I've not heard of such issues.

There were concerns about the light-weight bikes breaking but this may be too-heavy a rider or some such. This could be an issue with the new Trek 5900 replacement also!

Also the comments about shops spreading rumors may be true esp with Litespeed entering the aluminum frame arena... More competition at the low end!

Now Litespeed has models that directly compete with the Trek 2xxx and 1xxx models!

Having said that I will state that my choce if bike is based upon my needs. I purchased a Litespeed Catalyst in 1998 and I've no need to replace it any time soon...

On the other hand I am looking for an Audax bike (being a racing bike, the Catalyst has no eyelets for fenders or racks)...

I love Ti so I looked at the blue-ridge... However there were some things I did not like about the frame setup and I'm leaning to another maker of Ti frames, Airborne.

Also when I bought a roadbike for my wife it ended up being a trek 2200. Trek makes good bikes and it was her size and the price was right.