In contrast, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5083564 describes a 2004 study that gives 130m as the limit, and claims a world record of 125m. Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(tree) is 115m.

However, this theory is less observational; that, IMO, makes it a better one, even if the maximum height it predicts is of by 10% or so.

In fact, that is fairly typical for scaling laws. For example, bumblebees and swans are outliers in the field of flying insects, respectively flying birds. That is why, in those circles, a standard joke is that bumblebees cannot fly, and swans can fly, but cannot take off from the ground.