See also Mavic's wheels with carbon fiber spokes that they refused to admit were poorly engineered, even after several spectacular and highly visible failures, but that they eventually withdrew from the market. And the hard anodized rims that came and went in the late '80s. And the slighly later frames with part-carbon seat stays that also came and went.

Reminds me of a phrase that the late Jobst Brandt was fond of using with regard to the presence of questionable technology in consumer products: such products tend to be marketed enthusiastically "until the death toll becomes prohibitive."