In the early 20th century, bicycles started to resemble modern models. (©Agnes Tandler)
Past, present, and future: The Shimano Bicycle Museum aims both to educate and to entertain. Visitors can trace the history of the bicycle, and the museum's wide selection of unique models also offers a glimpse into what the future may hold for the popular two-wheeler.
A Century of Freewheels
Sakai, Osaka ー "Sorry, they're a bit noisy," a teacher says apologetically, as a class of 10-year-olds zips past in excitement. Their task today is to draw one of the bicycles on display ー no easy choice. At the Shimano Bicycle Museum in Sakai, the selection feels infinite.
The room where we stand holds a collection of curiosities, including an all-weather bike encased in a plastic shell to protect the rider from wind and rain. A tricycle, which resembles a miniature car, was first marketed in 2003 to offer older people an easy, weather-proof mobility option.
Shimano is one of the world's leading names in high-end bicycle components. Its shifters, brakes, and pedals are used by professional athletes and teams. This year, Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar and most of the WorldTour teams rode Shimano.
The brand is much loved by amateurs as well, as Shimano's annual sales of about $3 billion USD demonstrate.
Now in its third generation of family management, the company is headquartered in Osaka's Sakai ward. Its founder, Shozaburo Shimano, began producing freewheels there in 1921. It was a bold move, even in a city associated with metal craftsmanship since medieval times. Sakai's artisans forged some of Japan's finest samurai swords and later became among the first in the country to manufacture firearms. Historically wealthy, the city has been a center of industrial and cultural innovation.
Zen monks settled here, and the great tea master Sen no Rikyu was born in Sakai. Today, however, little remains of the city's glorious past. It is now a gritty industrial hub, full of concrete and short on harmony.
A History for Global Enthusiasts
With its organic, flowing structure, the museum attempts to create a bridge from the past and present.
It attracts bicycle enthusiasts from around the globe. This morning, a couple from California is visiting with their two children. "It's great — the kids love it too," they say, delighted to see the first mass-produced mountain bike, made in California by Specialized in 1981.
The museum lays out the evolution of the bicycle. There is the earliest bike-like contraption — the Draisine, named after German inventor Karl von Drais. This wooden, pedal-less push bike was powered only by human force and served as an alternative to horse-drawn transport. Nicknamed the "hobby-horse," it is the archetype of the modern bicycle.
Next come the towering high-wheelers: impressive, precarious contraptions that were fast but prone to accidents. Riders could be seriously injured — or even killed. Unsurprisingly, until the 1890s, cycling was a pastime for young, adventurous men with money to spare.
Only in the early 20th century did the safer, chain-driven bicycle — still in use today — gain mass popularity.
Unimaginable Highlights
The exhibits span every imaginable type. There is the Batavus, a five-seater tandem racing machine used by a Dutch team that won the 1898 world cycling championship in Vienna at an average speed of 49 km/h. Staying in the Low Countries, a bulky Dutch milk bike from 1930 stands ready to carry heavy milk cans.
More extreme is the bike with an enormous chainring used by Karl-Heinz Kramer, who set a speed record in Germany in 1950. Riding in the slipstream of a pacemaking motorcycle, Kramer covered a 1,000-meter stretch at 154.5 km/h. However, motor-paced racing was glamorous but perilous. Tire blowouts at high speed were common, and with no helmets or gloves, the sport echoed the daredevil era of the high-wheeler.
Another highlight is the touring bike of Tatsu Sakimoto, a Japanese employee who, in 1995, embarked on a four-year, three-month cycling journey around the world. His fully loaded Cannondale touring bike displays all the gear he used on his 55,000-kilometer route spanning 43 countries and six continents.
A photo beside his bicycle shows a smiling Sakimoto on the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan, en route to the Chinese border. Originally from Higashi-Osaka, he worked in the sales division of children's clothing brand Miki House. Remarkably, his employer, Miki Shoko Co Ltd, granted him paid leave for the entire trip.
Cycling Into the Future
What will cycling look like in the future? Electrically powered bikes, ultra-light carbon frames, and compact folding models suggest the direction: greater efficiency, flexibility, and ease of commuting.
Curiously, the museum devotes little space to Shimano itself. The company's factory, with 1,200 employees, still produces components in Sakai, where the business was founded more than a century ago. It is one of the few workplaces in Japan that actively encourages employees to cycle to work, offering showers and a bathhouse for post-commute refreshment.
The factory is open only to buyers and investors, but the museum is accessible to everyone. More adventurous visitors can even take replicas of historic bicycle models for a spin.
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Author: Agnes Tandler
