I'm still new to LiPo too, but let me say this, even before the "new" LiPo there have been people getting both 300 - 500 charge cycles, and some getting closer to 1,000+, it's all in how you treat the batteries, and the quality of the batteries.
If you buy the cheapest LiPo you can find, and run it to 90%+ depth of discharge, you're bound to not only have a short pack life, but most likely you're going to ruin some cells.
However, if you don't do more than 50% DOD for the first 10 cycles, and then NEVER over 80% DOD for the rest of the time, you're going to have a very good experience, and I started thinking about batteries, and how long they last, it sounds impressive that a battery could last you for 5+ years, but then you remember that batteries much like computers improve at a very fast rate, even if my batteries only lasted say, 800 cycles, by then I am sure there will be a newer battery that will put out much more than the one I have now, and if you think 25 - 50c is impressive, for about $10 more per pack, you can get 45 -90c!!!
I buy the 25 - 50c only because they are more reasonable, once the price comes down on the 45 - 90c, that will be my choice.
If you look at Kepler's drive and his recommended charger, ESC, batteries, etc. you can still buy some average LiPo that works very well, and is even cheaper, with a good charger, just remember in the RC world, chargers and their power supplies are separate, so many people use that to their advantage and buy cheap but powerful Meanwell power supplies, but you can get all that stuff, and as long as you are handy with a soldering iron (to build a throttle interface) you can do it all for about the price of a large Ping Hub motor battery!
If you're not able to do some of this stuff yourself, there are several of us that will. Not trying to sell you specifically on the Kepler drive, just want you to know what's out there and how affordable it can be.
As far as safety goes, I felt the same way you do, until I was given a "junk" LiPo pack from the hobby shop that had the leads cut too short, and I tried every way I could think of to turn it into an orange fireball (shooting holes all the way through it, dropping in a bucket of water, smashing it with a hammer) and it never even smoked! The main thing to realize is just like gasoline, you have to respect it, and the most risky thing you can do is buy the cheapest charger you can find, and charge it when you're not around NEVER DO THAT with LiPo unless you have good insurance and want to burn a building down! :lol:
Also, don't forget that every lap-top and cell phone basically has a form of LiPo battery, and yes ours are much higher C rate and all that, but hey, a small cup of gasoline or kerosene or other liquid fuel can still start a fire too, just have to treat it with respect, use a charging bag (you can get a nice thick one for $15) and remember, never leave it somewhere you can't observe it while charging, or charge it in somewhere you can afford to have a fire, like a BBQ or out-door fireplace. Some people use corning (ceramic) cookware that can take lots of heat, or an old metal drawer from a desk to charge them in, so if there is a problem, you can rush it outside.
I am totoally new to LiPo, I have a total of 7 charge cycles on mine, but I can tell you, I have NEVER once got any battery hot much less beyond just warm enough that I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, even when I used the wrong motor and burned it up (I THOUGHT at the time I KNEW what I was doing hehe) because I used the wrong type of RC motor, trying to run it with the same knowledge I gained from hub motors, but now that I have it set-up right, not only does nothing get hot (even after pulling 100 AMPS) I have given a friend a try going up a 8-10% hill from the base of it, and even when he bogged it down and did most things wrong, all that happened was the ESC cut the power until he started pedaling more.
If set-up correctly, a good RC set-up is really hard to beat, and like in any E-Bike set-up, the batteries are pretty much the key to their performance capability and with a nice Castle Creations ESC, you can set all the parameters to keep things from going south, the other day I lost all info from my Turnigy Power and Watt meter (it got wet, now it's dry and working fine), but the power was still flowing, and though "flying blind" I was able to continue to use the drive with out problems, even though I was going up a 8% hill.
Here is Kepler's for sale thread for more good info on LiPo chargers and batteries, and if you're interested at all in a built Kepler Drive, send me a PM, and I can tell you what I can offer.
(Even if only for the building of the interface, I have built one with no problems using the directions from Recumpence, very easy to do, or he or I can build you one too)
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20491&hilit=Kepler+Drive&start=120 (The basic parts build is at the beginning, and charger/power supply on bottom of page 9)
Don't let LiPo scare you, the real turning point for me, was when the 28V Dewalts started to get scarce, and I was considering building my own battery packs, adding a BMS, and all that goes with that, and heard about the new LiPo that has similar characteristics to the LiFeP04 in that it has more C rate and similar construction, that is supposed to result in more stability and longer life.
Amped Bikes sells a battery of the same chemistry as those Turnigy's as their "house" battery, and that is of-course another option, if you want something more plug-n-play, but again you're going to spend a bunch more. The beauty of an RC drive similar to Kepler's is that it doesn't TAKE a big battery, I am running mine on just 15V! 8)