Bungee Cord Misery

[Joe54]

Set out on a short ride through a local country park when I came to a sudden halt as a bungee cord came loose and attached itself through my gear hub, at least no damage done to spokes. Woe is me as I tried to untangle the cord and I feel the rain coming on to add to my grief.

At first it seemed easy as I tugged counter clockwise with my hands and three inches came loose - then it just held fast. It seemed like a python with me in it's grip getting tighter and tighter.

Bike upside down and searching for a lever of some kind but all I have is the usual set of allen keys.

Another cyclist stops and starts to offer help but he too only has a set of allen keys. "You need some kind of lever", he says and wonders if taking the wheel off might help but I don't see the point in that but good to have some support as we discuss tugging what remains this way and that.. Yet another cyclist stops and offers to help. We now have three sets of allen keys between us. Any way I thank my fellow helpers and walk home a short distance of 20 minutes.

Back home I contemplate screwdriver / lever or steak knife and long nosed pliers. Half an hour later and the python is dead and the garden is strewn with the innards of bungee cord and I still have all my fingers despite the surgical use of the steak knife. So the lesson is clear don't take chance with loose bungee cords tie them up securely before setting out.

 

[Arch]

Would a set of allen keys have helped at all?

 

[Over The Hill]

I opened this thread with some trepidation as a few years ago I managed to put my eye in the way of a pinging bungee on the roof of my car that gave me a detatched retina.
Top tip is do not have laser eye surgery under a local when they tell you they cannot give you a general as they have run out of beds.
It is all stuck back in place now Btw.

 

[Joe54]

Would a set of allen keys have helped at all?

No and we had three sets between us.

 

[Joe54]

I opened this thread with some trepidation as a few years ago I managed to put my eye in the way of a pinging bungee on the roof of my car that gave me a detatched retina.
Top tip is do not have laser eye surgery under a local when they tell you they cannot give you a general as they have run out of beds.
It is all stuck back in place now Btw.

Glad all is well and puts my tale into perspective when you could easily have paid such a high price for such a relatively inexpensive piece of kit.

 

[Arch]

No and we had three sets between us.

I know... I was joking....

 

[rich p]

My wife once tied something onto her rack with a bungee and put it through her rear wheel. How I laughed.

 

[Joe54]

My wife once tied something onto her rack with a bungee and put it through her rear wheel. How I laughed.

Glad to know you are still alive !

 

[Noodley]

why do you have a bungee cord?

 

[Globalti]

And there was I thinking this was a thread about a bungee jumping disaster.

 

[Slowgrind]

Some years ago in Which magazine I saw an article that said every year a number of people are blinded by bungee straps!
When you pull one tight if, the end that was hooked on first comes loose it can easily hit you in the face!
I can always picture the scene of someone pulling a cord over a roof rack, straining to get the hook on and BANG!

 

[661-Pete]

We used to call them octopuses ("octopi"?) as they used to come in a radial arrangement threaded through a small central ring - for attaching a load to a car roof rack. They weren't very secure: the modern style roof box is a big improvement.

I personally would avoid, on the bike. Use a couple of old leather straps or belts - and make sure loose ends are well tucked away.