The Sakai Bicycle Museum is part funded by Shimano - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
It contains everything from the earliest hobby horses… - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
…to the latest Tour-winning machines, like this Team Sky Di2-equipped Pinarello Dogma - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This 1976 Flandria from Belgium showcases the first time Shimano products were ridden in competition in Europe, this one by the legendary Freddy Martens to second place in the world champs - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This 1993 Merckx probably isn't as coveted as it once was, it being the then 21-year-old Lance Armstrong's World Champs-winning bike - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Hidden away in a corner and mainly obscured from view was this AWTT from 2003. It was developed to promote health in middle-aged and elderly people, and approved by Japan's ministry of transport. The fully plastic enclosed three-wheeled bicycle, it was hoped, would enable people to ride whatever the weather. Think of it as a cross between a bubble car and a Sinclair C5 (though solely powered by the rider) – it never made it to full production as the cost was prohibitive - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This massively geared speed-record holding bike, built in Germany in 1950, apparently hit 154.5kph/96mph - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Another look at the record holding bike of 1950. Notice the significantly smaller front wheel, just like your favourite 1990's Lo-Pro - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
A Japanese bike from 1920, made with the permission of British manufacturer Rudge (making it an early Far Eastern copy) - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This Dutch quintuplet racer dates from 1897 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The legendary lime green colour means this can only be an Itaian Legnano, this one is from 1951 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This original 1978 Breezer, one of just 10 built by Joe Breeze in Marin County between 1977-78, is arguably the first bike to be built for the sole purpose of riding off road - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
A mint condition Schwinn Crusier from 1957 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The Panther by Schwinn is one of the best examples of a classic American cruiser - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
if you thought folders were a recent idea, this one dates from over 50 years ago - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The ultra compact Union Strano from Holland dates from 1964. The unique under seat steering keeps things small and, we'd expect, pretty weird to ride - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
We like the look over this early chopper style roadster – this ones called the Hesperus Werkes, from Stuttgart in Germany and dates from 1921! Note the lack of a crankset – instead it's reliant on large foot paddles to drive the rear wheel - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This gorgeous Italian roadster is the the Vianzone from Turin - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Its all-wood frame construction certainly sets it apart - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The truly stunning inlaid finish would be at home on the finiest furniture – Ikea this aint - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The museum is packed with penny farthings. This one's a Humber Ordinary from 1886 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This is one of the bikes presented to the crown prince and princess of Japan in 1959, as a gift from Sakai (Japan's cycling city) - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This kids' bike, literally fit for a prince, was also presented by the people of Sakai back in 1936 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Finally, here's one for a princess – part of the 1959 presentation - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The museum even has a Draisine, the original hobby horse from Mannheim, Germany dating from 1813 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The Draisine's saddle - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
In 1884 a Coventry, UK company tried to convince us that the rotary tricycle was the way forward. The large wheel handled the drive while the two wheels at each end turn in opposite directions to handle steering – no, we're struggling to get our heads round it too - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The Royal Salvo tricycle from Great Britain in 1880 has two main drive wheels, a small steering wheel at the front and an additional safety wheel at the rear to prevent it from overbalancing. The differential gearing is housed inside the box on the left side of the drive shaft driving both wheels. It was named the Salvo after Queen Victoria ordered two for the royal household - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The Starley Sociable trike from 1879 used side by side seating, to make it sociable to ride. The differential drive was patented by Starley and it's the same as that found on the Salvo - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Britain's Rover from 1896: it launched back in 1885 and is considered the first true modern bicycle. Think of this as cycling's Model T Ford - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The Terrot from 1919 is one of the first bikes to feature a derailleur, only made possible by the invention of the freewheel. Gears were shifted using the handle mounted on the top tube - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The T-shaped handle operated a derailleur over three rear sprockets - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Campagnolo offered a similar system that ran down the rear seat stays, seen here on the LEGNANO bike - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Meanwhile the 1935 Italian DEI used derailleurs front and rear with a rear hub offering two ratios of three speeds – though you'd need to stop and switch the wheel round to exploit all six rear gears - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
