639
Backers
$66,386
pledged of $45,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding period
Nov 8, 2012 -
Dec 9, 2012
- First created · 10 backed
- Colin Owen 322 friends
- Website: sparse.cc
Pledge $1 or more
56 backers
SPECIAL THANKS: Even if you don't ride a bike, you can show your support for safer roads for both cars and cyclists by helping us get closer to our goal. You’ll also be listed on our website as a contributor.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $30 or more
22 backers
SPARSE T-SHIRT: Slim-fit black tee with the Sparse logo in clear ink, custom label and sparse.cc in white ink on the back. Men's or Women's available. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Add $5 to ship outside the USPledge $50 or more
27 backers
CLEAR ANODIZED TAIL LIGHT: Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $10 to ship outside the USPledge $50 or more
45 backers
BLACK ANODIZED TAIL LIGHT: Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $10 to ship outside the USPledge $75 or more
9 backers
CLEAR ANODIZED HEAD LIGHT: Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $10 to ship outside the USPledge $75 or more
29 backers
BLACK ANODIZED HEAD LIGHT: Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $10 to ship outside the USPledge $120 or more
234 backers
2 LIGHT SET: BLACK anodized Head Light and Tail Light. Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $120 or more
130 backers
2 LIGHT SET: CLEAR anodized Head Light and Tail Light. Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $150 or more
4 backers
2 LIGHT SET + SPARSE T-SHIRT: CLEAR anodized Head Light and Tail Light. Comes with 6' usb wall charger + Slim-fit black tee with the Sparse logo in clear ink, custom label and sparse.cc in white ink on the back. Men's or Women's available. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $150 or more
10 backers
2 LIGHT SET + SPARSE T-SHIRT: BLACK anodized Head Light and Tail Light. Comes with 6' usb wall charger + Slim-fit black tee with the Sparse logo in clear ink, custom label and sparse.cc in white ink on the back. Men's or Women's available. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $160 or more
44 backers Limited (156 of 200 left)
LIMITED EDITION 2 LIGHT SET: WHITE Head Light and Tail Light only available to our Kickstarter backers. Comes with 6' usb wall charger. US shipping included.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $1,000 or more
3 backers Limited (7 of 10 left)
SPARSE CAT1 KICKSTARTER: A cyclist or not, this pledge level shows your support for the Sparse Mission to make cities better through biking. Not only will you help get our lights get to market but you'll be supporting the research and development of our many other biking initiatives. Of course we'll set you up with a sweet Sparse tee shirt and a set of lights. If you're in San Francisco we'll also deliver a personal thank you from the entire team. We'll also make a 1-time offer of cooking you dinner, buying you a few beers, walking your dog, dropping your kids off at school, or fixing your flat in the rain.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013
Creator Kat Ferr on April 15
While waiting for the lights to come I've been debating which of my two bikes would be worthy to wear them... I couldn't decide, so I bought a new bike that will get them! WEEEEOOOOO!
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on April 11
Hello Erick and Hugo - Just posted an update and as soon as we have firm dates, we'll let everyone know.
Creator HUGO TELLEZ on April 9
Cmon !!! I want mine lights already!!! When will u start shipping 'em ????
Creator Erick B on April 2
Any update on the latest happenings and timing of when shipments will go out?
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on March 14
Thanks Lucas, We'll make sure they ship out together and we just posted an update on shipping schedule.
Creator Lucas Harris on March 7
Finally getting warm enough to get back to biking to work - how's the march ship date going? Any idea yet of a more specific timeline?
Also - I preordered a second set (clear anodized) on your website. I wanted to add it here, but didn't get it in time. If there's any way we could shift that preorder to the Kickstarter set (black), that'd be awesome!
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on February 19
Ross-
You are indeed an outlier.
the lights do ship with an internal shim that get it down to 27.2.
(we only get about 3mm of compression in the clamp - every bit of that light is tightly toleranced).
The good news - a few wraps of electrical tape (while not ideal) should get you enough volume to clamp down.
Creator Ross Lafontaine on February 17
Did I hear on the video that the tail-lights only fit from 31.6 to 27.2? Will you be including rubber moldings for the crazies out there (like me) with 25.4's? I can't imagine this would cost much (if anything) - but would make customers super happy (myself included)!
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on January 12
Hi Richard- Tshirts have shipped and should arrive any day. We are still on track to ship lights in March.
Creator Richard Kuan on January 11
I'm just curious when are we supposed to expect these things to be shipped out?
Creator Jonathan Kok on December 19
Well, I'm looking forward to seeing these on my bike. I hate my current lights. These are pretty. :-)
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on December 8
That's great. Benjamin. We'll make sure you get the appropriate lights. Thank you. -Colin
Creator Benjamin Chan on December 8
Hi! I'd like 2 sets of 2, so i doubled my pledge. is that okay?
Creator Ben Rosenthal on December 8
Big 19 to go!
Creator Ben Rosenthal on December 7
$65,000, here you come!
Creator Ben Rosenthal on December 5
Nice going John. Lets see if we can get funding over $60k before the campaign ends!
Creator John Ray on December 5
Just became a backer. Can't wait to get these on my Bike. Shared the page with friends at the local shop and they are interested as well.
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on November 21
We're funded, thanks everyone. Looking forward to getting lights to everyone.
Creator Ben Rosenthal on November 21
Yay!
Creator Elroy Project on November 20
Almost there!
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on November 14, 2012
Thanks @Ross - we just added an FAQ section to your point.
