2013 Galleries

Galleries // 2013 Spark:Product // Sparse Fixed Cycling Lights

Sparse Fixed Cycling Lights

Winner - Platinum

Competition: Spark:Product
Designer: Mr. Colin Owen
Design Type: Product: Bicycle Lights
Company / Organization / School: Sparse
Website: http://sparse.cc
Team Members: Remy Labesque, Joshua Wright, Ryan Wilday, Jerome Daksiewicz, Raffi Minasian, Michelle Katz

Sparse believes that biking makes for better cities. Cycling holds beneficial halo effects for cities: traffic calming, increases in small neighborhood-centric businesses and a healthy population. It is also the most energy-efficient means of human transport. Real and surmountable impediments to the employment of a bicycle as primary mode of transport exist and have not been adequately addressed by the current market. The Sparse mission is to increase the number of people using the bicycle as their primary mode of transit. Bicycle lighting is a particularly necessary and problematic sector of that experience. Bike riders after dusk are "black holes in the night." Current light solutions are not well-designed nor well-made. Lights fail due to weather, impact, demounting and are readily stolen. Further the majority of lights detract from the otherwise simple form of the bicycle. Sparse Lights were designed to enhance the daily routine of the rider as well as the lines of the cycle. The lights mount under the stem of the bicycle or under its seat - hiding under the existing silhouette of the bike. The lines of the lights echo the angles of the bicycle frame. The integrated finishes of the lights match standard components (black, white, and silver). The front light is focused and powerful enough to illuminate the roadway ahead. Both lights throw wide enough to keep the rider visible to traffic from 360º. Most commuters can ride to and from work for a week on a single charge.