iBungee Laces reviewed by Jen Ferriss for the American Trail Running Association.
Gremlins being sneaky or black magic must have been cast on my shoes at every race or hike I pursued when I first started heading to the nearby Green, Berkshire and Adirondack Mountains. Stopping, bending over with a high heart rate and looking for the perfect rock or log to assist me in getting my shoe a few feet off the ground got old quickly. I have been sold on no-tie shoelaces since the moment I knew they existed, and all my trail shoes and hiking boots are well equipped to stay tied forever. Not all no tie laces are the same and I welcomed the opportunity to try out iBungee Laces on my newer hiking boots and trail runners.
If you check out the iBungee website they advertise “Best Value,” “Easy Installation,” “Sized for the Perfect Fit,” and “Top Quality.” I tend to agree with them after having some experience with their competitors. For less than $6.00 you can choose a color that matches your shoes or boots and the size that is best suited for the perfect fit. I was able to lace my hiking boots with a blue 38-inch iBungee and a white 34-inch lace for my trail runners.
Many years ago, back in the day when race timing companies attached chips to your shoes, someone at the finish line snipped my no-tie laces that came on my trail runners. I was at a loss because there was no way I was going back to tying my shoes during a trail run. I went online and discovered that the company did sell replacement speed laces: I bought two, one for my runners and the other for my hiking boots that always seemed to loosen up in winter when I had gaiters on and cold fingers.
The laces came with minimal instructions, so I went in search of a video and maybe more complete information online. Kid you not, it took me a few hours to find a YouTube video on how to lace the shoes and then to put them on; scissors and flame were required tools. Once I understood the concept, the boots took about 30 minutes. iBungee Laces took me less than 5 minutes to do each shoe, the hardest part was getting the lace through the “tunnel” design of my shoe. Easy installation: YES!
I can’t at this time report on the quality of the tensioner because the laces have not been put through a full Northeast United States trail running season yet. With 20 or so miles on muddy rugged terrain, they have held up and are now officially off-white and cocoa in color.