Creator Ross Lafontaine on November 14, 2012
It might be worth mentioning, on the information page, that the headlight can be used on threaded or threadless headset setups (as you confirmed in your message to me - although there is a quill system in the video, it is hard to notice/easy to miss). I know a few people that LOVE the idea but were under the impression that it would be unusable with their quill stems. Cheers!
Creator Ben Rosenthal on November 14, 2012
At the current rate, I expect you'll reach your goal by the weekend. Perhaps you'll triple it by the end of the campaign.
Creator Andrew Wright on November 13, 2012
These look amazing, but where I store my bike makes it unrealistic to charge w/ USB. Maybe in the future you might consider a version that has a larger battery housing maybe on the other side of the post. Either a rechargeable battery pack or for rechargeable AAAs. (the crappy plastic leaky lights I use take AAAs and last for months, I wouldn't mind unscrewing the battery housing to replace them once every couple months)
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on November 13, 2012
Thanks to all for suggesting the light set + t-shirt pledge level. We've added that in for the black and clear anodized options.
Creator Anthony Bramante on November 12, 2012
In for the Spacer and the Tail. I'm so sick of losing / forgetting bike lights because I constantly take them off to prevent theft AND breaking the cheap plastic ones I do buy (because I know I'm going to lose them). Your project looks awesome.
I'll echo others' comments and mention the 4 hour duration seems short, just barely enough to get a normal commuter through the week in winter. I'd gladly take a heavier, larger light with 1 1/2 or 2 times the battery life.
Also, as someone mentioned, USB-charged light batteries seem to decline in performance rapidly over a few weeks or months. Maybe the ones I buy just use cheap batteries and you guys can pick good ones. Just an observation.
Thanks again!
Anthony
12 month Bike-to-Work in Minneapolis
Creator Nate Gilmore on November 12, 2012
Bike lights got stolen again last week. This time from the bike car on Caltrains (seriously...biker on biker theft is bad people).
Found your project. Love the concept. Backed it for a front/back and am looking forward to receiving.
The 4 hr battery life seems a bit light. One of the things I've noticed from my past USB lights is that after a few months the full charge life degrades rapidly. Perhaps consider this in your testing from your battery vendor before you signoff?
Looking forward and appreciate the design thoughtfulness on this. Simple and blinky. I really like the fact that the back light blinks when in motion so I don't have to constantly have to reach back to fiddle with it while riding.
Nate
SF cyclist
VP of BD at Shipwire.com (if you need a shipping partner for this check our Shipwire.com we've worked with a number of Kickstarter projects. Hit us up before you design final packaging and case packs.)
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on November 12, 2012
Wow.
Thanks everyone the support! We just went over 50% of our goal!
We're stoked that everyone sees the need for durable, theft-resistant (and sleek) bike lights.
Thanks also for the recommendations on usb cable length.
For now, we're shipping each light with a 6' USB cable and a wall plug that has 2 USB outlets.
We'll do some extended testing in additional environments to optimize the cable length. We want to get just the right length for the cable without having several feet of unused length tangled up with the bike.
We are delighted and grateful for your support and feedback.
Creator Mike Sallaberry on November 10, 2012
Good concept to produce durable, good looking, theft proof lights, but the run time and cord are too short, and the cost is too high. Good luck!
Creator simon on November 10, 2012
very nice and beautiful (definitely the most good looking bike light I have ever seen) the 4h charge and non removable battery is a bit of a problem though. I ride about 50min every day so 4h isn't that great and I would have to take my bike into my apartment to charge the lights doesn't work for me (and where I live (bern switzerland) I never had a problem with a stolen bike light (except when it was stolen with my bike twice :( ). but still e great project that I wan't to support.
Creator Cooper Marcus on November 9, 2012
Might I suggest a longer (much longer?) USB cable? I'm guessing that one typical place that Sparse lights will be charged is in garages - and outlets there can be few and far between. Another is in office bike parking locations - again, bike light -> outlet distance is likely >6'
From my quick research (Monoprice.com - so awesome!) a 15' USB cable is less than $0.50 more than a 6' cable, so this adjustment wouldn't appreciably change the cost of goods.
Creator Wade Roush on November 9, 2012
I *so* need these lights, having lost my share of bike lights to theft right here in San Francisco, so I'd love to see this project come to fruition. Meanwhile, I've included you guys in my Xconomy article "10 Kickstarter Projects Every Geek Should Support." Good luck.
http://www.xconomy.com/national/2012/11/09/10-kickstarter-projects-every-geek-should-support/
Creator Hope Leman on November 8, 2012
John Mauriello: if you need a bike, check out the Kickstarter project FABIKE - The Flexibly Adjustable Bike http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fabioputzolu/fabike-the-flexibly-adjustable-bike…
Sparse Bicycle Lights would like great on a FABIKE. Both projects are all about urban bikedom and they each run by smart, talented guys.
Creator Elroy Project on November 8, 2012
Looks like you're off to a solid start! I think you'll hit your goal with ease. If you're not familiar with them, you should hook up with the guys at Rock-the-Bike. They have some interesting products they've been developing, some in the lighting area. Cool guys. And you should definitely look to going to Interbike next Fall (the bike industry trade show).
Creator Colin Owen + Sparse on November 8, 2012
Hope-
Thank you for the encouragement and support.
We think about urban riding _a lot_.
This effort is the first of many.
John-
These lights will not mount to surfboards.
More streets, less waves, sir.
Thank you, both.
-Colin
Creator John Mauriello on November 8, 2012
Cool product. All I need now is a bike.
Creator Hope Leman on November 8, 2012
Wow--it's uncanny how you describe in exact detail my struggles with bicycle lights! But seriously, I was impressed by your write-up, video and solid background in design.