Sakai's Bicycle Museum houses 200 years of cycling innovation - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
What do guns and knives have to do with cycling innovation? A shared history of craftsmen skilled in metal work - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Origin of species: the drasine, designed by Karl von Drais, was more strider than bicycle - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
In 1861 Pierre Michaux invented a bicycle with cranks mounted to the front wheel - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
A metal spoon brake pressed against the rear wheel to bring it to a stop, or at least slow it down - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Since this early bicycle used cranks arms fixed to the front axle, riders placed their legs on these curved stirrups when speeds exceeded that which they could pedal - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Not every part of a vintage bicycle ages with grace - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Invented in 1885, the "safety bicycle" replaced the penny farthing. These bicycles had chain-driven drivetrains and wheels that were close to each other in diameter - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Braking still left something to be desired - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
One more example of how nothing is new in cycling technology, early inventors were quick to experiment with suspension - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Not all the bikes in this museum look so primitive. This Breezer, one of the world's first mountain bikes, looks surprisingly modern, with its long top tube and relaxed head tube angle - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Meanwhile, some bikes that are just a few years old can look dated in terms of wheelsize and geometry, such as Gee Atherton's world cup winning downhill bike from 2010 - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Starting in 1995, Tatsu Sakimoto road this Cannondale on an epic four-year, 55,000km journey around the globe - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
This museum is as much a history of bicycle components as frame technology. Case in point: Shimano's early attempt using compressed air to actuate shifting - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
This Shimano Airlines-equipped downhill bike is clearly a favorite with school children who visit the museum - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
One of Andy Hampsten's 7-Eleven team bikes from his 1988 Giro d'Italia win lives at the museum - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
If it wasn't a museum, you would think someone had a very beautiful hoarding problem - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
The Eddie Merckx that Lance Armstrong rode to his 1993 world championship victory hangs in the rafters - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
As a company, Shimano has deep roots in Sakai, an industrial city with centuries of experience in metalworking.
This expertise made the region a center for the development of weapons such as swords and firearms. Later, these same skills were put to use to produce many of Japan’s first bicycles.
What do guns and knives have to do with cycling innovation? A shared history of craftsmen skilled in metal work - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Sakai, part of the larger metropolis of Osaka, is the headquarters of Shimano and is also home to the Bicycle Museum Cycle Center.
Funded by Shimano, this museum holds 200 years of cycling innovation. From the examples of the first Drasines, to penny-farthings and onto modern bicycles, including some that have won world championships, grand tours and circumnavigated the globe.
One more example of how nothing is new in cycling technology, early inventors were quick to experiment with suspension - Josh Patterson / Immediate Media
Take a tour of this gallery for a look at some of the most interesting bicycles from two centuries of innovation and experimentation.
Josh Patterson is a BikeRadar contributor and former technical editor. He has spent most of his career working in the cycling industry as an athlete, mechanic and journalist. He holds a master's degree in journalism and has more than 20 years of experience as a cyclist and 12 years of experience riding and writing for BikeRadar, Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Dirt Rag, RoadBikeReview and Outside Magazine. A native of the Flint Hills of Kansas, Josh was a pioneer in the gravel cycling movement, having raced the first Unbound 200 and many other gravel events around the globe. He considers himself a cycling generalist and enjoys road, gravel and mountain biking in equal measure. When not traveling for work, he can be found exploring the singletrack and lonely gravel roads that surround his home in Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to his love of cycling, Josh is an enthusiastic supporter of brunch, voting rights and the right to repair movement.
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