Originally Posted by jaydubu

Maybe this will help with the concern of the OP. I am 270lbs. I got my first bike about 6 years ago. It was a 1989 Lemond Team Zed with a lugged TVT CF frame. Garage sale. I rode it for a year and it was near 20 years old. One of if not the first production CF frames. I had no issues with it and after a couple of years, I sold it (regret) very easily. It was solid. I now have a new Cervelo R3 and yes it has a lifetime Warranty. I am in the automotive collision repair business. We did a test on CF the other day, where we dropped a 1lb ball onto a steel hood from about 3 feet, and also on a CF hood from the same distance. The steel hood was totaled and the CF hood barely had a noticeable mark. CF is much stronger and can withstand far more pressure than steel, or alum. If you had a section of a CF frame break, you can bet that the same section of a steel or alum, frame would have been destroyed as well and most likely with less force.
I am not a leisurely rider. I am just a heavy rider. I ride as hard and as fast as I can. I ride around 1500 miles per year which I don't think is too bad for a 55 year old fat man with a lot of other hobbies. The point is, I would be far more cautious to ride a light weight steel bike the way I do than I would a CF bike. Don't get me wrong. I love some of the steel bikes out there and plan to get one soon. But it will be for a different type of riding. Maybe a little more leisurely. Also, in this sue happy era we live in, there is no way that bike manufactures could put out these products and accept the potential liabilities if they "assploaded" like some people worry about.

Look at some of the crashes that these cycling pros get into on the tours. At 30, 40mph, and they jump right back on them and finish the race.