I had the same questions as the OP on CF bikes and couldn't understand why someone would spend that kind of money and take that risk of a frame failure. I was judging that by the posts that I have read here on BF and the photos that were shown. I ride with two different clubs on the weekends and 9 out of 10 road bikes in these groups are CF. No one I talked to has reported any problems with their CF frames. I have also talked to several people at the MUP that I ride at, as most of the bikes there are also CF (and no problems reported), and yesterday ordered a new CF bike to replace my aluminum Defy. Any material can fail given the right circumstances. Look at how many booms on construction cranes have failed under stress.