To shift at the back on the DEI you moved the front chainring in and out to make the chain slip between gears - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The DEI's stem is a true work of art - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The bike and jersey combination of Andy Hampsten from his Giro victory. It may say Huffy on the down tube, but it's the Serotta logo on the chainstay that shows the bikes true origin - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Andy Schlecks stage winning Trek Madone from 2011 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Gianni Bugno won the world champs in successive years in 1991 and 1992, both times aboard a Dura-Ace equipped Bianchi - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Dura-Ace circa 1991 on Gianna Bugno's Bianchi - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The engraved B on this Bianchi frameset is rumoured to signify that it was famed Italian frame builders Bilato who handled the construction on behalf odf Bianchi - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Even the headset is Dura-Ace, something that fell from the group when the aheadset took over from threaded headsets - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Its not all vintage – the museum has new stuff like Gee Atherton's 2010 World Champs bike - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This mid-60s speedster was designed for teens. The 10-speed top tube shifting and array of lights were all designed to ape motorbikes, and the 26in wheels meant a better fit for smaller riders - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The awesome front rack has integrated lights and indicators - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
10spd was a badge of honour back in the sixties - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Check the dual-ratio top tube-mounted stick-shift - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Even the brakes ooze space-age cool… - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
As does the taillight - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Showing that Shimano doesn't always get thngs right, heres the short lived racing-only Airlines shifting system - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
As the name suggests, compressed air lines from shifters to derailleurs take care of shifting - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
That did however mean carrying a compressed air tank on board the bike - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Airline shifter units - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
Roberto Heras' Trek OCLV team bike - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
The alloy dropouts look massively overbuilt compared with the latest carbon creations - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
This load lugger was designed in 1955 in Japan. In the Taisho era bikes like this became the number one delivery transport in Japan's cities - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
In 1995, Tatsu Sakimoto left japan for an epic 55,000km round-the-world journey on this Shimano-equipped Cannondale. He didn't return until 1999 - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
If you're going to spend four years and 55,000km riding, you'd probably run bar tape this thick… - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
…and if you're going to ride unsupported for four years you'd probably want your blood type written on your bike too - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
What 55,000km of wear looks like - Warren Rossiter / Immediate media
To find one of the world’s best collections of vintage and historic European bicycles, you need to travel a long way from Europe. In the heart of Sakai, Japan – with Shimano calling it home, it's known as the 'cycling city' – is the impressive Bicycle Museum.
Packed to the gills with some of the earliest examples of two (and more)-wheeled machines, the collection was formed and collated with the help and funding of Shimano. It's also been captured in a book, the beautifully titled Bicycles as Human Dreams, produced by the componentry behemoth.
Sakai, which sits within the prefecture of Osaki, has a long history in association with metalworking. It was originally famous for the production of Samurai swords; later, after Portuguese traders visited, it was firearms, and more recently Sakai-made knives have been regarded as some the finest by the world's chefs.
With the advent of the bicycle, local craftsmen turned their hands to cycle production, including one Shozaburo Shimano who started out making lower-cost singlespeed freewheels to replace expensive British imports. The museum in Sakai celebrates the region's long history with the bicycle via a collection that includes the earliest forerunner of the bicycle, the Draisine hobby horse from 1813, right up to the likes of Gee Atherton’s Worlds-winning Commencal, Andy Schleck’s Tour-stage taking Trek and heaps more besides.
If you ever find yourself in Osaka we’d recommend a trip to along to the museum at 18-2 Daisennakamachi, Sakai-ku, Sakai 590-0801, Osaka Prefecture.
In the meantime, to whet your appetite, here’s a gallery of some of the incredible bikes you can find on display.
Warren Rossiter is BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazine’s senior technical editor for road and gravel. Having been testing bikes for more than 20 years, Warren has an encyclopedic knowledge of road cycling and has been the mastermind behind our Road Bike of the Year test for more than a decade. He’s also a regular presenter on the BikeRadar Podcast and on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel. In his time as a cycling journalist, Warren has written for Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cyclingnews, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike and T3. Over the years, Warren has written about thousands of bikes and tested more than 2,500 – from budget road bikes to five-figure superbikes. He has covered all the major innovations in cycling this century, and reported from launches, trade shows and industry events in Europe, Asia, Australia, North American and Africa. While Warren loves fast road bikes and the latest gravel bikes, he also believes electric bikes are the future of transport. You’ll regularly find him commuting on an ebike and he longs for the day when everyone else follows suit. You will find snaps of Warren’s daily rides on the Instagram account of our sister publication, Cycling Plus (@cyclingplus).
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