Veteran mountain bike journalist Bob Allen takes us Inside / Out at Exposure Lights, a UK lighting company based in West Sussex. Read on for a brand background and deep dive into what it takes to make industry-leading cycling illumination…
From Britain, with Love
There’s a gritty national pride that comes from having to ride bikes in crap weather. UK cyclists have learned to endure whatever the North Atlantic throws at the islands. Either you are prepared to ride in the pissing rain, or you don’t ride your bike much. Keep a stiff upper lip and carry on pedaling, weather be damned, is just how they’ve been forced to roll.
I met Roger Sparrow when the fresh-faced Englishman showed up on my doorstep on a fine spring day bearing a prototype suspension seat post, the first that I had ever seen. It was 1990, I was living in London having jettisoned from Orange County, California the previous year. I was back in the UK, not as a U.S. Navy serviceman as I was in the early 80s, but as an aspiring photographer who had acted at the right time, right place opportunity. Through circumstance and serendipity, I abruptly found myself working as a photojournalist for the British mountain bike press. For the competing magazines, I provided race coverage photography, bike-related destination travel pieces, and the occasional bike and product testing that came my way.
Sparrow was curious as to what I thought of his Shok Post and if I was interested in testing it for a press review, which, of course, I was. Putting the tune-able elastomer dampened post through its paces, I bashed about on it over the breadth of my usual cycling routes, from surreptitious bridleway hot laps in Richmond Park to running the bumpy-ass urban gauntlet into my photo lab in SoHo. I rode it hard over a wide variety of road and trail surfaces.
The story was published in London-based Mountain Biker magazine that summer. I wrote a positive review as the post definitely took the bite out of my hardtail reality, simply making my existing whip more comfortable to ride. Encouraged by the review and other feedback he received at the time, Ultimate Sports Engineering, U.S.E., was founded in earnest later that year in partnership with his brother Guy.
Fast forward 34 years, U.S.E. and sister company Exposure Lights are British-made success stories. The niche brands have stood the test of time by remaining relevant through relentless innovation, imaginative design work, and bloody hard work. Surviving in the fickle bicycle industry this long is a testament unto itself. In the case of Exposure Lights, by becoming early adopters of disruptive LED technology, they have gained significant expertise and proprietary knowledge in the last 20 years. On the USE side of the house, there are new carbon handlebars and the Vybe suspension stems and seat posts that target the gravel market.
West Sussex-Based
In November, I paid a visit to the U.S.E. / Exposure headquarters in bucolic West Sussex, a 90-minute commute southwest of London. It had been 25 years since I last saw Roger at a Las Vegas Interbike Show in the mid-90s. In fact, we had hardly interacted since that original conversation all those years ago, but as we found, we are still bonded by that event as a pivotal time in our lives. Like most good stories, especially those that span more than three decades and involve bicycles, it is worth telling well.
Picked up at Heathrow and driven south, my jet-lagged brain was hopelessly lost once we departed the M-25 motorway. The apparent shortcut immediately dove into the quintessential English countryside: a jumble of narrow, twisting lanes lined by native flint stone walls, dense hedgerows, and timeless guideposts. Turning off the two-lane A29 into the entrance of Bury Mill Farm, one is transported back in time. If one squints, the pastoral scene, complete with mooing cows and bleating sheep, is reminiscent of a 19th-century John Constable landscape painting.
The dilapidated barns that once stood at the center of the property were demolished and replaced by newly constructed ‘high-spec’ barns. Ten years ago, the structure had been constructed to Sparrow’s specifications by the landowner to contain the needed office, warehouse, machine shop, and assembly spaces. Once completed, they moved in from nearby Petworth, 5 miles away.
One enters directly into an expansive split-level room with a row of large windows that fill the space with natural light and offer a calming view of verdant pastures. Nearly two dozen employees have workstations in and around this space: shipping and receiving, reception, the entire design team, sales, and marketing, including Roger’s very tidy desk tucked into the corner.
