Picture courtesy of wikipedia
Chaos theory and the Butterfly Effect
A rough summary of the Chaos Theory is that even the smallest changes, within specific environments, are not neglect able.
The so called nonlinear dynamic systems show infact sensitive dependence on initial conditions, so that small variations of the initial condition may produce large variations in the long term behaviour of the system.
Examples of such systems are part of our daily life: atmospheric weather, how smoke moves in the air, the frequency of drops falling from a leaking tap.. and so many more.
The sensitive dependence on initial conditions goes popularly under the name of Butterfly Effect since the famous sentence of scientist Edward Lorenz “the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas” and has become synonymous of disasters generated by small and unsuspectable events.
Effetto Mariposa takes its inspiration from this scientific background. Taking a giant (logic) leap, the extra torque an unaware mechanic applies to a screw could be similar to the flap of a butterfly’s wing setting off the tornado… and the result could be a cracked carbon handlebar.
There’s also a positive reading of our obsession for details, though: in a sport where win and loss are a matter of fractions of a second (track-racing, time-trialling..), the winning ‘flap’ can be given by a tyre sealant with a formula unlike any of its competitors, or by an inflate & repair cartridge that really works.
Effetto Mariposa targets both aspects: preventing damages and creating tiny winning advantages, all this taking care of the details most are under-estimating .