Carbon fiber is without a doubt the strongest material currently in existence. There is nothing on the horizon that is going to take that title away. It is the plastics used and the manufacturing processes employed that make all the difference. It is inappropriate to compare bicycle manufacturing to aircraft as the quality of plastics, manufacturing processes and mean intelligence/training/experience of those employing the materials is much higher with aircraft (among other industries). Carbon fiber as currently employed in the bicycle industry is wing and a prayer (for profit) manufacturing.

I'm actually very curious as to the perceived benefits of carbon fiber compared directly to a non-carbon fiber part. This crank for example - what is the perceived (or real for that matter) improvement over a non-carbon fiber part? I think the drawbacks are the delicate nature/inability to handle structural abuse (one gouge and whatever it is is ruined) and no-notice failure characteristic. So, that's the bad. What's the good?

the carbon crank is supposed to be a lot more stiff than a metal crank. The thing is, everyone I know that has used the FSA carbon crank says it sucks. Oh well