Framed USE jerseys on the wall are adjacent to an elevated shelf of interesting bikes sporting USE components spanning the history of the company. Several glass cases proudly display their British-made bling – so many shiny objects! I’m not much of a feng shui sort of guy, but there was palpable creative energy freely bouncing around that room. None of this was by accident; rather, it was another glimpse of Sparrow’s design sensibilities, both in the style of the office environment and the social interactions the open floor plan deliberately encourages.
I had arrived on a Tuesday, and Roger and his son Morgan were still buzzing from a rally car competition the previous weekend up in Northern Wales, an autosport passion they share. Needless to say, the entire scene had a lot to take in, and it was sensory overload for sure. It was obvious that Roger and I had a lot to catch up on.
From Jewelry Design to Cycling Lights
Sparrow’s path to manufacturing bicycle parts is an unlikely one. Initially destined for the law, he pivoted to jewelry design, relishing the challenges of metallurgy, gemology, and the intricate craftsmanship required. He made engagement rings, candlesticks, teapots, and even intricate chess sets. He created works for the Royals.
For nine years, Sparrow worked as a jeweler. “I met interesting people, was doing challenging work, and the business was growing,” he confides, “but it wasn’t enough to keep me inspired. I was just bored, really.” Little did he know that an ill-fated ride on his sister’s mountain bike on the nearby South Downs would change the trajectory of his life. “Speeding downhill, I broke off the seat post,” he recalls. He described the experience as “a bone-shaking nightmare” and thought, “There must be a better way.” Thus, this inspiration for the Shok Post is an impetus for building a better mousetrap.
Reflecting upon those times, he recalls with a smile, “The challenge of mountain biking was exciting, wasn’t it? Everybody enjoyed participating. It was a developing scenario with different, better materials, better bikes, and better designs. It was all just interesting and fun.” During seat post development, he continued working as a jeweler as a financial safety net for two years before the growing bike business demanded his full-time attention.
The first challenge was to turn the prototype Shok Post into a real product. A local machine shop was contracted to produce the components that were then assembled by the growing number of staff. Increased sales and industry acceptance boosted their confidence, justifying the purchase of their own CNC lathe and mill in 1991, requiring a larger facility to house them. When the machines were delivered, Roger cajoled the sales representative to stay late to give him a crash course on how to program them. Thus, rudimentarily prepared, Sparrow was off to the proverbial races.
‘I bought a second-hand copy of AutoCad and taught myself how to use it,’ states Sparrow. “I’d do the 2D drawings on the computer and have to visualize the 3D version in my head. I’d then print it out, and then go to the machine and started pressing the buttons to program it.” This trial-by-fire engineering education provided invaluable insights into how good design leads to the efficient and practical machining of parts. “I learned a lot about what tips cut material in certain ways, the speeds and feeds and properties of different materials. All these different things were interesting learning curves and stood as a good step for developing products later on because I knew exactly how they’re made.”
Rigid seat post models immediately followed in aluminum, carbon, and titanium as they explored new materials to increase strength, reduce weight, and improve function. Handlebars, some with ingeniously integrated bar ends, were added to the growing product line. Specialized and Cannondale opened OEM accounts and were purchasing units by the thousands. U.S.E. was running flat out to keep up with the demand.
UK Manufacturing
All the while, Sparrow stayed up to date on the design and manufacturing technology. “We started using Finite Element Analysis early on, which sped up our development times,” recalls Sparrow. The next project would test all that he had learned, becoming the company’s largest engineering project to date: the SUB fork (Stability Under Braking), a single-legged, anti-dive, coil and air-sprung and air-damped.
An idea born when Sparrow observed the landing gear of a plane at L.A.X. while waiting on a flight back to London after attending an Interbike Show in Anaheim. Designed and tested over the following year, the fork launched in 2002, where roughly 50 forks a month were being made at the height of production. Supply chain issues for the complicated internal parts and resource allocation decisions within the company shelved it for the time being.
