FIT Academy
The original bike fit workshop.
Three days in Lincoln, Nebraska. 12 to 15 students. The dynamic fit method Slowtwitch developed in 2002, taught by certified FIT instructors.
$495 deposit reserves your seat. Remaining $1,400 due Aug 21, 2026. We’ll send a payment reminder.
Reserve my seat →Most fit systems trace back to this one.
Before 2002, bike fit was static. You measured the rider, plugged numbers into a formula, and adjusted the bike. The rider sat still while a fitter measured angles.
FIT Academy introduced dynamic bike fit: fitting the rider while they pedal. It’s the logical extension of work by Slowtwitch’s founders, who also founded Quintana Roo, the first true tri-geometry bike. Today, every modern fit system in use — Retül, GURU, Specialized Body Geometry, Trek Precision Fit, Shimano — uses methodology derived from FIT.
The custom fit bikes those systems sell? They were originally designed and built for the FIT protocol. Exit Cycling made the first one. GURU, Purely Custom, Shimano, and Retül followed with their own. The GURU fit school still runs on the FIT protocol today, and over the years instructors from Retül, Serotta, Trek, Specialized, GURU and Shimano fit systems have attended FIT workshops themselves.
The terms stack and reach — now used by every cycling brand to describe geometry, baked into the engineering of every modern frame — were named and defined here, as part of this system, more than 20 years ago.
In 2024 the workshops moved from Valyermo, California to Lincoln, Nebraska, and the program became FIT Academy. Lincoln has better riding, better food, and less rustic lodging than the old ranch. The curriculum and the instructors made the trip unchanged.
The four axioms
These are the assumptions the system is built on. We publish them because if you don’t accept them as truisms, you’ll probably have a problem with the system built on top of them.
Most pro triathletes ride alike.
Within two years of aero bars arriving in 1987, the pros converged on positions with common, measurable fit characteristics, and the best pros today ride essentially the way the best pros rode in 1990. That consensus is identifiable and quantifiable, and it is what we teach.
Fit, trim age-groupers can adopt pro positions.
What keeps you off the podium is calories absorbed per hour, stroke volume, and oxygen burned per kilogram of body weight, not your flexibility. You might not have a pro motor, but you do have a pro chassis. There is no physical reason you can’t ride in a pro position.
Bodies are smart, and can be trusted.
A rider in their best position enjoys what we call a nexus of strength: optimized leverage, with the major thigh muscles firing in concert. Given the opportunity, riders freely identify and select the same positional elements the best pros exhibit.
The optimized tri position requires moderate athleticism.
Nearly anyone can ride a road position. The optimized aero position asks slightly more, and perhaps half to two-thirds of triathletes can adopt it fully. Part of the fitter’s job is recognizing where on that spectrum each rider sits, and fitting accordingly.
“In other words, your body will not betray you.”
How a fit session works
There are two ways a bike fit can be executed. It can be imposed on the athlete by the fitter, or the fitter can enable a process by which the rider self-selects his position. FIT endorses the latter, for two reasons.
First, optimization across seat angles. The rider performs trials at successively steeper seat angles, with the position optimized at each one: levers and muscle groups firing at best efficiency, combined with attention to comfort. Then the rider chooses among the optimized candidates.
There is a second reason to prefer the self-selected fit:
When a fitter executes the fit this way, he equips his subject with the confidence that his instincts can be trusted. The experience a subject gleans from discovering, on his own, the same position ridden by the majority of triathlon’s greatest athletes is invaluable.
The fitter still relies on predetermined data to make sure the subject isn’t leading himself astray. But the rider owns the result.
A typical trial sequence
The three days
TT & Road
- Dynamic fit fundamentals — fitting the pedaling rider
- The four fit coordinates: seat height, fore/aft, bar elevation, cockpit distance
- Running self-selection trials across seat angles
- TT-specific aerobar fit, hip angle, armrest drop
- Hands-on fits with the cohort
Gravel & Mountain
- How off-road changes the fit equation
- Wider bars, different reach math
- Saddle positioning for variable terrain
- Cockpit setup for control vs. speed
- Real-bike practice across categories
Cleats & Front End
- Cleat positioning fundamentals
- Front-end cockpit detailing
- Translating fit specs to complete bike specs
- Setting up your fit business: pricing, scheduling, customer flow
- How fitters are becoming bike retailers, and what that means for you
On tools and equipment
The question prospective students ask more than any other: “If I attend a workshop, is this just the beginning of a number of hardware and software purchases I’ll be expected to make?”
