Originally Posted by bpcyclist

I have posted about this elsewhere before, bit it seems it might bear quickly repeating here. I had one of my insurance agents over to my place for a little meeting not terribly long ago. He saw my Orca in the corner and asked if it was carbon fiber. I told him it was. He then proceeded to tell me that they had just been working on a death claim of a US man who died due to some sort of catastrophic CF wheel failure. He did not, obviously, identify the state. They had had two more recently, these, frame failures, he stated, also resulting in death claims. Also Americans. This is one of the largest life insurers in the world.

Insurance companies actually know more about how and why people die and what all the particulars are than almost anyone. They are not about to pay a multi-million-dollar benefit unless it meets all policy criteria. Big, detailed investigations with all manner of experts are not uncommon. It reduces their liability. These companies are fully aware that CF technology on bikes is not without potentially life-threatening risks. I suspect, as the article above referenced, we will be seeing more and more of this as older and older CF tech remains on the roads beyond its safe life--whatever the hell that is.

I have three CF frame bikes. Ride 'e, almost everyday. No CF wheels. You gotta go sometime.