First MM [Pedal] Bike Build: Shimano Fondriest

[Maengelito]

Maeng was making the point htat technology singificantly drives down the cost, associated effective uses, and general development of any material. Aluminum, as a great example, has come a very long way. He was saying, further, that he expects ti and mag to quickly join aluminum in terms of price, if I was reading him correctly - not for those metals to join the ranks of CNTs.

Feel free to go OT. I'll bring it back around as I finish the bike's assembly.

that was my point, thanks ginger. Ti (and Al for that matter) is only expensive because of the processing associated with it, not the supply. Several new processes for turning ore into powder are essentially on the horizon to replace the basically 100 yr old process that is more or less used today. And when it does, I'm sure Al will have to do something to compete. Meanwhile, steel will always be around as the cheaper alternative, maybe not the US steel industry though. There are obviously more factors that go into it but overall, cost of Ti should come down significantly in the not too distant future.

but Rex is right on the point that I didn't make, CNTs are much stronger than most conventional metals or alloys. High quality and consistent CNTs are difficult to scale up in production though. Potential for lots of great applications aside from structural bits, lots of which we probably wont see in our lifetime.