Originally Posted by graymanandy

I highly recommend putting something structural in your laminate besides hemp. The Bamboo Bike Studio did destruction testing on hemp lugs and found that they stretch from repeated stresses in the small to medium catagory until the bike gets floppy and the joints fail. I found their info in their blog although I don't know if the info is still available. At the very least it would be beneficial to put some fiberglass in the joints.

It is up to you, but straight hemp lugs will die faster than an aluminum frame. My first one was a hemp lug too. It lasted 6 months and went down the stairs coming back from the hardware store about 1.5 times a week. It broke at the ht/dt joint and is the only bike I've ever owned that had a name. We called it the "spaghetti bike" because it got so floppy. It's really a testament to the resin system I was using that it lasted that long. I've built the other 6 with carbon and I'm pretty sure you could jump them off the house, no problem.

Good Luck.

Andy