IPOH, Nov 12 — Gone are the days where bicycles are just a mode of transportation.

From using it to travel one point to another, bicycles have now evolved into an equipment for sports and leisure.

This is where a bike fitter comes in and plays an important role.

For the uninitiated, bike fitting is the process of adjusting a bicycle for a cyclist to optimise their comfort, performance and efficiency to avoid injuries such as cyclist’s palsy, cyclist back, and Anterior Knee Pain.

Avid cyclist Mohd Fakhrulrazi Wahab started dabbling in bike fitting in 2020 during the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO).

"I could not cycle during MCO so I decided to spend my time learning bike fitting through YouTube,” he said.

Speaking to Malay Mail, the 41-year-old's foray into bike fitting started when he decided to take up cycling in 2012.

"A doctor treating me had advised me to take up a sport to ensure my old injury that I sustained while playing sepak takraw did not get worst and he suggested I take up either swimming, brisk walking or cycling.

"As I am more of a outdoor person and loves to see new sceneries, I decided on cycling.”

After making a decision on cycling, the Perak Water Board personnel went all out to learn about bicycles as he had zero knowledge about the equipment at that time.

"I first bought a second-hand bicycle that cost me RM2,500.”

"I then joined a local cycling group at my housing area and my first ride with the group was a 10km off road route,” he said, adding that he did not complete the route at the time.

But as time passed, Fakhrulrazi gained more experience and he started to take part in competitions.

To date, he is able to ride 200 kilometres on his road bike and 187km on his mountain bike.

He took a break from cycling in 2016 before eventually returning in 2019 following the passing of his mother.

"But as I was building up my momentum, MCO was enforced in 2020 and all activities came to a halt.”

"That is when I decided to learn about bike fitting and servicing.”

When the government allowed outdoor activities, Fakhrulrazi started to offer his services.

"It all started after a friend asked me to help him fit his bicycle. After trying out my services, he was very happy with it and started to promote it among his cycling friends.”

"After that more requests came in to fit bicycles,” he said, adding that the furthest a customer came to seek out his services was from Pahang.

To date, Fakhrulrazi had fitted over 30 bicycles.

"I offer my services during the weekends so as not to come in the way of my day job. Normally customers will approach me via my Facebook,” he said, adding that he needed between two and three hours to fit a bicycle.

Besides bike fitting, Fakhrulrazi also organises monthly cycling trips to Cameron Highlands.

"Taking the old route via Tapah, we will come down via Jalan Simpang Pulai and the total distance for the loop is more than 184km and an alleviation of 2,344 meters.”

Those who want to seek out Fakhrulrazi’s services, he can be reached via his Facebook page.