks. However, I can say incredibly confidently that you won’t see any deals greater than 20% off for the eligible items listed below in the VIP sale. You’ll likely see individual watches/bike computers go on sale, maybe maxing out around 30% or so, but since none of those are eligible for this sale, it doesn’t much matter in this context.

GoPro Hero6 Black & Hero5 Black Deals:



Clever Training is running two GoPro deals, both of which are solid, but the Hero6 one is unheard of for a camera that just started shipping 38 days ago!

GoPro Hero 6 Black + 32GB MicroSD Card + $75 CT Points credit: $499

GoPro Hero6 Black In-Depth Review here!

In this case you could use that $75 CT points credit to buy a pile of extra batteries, something like the 3-Way pole, the shorty stick, or any number of other GoPro accessories. Or socks. Your choice.

GoPro Hero 5 Black + 32GB MicroSD Card + $50 CT Points credit: $399

GoPro Hero5 Black In-Depth Review here!

Really important for both of these: You MUST choose the bundle from the drop-down list (so you get both the SD card and the credits back)!

Neither of these GoPro deals require the VIP program, anyone can get them!

Clever Training 20% VIP SALE:

In this sale, each Clever Training (CT) VIP member is given a coupon code (BFVIP) that’s good for 20% off a single non-sale item including all trainers and almost all power meters. It doesn’t matter if that item is the PowerTap P1 pedals, or just gel packets. Your choice, but it’s only available to CT VIP members.

There are a handful of limitations, most notably that it’s not valid on Garmin stuff, GoPro, Fitbit, and one or two others I list down below in the restrictions.

With that in mind, there are some incredible deals to be had for trainers and power meters here – or other high-value items. Especially new trainers and newly released power meters, even more so going into trainer season. Here’s some quick guidance on both categories:

Power Meters: You’ve seen all there is to see on new power meter announcements for now, as well as well into next spring (or beyond). The next time we’ll see meaningful power meter announcements is usually in April, clustered around Sea Otter (usually for shipping months later). So basically – if you want a power meter for this year and want to save 20%, it won’t get better than this anytime soon. If you’re looking at a pedal based power meter, check out my recent post on it. And if you’re looking for any power meter at all, be sure to check out my 2017 Power Meter Guide here.

Trainers: This is super simple – everything is out, and don’t expect anything new till at least next summer (likely July). And even better is that everything is also available these days, or with only minor backorder queues. Unlike past Fall seasons where new trainers took many months to materialize (like last year), companies are largely on top of it this year. Wahoo has had their new trainers available since Day 1, and Elite also has had their new stuff shipping since late July (albeit, heavily sold out, so some minor delays exist). Either way, definitely check out my full 2017-2018 trainer guide here!

The sale is members only, but it’s simple to get started:

Sign-up as a Clever Training VIP Member here. Complete that first. Then come back and pick your item of choice out (see below list as starter point). Add members-only coupon code (BFVIP) upon checkout to save 20%. Enjoy gadget.

Update: For Black Friday, everything is the same except the timing is 8AM till 4PM on Friday November 24th only, US Eastern Time.

There are too many deals to list, because obviously that’d be tens of thousands of items that Clever Training carries, even running shoes and other sports gear. But you can find all trainers Clever Training carries here on the trainer landing page (it’s basically everyone). ALL trainers listed qualify for the sale! Yes, all of them!

You can find all power meters Clever Training carries here on their power meter landing page.

The only power meter excluded from this sale is Garmin Vector 3. Also, in case you’re wondering, the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB isn’t available for pre-order by anyone (including Wahoo), hence why it’s not available to buy. [Update: And for Black Friday, all Wahoo gear is excluded.]

I’m going to call out the most notable ones in the table below:

DCR Favorites - Fall 2017

So you’re probably wondering about that VIP requirement? That’s basically akin to what REI does with their twice-yearly members-only sale. Except in this case the Clever Training VIP membership only costs $4.99. And the proceeds of that go to ‘Girls On The Run’, a running focused charity. So it’s basically a win-win. You get a massive savings, and an awesome charity gets supported.

And of course, your gadgetry purchase helps support the site here (as all Clever Training purchases do).

Frequently Asked Questions:

Here’s what I expect to be a few frequently asked questions:

How many items can I get a discount for?

One item. Just one, and only one.

Is this per household?

No, it’s one item per member (per human). Thus, if you have multiple unique VIP members in a household, then you can have multiple people. You can sign-up to be a Clever Training VIP member here. I explain more of the details here.

Which brands doesn’t it work on?

At this time, it’s not valid on Garmin (including Vector), GoPro, and Fitbit. Also, the Wahoo bike computers (ELEMNT/BOLT/MINI) and Wahoo Desk are excluded.

In the cart it says it doesn’t work?

Validate that you only have one item in the cart, and that it’s not one of the above listed items. Also, validate that you’re a VIP member first.

Do I get VIP points on top of this?

No, since it’s a large sale item. No double-dipping here.

Are there some fancy details I can read somewhere?

Yes, right here (middle of page, some text).

When does this end?

Black Friday Update: Everything is the same except the timing is 8AM till 4PM on Friday November 24th only, US Eastern Time.

November 18th, 2017 at 11:59PM US Eastern Time. However, I’d really stress to get orders in now. You’re a million times better off getting your order in and canceling if you change your mind, than waiting. This isn’t so much a sales pitch, but just word to the wise (be it inventory, etc…). Clever has done a good job stocking up (containers worth!) based on what demand looked like last year for this sale, but it’s always hard to know.

What happens when it ends?

It’s over. End of the road. Time to eat turkey for Thanksgiving. Don’t do Thanksgiving? Fake it – eat Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.

What about Europeans and CT Europe?

In this case, it’s a Clever Training USA-specific sale, though per the next item some things can be shipped internationally. In the case of Clever Training UK/Europe, you get 10% off all year round on everything, whereas the US folks get caught up on the whole MAP thing I mentioned earlier on. Still, they’re trying to work through some Europe specific sales for the holidays.

Is shipping free?

Yes, US shipping is free as long as your order is over $49. For items that can be shipped internationally, it’s $29 flat rate. Generally speaking, trainers can’t be shipped internationally.

Is this the end of the FAQ section?

Yes.

—

Phew – there ya have it! Go forth and enjoy. And feel free to drop any questions you have down below on recommendations, etc… I’d be happy to try and help ya out. Thanks for the support!