Not reproduced with Inkscape 0.48.2 and 0.48+devel r10754 on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (i386)
1) Could you please attach a sample SVG file with a group that "goes wild" as well as with one that works ok?
2) With regard to the steps of the workaround: did you reapply the 'Bend' path effect after grouping the two paths again?
Not reproduced with Inkscape 0.48.2 and 0.48+devel r10754 on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (i386)
1) Could you please attach a sample SVG file with a group that "goes wild" as well as with one that works ok?
2) With regard to the steps of the workaround: did you reapply the 'Bend' path effect after grouping the two paths again?