Shimano

Shimano has been in business since 1921. The brand was founded by Shozaburo Shimano in the city of Sakai (Osaka). The first product of the Japanese company was a bicycle with a single freewheel, the manufacture of which required the greatest technical skill. Since then, Shimano has patented groups of bicycle accessories such as cranks, wheel hubs, chains, brakes with handles or SPD pedals for different types of bicycles and in different hierarchies. For MTB, these include XTR (for racers), Saint (for downhill and freeride), Deore XT or SLX, and for road bikes: Dura-Ace (for racers and amateurs), Ultegra or Sora (the lowest in the gear hierarchy). The Japanese company's accessories were used by, among others, Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France.

One of the most popular systems developed by the Japanese is SPD (Shimano Pedaling Dynamics) and SPD-SL (for road bicycles), which is a clip-on system for bicycles that allows you to clip into the pedal using special blocks attached to your shoes, which translates into greater riding efficiency and stability. Shimano also produces advanced components for electric bicycles (Shimano Steps system).

Shimano is the winner of many prestigious awards such as ICAST and EFTTEX.

Currently, Shimano is a leader in providing high-quality, long-life equipment, bicycle clothing, bicycle footwear, bicycle goggles and bicycle components (it has about 70% of the global market share). Its portfolio also includes bicycle tools and unicycle cleaning products. In Europe, it has a network of independent bicycle repair shops centered around Shimano Service Center (there are about 50 points in Poland). In addition, the Japanese giant is active in the fishing industry - fishing equipment began to be produced in 1970 - and rowing.