-
Yes - I suspect a lot of it is just mythical. I think perhaps the ones that use a carbon circlip to hold the spokes in tension were prone to failure - I think this was changed at some point in production.
I would just suggest that they are visually checked periodically and also after any significant bumps in use.
Si46-
It is mainly mythical. Spinergy Rev X wheels had 2 major revision in its time. The originals were the ones with the clips which snapped. The 1st revision wheels were the Ines which apparently exploded for no good reason. The 2nd revision (or 3rd generation) was the one where they, so to speak, redesigned the wheel. This design was the last to be produced, and I believe that out of the thousands sold, one of these later designed Rev Xs has failed, and that may also have been because of misuse by the end user.
I have a later 2nd revision Rev X front wheel, with the "Super Stiff" hub design. (They came in 3 flavours - light, regular, and super stiff), and it holds up fine. It gets battered, as it's on my everyday bike, and it seems to be perfectly fine.
Side note: When they dubbed this thing "Super Stiff" they were not joking. It is incredibly stiff
ShutUpBlud
They're safe enough and they don't simply explode for no apparent reason, as the urban myth suggests.