I guess I was lucky. They only charged me the regular $20 baggage fee on the way to Seattle, and $40 on the way back. This was Alaska Airlines. The agents just waved me on knowing that they could've charged a lot more.

A high school kid in her parents' basement.

Seriously, WTF? Bicycle design is big business.

And again, what evidence beyond your LBS owner's impressions do you have that this is a "problem for the industry"?

Or, for that matter, your beliefs that high-end buyers do not keep bicycles for a long time, or that CF bikes in general are not bought by people who then ride them for decades?

Metal fails in all kinds of ways, all the time. In fact, it almost always fails abruptly. Steel frames crack all the time. I personally have had a broken steel fork. One day it was solid, no obvious cracks, and the next it was completely gone. You might catch a developing crack before it becomes a full-blown failure, but let's be honest - most of us do not do a detailed enough "pre-flight check" to catch such a problem.

Geez. I have nothing more to add.