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| Shimano History |
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Why Buy Shimano?
It’s a question you’ve probably asked yourself before today, and after visiting this website, it’s one we’re certain you’ll know and understand the answers to.
Once you visited the different sections of our site, you’ll be basking in the knowledge that your money has purchased an item, or items, of thoroughbred equipment, which have been researched like no others and which incorporate state of the art technological features.
On this website, you are going to see the very best in fishing tackle for 2006, suiting a wide range styles, methods and budgets.
Many of the names given to Shimano products will be familiar to you, others such as A-RB bearings, Hybrid Aluminium Spools and the SAS (Shimano Alignment System) are new. Be assured that they will all become household names, just like our Baitrunner and Fightin’ Drag features, which burst onto the scene in past decades.
We don’t just pluck a name out of the air and bestow it on a bail arm, a spool or a handle. Each Shimano feature’s name is descriptive, giving the user a feel for the benefits it brings. Dyna-Balance tells you a reel is perfectly balanced, Positive Bail means there’s no risk of mid-cast mishaps, and so on.
New features and products will be unveiled across many of the pages. We won’t attempt to preview any here and now, but be assured that the tackle will not only look superb, it will work superbly for many many years to come. It won’t suddenly cough, splutter and die. Ask yourself whether that’s something which can be said of our many imitators?
In short, a Shimano purchase – be it rods, reels or accessories – is like being granted your own personal security system. It’s up to you to tempt the fish to your bait, safe in the knowledge that your precision engineered kit will perform to the required standards over and over again.
A skim through the company’s history reveals more than 80 years’ experience in one of the world’s most demanding sporting and leisure markets - bicycles, where gearing and engineering to the most exact tolerances is essential.
We’ve been involved in fishing tackle since the early 1970s, but we realise that even the finest products can sometimes need attention, and that’s why you can count on back-up in the form of the dedicated Shimano Service Centers - angling’s very own Formula 1 pit crew.
These guys fully realise time is of the essence when it comes to getting your tackle back in perfect condition. The frequent plaudits paid to their dedication and efficiency in the angling press and in letters to Shimano HQ says it all. |
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Shimano Consultants
In many respects fishing reels are much easier to develop than rods and accessories. Assuming the engineering and design is of the highest quality, as is the case with all Shimano reels, the quality of the finished product is easy to assess. Smoothness, advanced features and build quality are all tangible areas that are immediately obvious . . . but what about rods?
Rods are completely different. The quality of the materials used in the construction may be of the highest specification, but if the rod doesn’t feel right to you, the angler, it’s of little use. Rods have to have the correct playing action. Some have to have excellent casting performance, other’s need to be immensely strong to cope with the demands of a certain style of fishing. Rods are a very personal thing which is one of the reasons why Shimano have a world wide team of hand picked angling consultants and some of the best rod designers in the world.
Shimano rod designers are first and foremost excellent fishermen who understand what is required from a new rod design. They consult with specific Shimano angling consultants, who have been chosen for their outstanding angling ability, and work closely together to achieve the correct result. Once a new rod has been produced in its prototype form it is tested by the consultant and modifications are made until both the designer and consultant are happy with the performance. It is then ‘field tested’ over an extended period by the consultants to ensure that it meets all expectations.
Once the testing is finished and the designers and consultants are satisfied, it is then ready for production. During the manufacturing process, quality control checks are constantly made to ensure that the finished result meets the highest standards. Samples of the new rod are then sent back to the designer and consultants for final checking.
The Shimano rod design process has been developed over many years to ensure that when you pick up a new Shimano rod it not only feels correct, but will never let you down when you are fishing.
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Over 80 Years Precision Engineering
From an angling perspective, every single person who has owned and enjoyed using a piece of our tackle has reason to thank a Japanese visionary named Shozaburo Shimano, who in 1921 declared: “I aim to make Shimano’s products the best in Kansai, then the best in Japan, and finally the best in the world.”
People in Kansai, like so many Japanese cities of the era, were reliant upon bicycles to get them to and from work. This is the market Shimano first entered, and it’s true to say that the demands placed upon Shimano bicycle gears by the likes of multiple Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong have led to new innovations and processes which have transferred quickly to Shimano fishing reels.
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