The most common sentiment is relief. Inexpensive or no-charge options often replace purchases fitters expected to have to make.
FIT differentiates between fit protocols and fit tools. A good fitter should enjoy the freedom to use any conforming tools, and at least five fit bikes on the market today conform to modern fit methodology. The workshop overviews all of them, along with motion-capture systems, software, and what we know or have good reason to suspect is coming to market.
If you want a dedicated fit bike, we’ll help you choose the right one for your application and buy it in the least painful way. If you’d rather start with what you have, the protocol works without a position simulator. The simulator just makes the feedback instant.
The industry’s relationship to FIT
Lincoln, Nebraska — the land of gravel.
From 2002 to 2024 the workshops ran out of Valyermo, California. In 2024 we moved to Lincoln, for better gravel and road riding, better food, less rustic lodging, and central U.S. accessibility from any major hub.
Riding is part of the workshop tradition. We make accommodations for rides and runs every day, and we keep a stable of gravel bikes you can ride if you don’t bring your own. Lincoln’s gravel riding is among the best in the country.
We don’t provide airport transportation. Rideshare or a rental car from Lincoln Municipal (LNK) or Omaha Eppley (OMA) gets you there, and hotel recommendations come with your registration confirmation.
Common questions
If your question isn’t answered here, write us and we’ll respond personally.
support@slowtwitch.com →If I attend FIT Academy, am I committing to buying expensive equipment?
No. We overview every relevant fit bike, motion-capture system, and software package on the market, including what we expect to be coming. The most common sentiment from graduates is relief that inexpensive or no-charge options often replace purchases they expected to have to make. If you do want a fit bike, we’ll help you choose the right one for your application and buy it in the least painful way.
Can’t I just read the published articles and skip the workshop?
You can, and we’d rather you arrive having read them. But reading a fit system and executing one are different skills. Reading about a 77° trial is one thing. Running one a dozen times, on a dozen different bodies, with an instructor watching, is another. The workshop is where the system becomes something you can actually do.
What does the $1,895 include?
Three days of instruction, all course materials, hands-on fit station access, and your certificate of completion. It does not include flights, hotel, ground transportation, or meals. We’ll send hotel recommendations with your registration confirmation.
What’s the deposit and payment structure?
A $495 deposit reserves your seat. The remaining $1,400 is due 30 days before the workshop start date. We’ll send a payment reminder with a direct link on Aug 21, 2026 for the September cohort.
How small is the class, really?
12 to 15 students, and we don’t exceed it. Every student gets hands-on time at the fit stations and direct instructor attention.
Do I need to bring my own bike?
No. We have bikes for all the practice fits across road, TT, gravel, and mountain categories, plus a stable of gravel bikes for riding around Lincoln on breaks. If you have a bike you want to bring for a specific use case, you’re welcome to.
I already have Retül or Body Geometry training. Is this still worth it?
Yes. Equipment-based certifications teach you to operate a specific system. FIT Academy teaches the underlying methodology those systems were derived from. Instructors from Retül, Serotta, Trek, Specialized, GURU and Shimano have attended these workshops themselves, and most graduates report that understanding the source makes them better with the tools they already own.
What if I have to cancel?
Cancellations more than 60 days out get a full refund minus a $95 processing fee. Cancellations 30 to 60 days out forfeit the deposit. Cancellations less than 30 days out forfeit the full tuition. In most cases we can transfer your registration to a future workshop instead. Write us and we’ll work with you.
Why did the workshop move from California to Nebraska?
Lincoln offers better gravel and road riding, better food, less rustic lodging, and central U.S. accessibility from any major airport hub. The methodology is unchanged. The instructors are the same team. The move happened in 2024, after 22 years in Valyermo, California.
Who should NOT take this workshop?
If you’re looking for a certification you can market without doing the underlying work, this isn’t it. The course is intensive and hands-on, and it assumes you want to fit bikes for a living, or as a meaningful part of your work. If you’re a hobbyist who wants to fit only your own bikes, the published articles and the Slowtwitch forum will get you most of the way there for free.
Reserve your seat. $495 holds it.
The September class is capped at 15 students. The balance is due 30 days before the workshop.