Abysmal conditions at a bike race provided the ah-ha! moment to develop a completely new accessory product for the company. 24-Hour racing was exploding in popularity in the UK. Sparrow competed on a team at the particularly soggy Mountain Mayhem event. Their experience highlighted the obvious shortcomings of the lighting technology of the day. ‘I had to fiddle with the lights for the entire race,” he vividly recalls. ‘Water got into the cable connections; they were a complete disaster.”
Lighting systems at the time still relied on incandescent bulbs and heavy external batteries. Motivated to find a better light, the USE team explored the options globally and looked to find a product to import. However, it was soon apparent that there were no acceptable solutions available, and the nascent LED technology was identified as the future. “They were brighter, more efficient,” he observed, “and the battery technology was evolving quickly.” An all-in-one, self-contained light was envisioned – and they set out to build a system from scratch in the UK.
Exposure Lights
Launching in 2005, Exposure Lights then began the endless iterative process of developing a product line using the rapidly evolving technology. With the physical LEDs potentially becoming brighter every year, the goal was to maximize the incremental gains through innovative design and clever solutions to the numerous challenges. Just adding more power to an LED doesn’t necessarily get you more lumens. LED performance is a three-legged stool consisting of battery capacity, the efficiency of the actual LED chip and the design and efficiency of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and corresponding firmware, including the all-important thermal management of the heat generated.
The challenge is to provide peak output and optimum battery life while actively managing the ever-changing thermal demands. Through patented circuitry called Intelligent Thermal Management (ITM), the external ambient air and internal unit temperatures are actively monitored. The ITM calculates maximum output while protecting the vital parts from being overdriven. The intricately machined heat-sinking fins are integral to maximizing the performance of these intelligent lights.
“So we were pretty much at the forefront of that. Pushing it hard, we had some thermal problems we had to solve, which we did,” recalls Sparrow. “Luckily, I met a clever electronics guy at the beginning who was very helpful in the evolution of the designs.” Every model year offered an opportunity to tweak the units to be more powerful or longer lasting, sometimes both. “As LED technology offered better output, the efficiency went up. As our PCB designs improved, efficiency and capability went up, the cooling designs got better, and our batteries themselves got better. So there’s a handful of elements that you can improve from one generation to the next.” As a case in point, the Joystick model is on its 16th update.
The lights’ sheer physicality is tangibly satisfying. They are solid and compact, with exquisitely crafted details. The ram-air ports on the front of the larger models tickle my techie brain, creating mini Venturi effects to accelerate the airflow through the front of the unit. The quick-release handlebar mount connection is clean, solid, and simple.
In a market where lumen versus lumen is the benchmark for comparison, Mark Swift, Head of Sales and Marketing, offers this perspective: “There’s more than just an output number to our lights. We call it Real Rider Benefits, features that make riding more fun and safer.” Atop this value-added list is the proprietary and patented Reflex technology, which automatically adjusts the light to provide a boosted output when riding fast, then intuitively dims for the slower sections, such as climbs, without any rider intervention.
Technology
This is achieved by using accelerometers, including a gyroscope and thermistors in the unit that continually analyse the data to make seamless adjustments to the output, balancing preselected run time with power output when you actually need it. The light dims when you stop and flares up as you start rolling again. There is an Exposure Synch App to control the handlebar and helmet lights via Bluetooth. The new helmet lights offer TAP technology which allows a rider to toggle the light’s output just by tapping the body of the light, allowing for quick adjustments on the fly. The new Strada RS road-specific light comes with AKTiv, a feature that will automatically dim the light for oncoming traffic – so you don’t blind car drivers with your bike light… lol!
When you are the industry leader, other companies knock at the door and look for solutions to their own specific needs. First, an underwater diving company commissioned a light that eventually led to the formation of the Exposure Marine division building, not only pressure-rated personal and vessel lighting but also Wireless Engine Kill Switches and onboard alarms. While attending the rally car races, the Sparrows observed that their bike lights were brighter than some of the car lights – so the Exposure AutoMoto division was created to bring high-performance illumination to the motorsports world.
