Originally Posted by
Ritterview
True, as far as that goes. But, we can ask ourselves, if magnesium is such a super material for frames, why do choices in magnesium frames, forks, handlebars, and stems range from few to none? Paketa is about the only magnesium frame, their are no mg forks or handlebars and one or two stems.
Magnesium looms much larger in tandemland, because it has been so difficult/expensive to make carbon tandem frames. Everywhere else where magnesium vies with carbon, carbon wins, as evidenced by the Paketa's carbon fork. So, since we have not gained familiarity with magnesium on any other component, there is a wariness to having an entire frame made of this material. Is it brittle? Subject to corrosion? Flexy? We don't know, because all we have are a few users here and there with generally positive reports. That's not much to go on when looking at spending thousands on something.
The short answer is; the total number of factories that manufacture low volume custom extruded Mg tubes in the USA are exactly 1, and it's in the Denver area. There are very few facilities around the globe in fact that are able to produce the tubes to build Mg framed bikes. This is a very "niche" materials technology. Carbon on the other hand is a highly commercial technology, with low entry barrier. You or I could build carbon fiber components at home (not sure we'd want to ride them . . . . . but you get the picture). To take the example further, why don’t any manufacturers build Beryllium alloy frames? This will be everything Mg is, only better. Well, the factories that extrude low volume Beryllium tubes for commercial applications (military applications do exist) are exactly zero . . . . and there's the small problem of possibly expiring if you accidently inhale the welding fumes while you welding the frame up . . . .