Aiming to Promote the Pleasure of Cycling, Fishing and Rowing to More People

SHIMANO
EXPERIENCE
CENTER

ABOUT

SHIMANO EXPERIENCE CENTER

Valkenburg is a city in the Southern Netherlands near the borders with Germany and Belgium. In this city well known to cyclists as a venue of “The Amstel Gold Race” a professional bicycle road race, the Shimano Experience Center opened in April 2019. The facility covers all the business fields Shimano is engaged in: bicycle components, fishing tackle, and rowing equipment. Standing in a pastoral beautiful environment, the Shimano Experience Center has extensive exhibits, virtual displays, and simulators and provides visitors with opportunities to see and use Shimano products and the latest technologies through hands-on experience. The lounge and the workshop area provide local schools, cycling clubs, and other group visitors with a place to hold events and business outings. The facility organizes a wide variety of events, aiming to promote the pleasure of cycling, fishing and rowing to many people and to become a place that always provides visitors with new discoveries and experiences every time they visit the facility.

Major Areas of the Experience Center

The facility mainly consists of six areas, including those where Shimano products are exhibited and equipment for hands-on experience is located, a lounge for visitors to take a break, and a space where events are held.

Shimano Welcome Lounge・Workshop

The Shimano Welcome Lounge is right by the entrance of the facility and has a café space and a fan store that sells cycling items. The Workshop area is a space to hold events and lectures.

Bike World

This area exhibits road bikes, MTBs, and other bicycles and their components categorized according to their functions. Screens play Shimano product videos and professional riders’ promotional videos. Two types of cycling simulators, one for road bikes and the other for MTBs, give visitors a hands-on experience of Shimano products and an opportunity to feel the pleasure of riding bicycle. An expert helps visitors find a bicycle that best fits their body.

Fishing River

This area exhibits pictures and videos of various fishing scenes and the products used in them. Visitors can pick up these products to examine them and even try them out in a pond next to the building.

Rowing Experience

Equipped with two simulators, this area provides a simulated rowing experience with Shimano’s binding system for rowing, called SRD (Shimano Rowing Dynamics).

Heritage Cloud

In this area, visitors can watch videos about Shimano’s history. Visitors can pick a video category of their choice.

Through the Holding of Various Events

Since its establishment, the facility has served as the venue of various events: a UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) WorldTeam held a press conference there, and KPMG used the facility as the starting point of the KPMG Gold Race, a cycling event it hosted. For each of these events, Shimano has offered help. Shimano will further strengthen the facility’s efforts as a hub of increasing the pleasure of cycling and fishing through continued activities to create events with visitors, including cycling around Valkenburg and related meetings, cycling race events, field trips, and fishing competitions.