The latest commission certainly has Roger Sparrow fired up. It comes from Tuthill Porsche, the bespoke British company that specializes in restoring, racing, and rallying the storied 911 models. Tuthill is building 20 reimagined GT-1 Supercars from the ground up for a cool $1.5 million each. Based on the 1996 body style that raced at La Mans, Exposure Lights is tasked with supplying LED lights for the headlights, body, and tail lights. The project requires extensive 3D modeling and printing to get the lighting assemblies to fit the sleek body perfectly. The taillight assembly, which spans the width of the car, is an engineering masterpiece. Just wow!
Roger’s 64th birthday fell on a day I visited, where I shared cake and tea with the staff in the break room. It was readily apparent that people actually enjoy the camaraderie and shared mission that their employment brings. Throughout the facility, there is a positive energy that can be felt, a dedication to the team effort that it takes. Drawn from the local communities, the dedicated staff creates an interesting mix of traditional cottage industry vibes combined with the innovative high-tech products they are shipping to the world from this rural setting.
Reflecting on his employees, Sparrow shares that “probably more than 50 percent of the staff, now totaling 38, have been with me for 10 – 15 years, a couple for 20 – 30. These are stalwarts in various departments, including accounts, production, machining, etc.” In addressing the work setting, he adds, “I have always tried to make it a pleasant and enjoyable place to come to work, that Monday mornings were something to look forward to, not dread.” From what I observed, he has more than succeeded in that goal.
The lights are machined and then assembled at the facility. The precision lenses come from a Swedish Company, and the PCBs, built to spec, are sourced in Taiwan and China. From the raw machined aluminum tubing through to the anodized, laser-etched final product, a half dozen sets of hands will touch the lights as the work flows through assembly, quality control, and testing before packaging and, finally, the shipping department.
Morgan, now 30, hadn’t intended to start working at his father’s company. As a property development finance broker hustling projects when COVID hit, he needed a socially distanced office space from which to work. He landed at the spacious U.S.E. facility as a plan B. When the AutoMoto division grew out of the father and son’s mutual passion for rally racing, Morgan became more involved in the business. “I just started with a day here, a day there, but it soon spiraled to where I was involved with every single bit of it.” He started in a more defined, permanent role in January 2024.
In an additional twist of familial fate, Morgan’s younger sister, Imogen, gained experience in a buying and merchandising position at a corporate fashion house in the City. She found herself burned out and looking for change. Her skill set fits perfectly with the expertise gap in the family-owned company. She’s learning the supply chain ropes and keeping the design and production teams supplied, scheduled, and on task.
With the goal of re-launching the Exposure Lights and U.S.E. brands in the U.S., it made sense that the younger Sparrow be named Head of U.S.E. Group, North America, as they ramp back up to engage with consumers who might or might not be familiar with the brands.
Newly hired personnel brought fresh energy and perspective to the premises. Tom Purcell, named North American Sales and Marketing Manager, comments, “Our approach isn’t about reinventing the wheel – it’s replicating our UK success in the U.S. through supporting events like Unbound, hitting the consumer-facing trade shows, and upcoming brand collaborations.” He adds, “With complete confidence in our product quality, we’re excited to showcase our technology to a whole new group of cyclists eager to experience the best.”
With the precision of a jeweler, Roger Sparrow has built brands dedicated to building cycling products intended to dial up the fun and dial down the suffering. His endless curiosity has driven the innovation – build a better mouse trap. It takes a certain amount of fearlessness to be an early adopter of disruptive technologies, commit to the unknown, and go for it.
Exposure Lights, in particular, have remained at the forefront of the rapidly evolving technology because they repeatedly jumped into that void. As cyclists we are lucky that Sparrow has stayed the course all these years, dedicated to the craft of thoughtful design and hard work.
See more at Exposure Lights.