Concept Bikes & Bike Innovation - for better or worse

As for 3D printing, I am wondering... Does it produce structurally strong pieces (compared to forged metal, for example) ?

Not as materially strong as some traditional metalworking processes, although the best additive manufacturing processes can get pretty close, and make up the deficit by more precisely putting the material where, and only where, it is needed, so for a given mass, the structural strength can exceed legacy methods, since some complex forms simply can't be made by traditional processes so the final component retains some essentially redundant material which traditional tooling couldn't remove.

If your legacy process was casting (as it was for high end frame lugs), I think Selective Laser Melting might actually be able to produce better results, as there is potentially tighter control on the cooling rate.