Paranoid thought of the day:Magnesium components - stability?

[tylercheung]

So, in an act of foolish procrastination, I was poking around the description of different components and noticed a lot of "top end" stuff is made out of magnesium.


My layperson's high school chemistry seems to remember pure magnesium being somewhat soft and prone to catch on fire.

The Shimano manuals all seem to say "don't put this Mg component next to" certain materials or they will corrode...

Are Mg components a good idea? or is this really meant for "pros" who replace equipment every year, and corrosion/stuff catching on fire be damned...?

(I am sure the good metallurgists and engineers have figured this out w/ alloy this, alloy that but still..)