Thermoplastics have a lower strength to weight ratio. They have a lower compactness. They however are less succeptable to abrasion and notch-failures than thermosets. They are also more ductile and can be "recycled", patched and repaired. But as you say (and as I've said before), it's not an easy task. Richard Cunningham (Mantis) teamed together with GT back in the mid-1990s to produce a thermoplastic bike. Not all of the bike was CF however... only the main triangle. GT later went on to make a full thermoplastic frame. Mantis also produced a full thermoplastic frame called the Screaming V. A year later, K2/Pro-Flex introduced the 4500C/5500C/Oz frames which were also full thermoplastic. And I forgot one company in my initial post on the subject. Cannondale also produced the thermoplastic Raven. The Screaming V, K2 Oz and Cannondale Raven shared some common features... primarily in construction where the main frame was produced using two shell halves bonded to a central spine. In the Mantis and K2 bikes, this spine was made of CF. In the Cannondale bike, this was initially made of aluminum and then later on magnesium. Both K2 and Cannondale had been playing thermoplastics before releasing a full frame. In the case of K2, they used thermoplastic construction for some of their forks (Girvin).