mesh gradient bending

It is expected, IMO. Live PATH effects affect base path only. Bending doesn't have any effect on other paint servers neither. One can not bend linear and radial gradients. The same goes for patterns.

Just curious, Lazur. Have you found that you can bend a linear or radial gradient? If that were possible, there wouldn't be as much of a need for the mesh.

Not that I'm very technically aware of what should or shouldn't be possible. But I think the LPEs are only supposed to effect the paths.

I remember it was asked awhile ago in the forum how to bend a gradient because illustrator could do that.

And what illustrator did was replacing the linear gradient with a gradient mesh and distort it just as if it was a compound path.
That would be a great feature to have and that workaround makes sence.

Oh here it is:

http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18267

and illustrator for reference:
http://ndesign-studio.com/tutorials/chinese-bamboo

After a second look that is achieved by filtering. Still, I don't see how the geometrical representations of the mesh couldn't be bent as a path or as a pattern along path effect.

Like manually you can recreate a path representing the mesh, with the same handles, and apply the bend lpe on it.
And after visualizing this bent path a new gradient mesh could be drawn upon it, colours placed at the nodes, mesh handles pulled to fit with the layout.