Episode 3: J. Maxine Bratus on the art and science of bike fitting

It’s easy to understand why cyclists of every skill level—from weekend jaunters to professional triathletes—wait at least three months to be bike-fit by Maxine Bratus. She still loves the process after 19 years because cycling makes her feel like a badass, and that badassery grows when you’re at your most stable in the saddle.

Bike fitting involves technological appreciation for the bicycle and physiological diagnosis of the bicyclist. It’s a perfect science and an imperfect art. It’s exploding in popularity. The technology never stops evolving. And the best practitioners distinguish themselves with a “bikeside manner” that makes their clients feel heard.

Maxine turned her linguistics degree into fitmi! by following her instincts and betting on herself when opportunities arose. She’s the kind of person who fits three people a day for three hours at a time, geeks out about trigonometry when measuring flexion angles, and willed her business through COVID in the depths of winter by keeping her windows open and asking clients to bring their coats.

We also talk about her 68-mile “supreme” bike route, the allure of breakfast cereal as a major food group, and whether there will ever be a Bratus University.

Other links:

• Check out fitmi! on Instagram

• Follow Maxine on Strava

• The fates of Two Wheel Tango and Waterford Precision and Gunnar cycles

• The Cecchetti Ballet Method

• How Ignaz Schwinn’s name became synonymous with biking

• Ride the Dirt Hammer or the Supreme

• Happy Freedman, who apparently coined “bikeside manner”