Rimowa 32" Alu Topas 4-wheel Jumbo suitcase Review
Can you tell I am bored? Here is a little review on the big Rimowa. To my defense: This was purchased for me as a gift in Germany (I shall be eternally grateful), where it is quite a bit less expensive.
There is another, older version that has only one TSA lock in the center latch. The new version has no lock in the center latch and one lock each (3 digit combo) in the two outer latches. The new version also has the wheelcaps as pictured.
This is obviously a big case. If you pack relatively normal belongings in it, it is almost too big for the 50-70lbs weight limits. That means if you pack it really full, it will weigh more than those maximum 32kg. So keep that in mind. On the other hand, if you want to transport bulky or fragile items like porcelain or wine bottles this is ideal. There is also a rubber seal around the opening that makes this fairly waterproof. Probably even the worst rain shower could not get the content wet.
The inside is simple. No frills but form follows function. The stretch pouches are removable, as is the divider panel. The panel is intelligent because it has two zippered compartment that are of different sizes. So you can use one for shirts and one for magazines or so. However, it is important to remember which side the panel is attached to. It is attached to the upper side of the case, the one that you will flip open when you open the suitcase. If you get that wrong some of your things might fall down. The lower side that should be laying flat on the ground when you open it, is easy to remember, because that's where the handle and the telescoping handles are.
Both halves are of the same depth. Some like that and others prefer a suitcase that is like a box with a cover that you close. A compromise is the solution where one half is for example 3 inches deep and the other 5. Those cases are very rare, however. I believe Samsonite might have some models like that. The Sammies also come with two divider panels so you don't need to remember which side goes up.
The solid feeling of the latches exudes quality. It's something like the Mercedes car door effect or the shutter sound of a Rolleiflex 6x6 camera. Very satisfying.
What is best about it, is how easily it rolls on even surfaces (hard or carpet). Even if loaded with 40 kg, I can maneuver this brick with two fingers literally; no kidding. It glides. In addition, if my research is correct, this case has the best volume to weight ratio in four wheel hard-sided luggage on the market.
Now the cons:
It scuffs and scratches easily. It also dents rather easily. This does not influence the functionality but it clearly takes away from the good looks. By the way, it looks terrific and it looks terribly expensive, which it is. You know what that means. The locks are easy to open by the TSA. But they do not have a Search Alert function where you can immediately tell that it was opened. I have had it happen that the suitcase was opened and no TSA tag was put inside. There was nothing missing but still... There is no real way to seal the case. I think I will try to hunt down some sealing tape or get a different pack strap. Pac-safe has one with a Search Alert TSA lock. At this price one could expect the Search Alert feature but probably they engineered it when that feature wasn't available yet.
Durability: The battle scars of travel will maybe even start to look good after some time, the dents might not. Rimowa will do a dent repair but I do not know the conditions, price etc. The warranty of 5 years only is ridiculous for a product of this price class, material and reputation. This is the main reason I subtracted one star. That said, my father has had one of these for a good 25 years and still uses it. When you open up the two halves there is some warp. The hinges seem to be the weakest point. Obviously, when you travel, the hinges are closed, not exposed and there is no warp.
On my third transatlantic flight one of the wheelcaps came off. This is purely cosmetic but shouldn't really happen, I find.
The 32 inch version is so high that one does not really need the telescoping handles. They could have saved two pounds and made just the more even space for packing on the interior.
The wheels look sturdy but I wouldn't use this on cobblestone really.
In conclusion this is really a bit of an extreme suitcase and certainly not for everybody. I got it because I do transport fragile things from time to time and because I really like the volume to weight ration.
I also made a strange experience with this suitcase and wonder if anybody knows something about it. In Zurich, where the personnel follows orders to the letter, I asked the check-in agent whether she'd please put a Fragile sticker on this suitcase because I was transporting crystal glasses. She said, that they didn't put Fragile stickers on this type of suitcase. I asked why. Her answer was a mix of "They scratch so easily and then people complain and they are so darn expensive and we don't want to pay for that. People hold us responsible for it. They will say that's why they had the Fragile sticker put on and you scratched it anyway." and "The Fragile stickers are really there to go easy on the content and not the exterior of a pretty case. These cases protect the content so well that no matter how we handle them, the contents will be safe."
My glasses arrived intact. However, it seems kind of counterproductive if you get a protective case but you cannot get a Fragile sticker as an additional insurance that the case doesn't get thrown around. I didn't ask but I wonder whether they would refuse putting a sticker also on a plastic Pelican case which is even sturdier but where the owner won't ..... when it gets scuffed.
Anybody got an insight on the official Fragile sticker policy? This was a ZRH-EWR flight on Continental.
I enjoyed this review. Can you really get them cheaper in Germany?
I ordered the 29in version from ebags.com when they were giving 12 miles a dollar in December and Delta had their 150% promotion. Ebags.com couldn't fill the order and I have since noticed that they no longer list Rimowa on their site.
Yes, they are cheaper in Germany. I got mine in Nov. 2006. It was 500 Euros back then. Even if there has been a price increase since then to 600 Euros which would be a hefty increase, that would currently be $754. So that's easily $300 cheaper than here, or $500 depending on where you buy it. You could also subtract 19% of value added tax (sales tax so to say) when you export it. So it would be around 480 Euros which comes to around $600. With a little luck you can get an airfare to FRA for that price difference.
Glad you liked the review. If you buy it, my guess is that the 29 inch version will be more than sufficient.
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I've heard rave reviews about Rimowa four wheelers, both here and in Japan. Well that and Zero Halliburton
More specifically, I'm looking at to buy this one.
Do you think Rimowas are worth the investment?
As for the "glide-ability" so to speak, I think 4 wheelers in general are much more maneuverable overall than any 2 wheeler out there. Even my bulky Samsonite 29" hardside spinner feels light when moving across the surface even though it's packed to back-breaking heaviness
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I have just read a review from a former professional luggage designer who owns a Zero in aluminum. He says the quality is rather bad and that there are many sub-par parts used that give you a limited durability. In particular he said their alu is always the same strength even for the bigger cases. He says anything bigger than the 22" will be fragile as paper. He says even the 22" when you sit down on it, the wheels or studs in the bottom will dent the alu. This will not happen with a Rimowa. Plus, the Zeros are heavier. I would get a Zero as an attache case or to transport cash if I were a drug baron but not as useful luggage and certainly not for plane trips. They do LOOK good, though.
I just handled the Rimowa you linked to. My grandma had it. It looked brand new and probably was brand new. It looked more solid than comparable poly luggage. It was also light. Still, if you go Rimowa, go alu. I would be afraid the rather short warranty is going to bite you in the proverbial rear otherwise.
The new Samsonite Silhouette 11 line also looks very good and is certainly sturdier than the Rimowa (and costs half). It should come with a ten year warranty IIRC. It has the different size wheels you were talking about in the other thread.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tfar
I just handled the Rimowa you linked to. My grandma had it. It looked brand new and probably was brand new. It looked more solid than comparable poly luggage. It was also light. Still, if you go Rimowa, go alu. I would be afraid the rather short warranty is going to bite you in the proverbial rear otherwise.
The new Samsonite Silhouette 11 line also looks very good and is certainly sturdier than the Rimowa (and costs half). It should come with a ten year warranty IIRC. It has the different size wheels you were talking about in the other thread.
Till
Thanks for the Zero & Rimowa update. Looks like Rimowa it is, though with my check that I receive every week, I can only afford polycarbonate version of Rimowa now - I'll keep alu in mind when I get a pay increase, if any
I looked at the Samsonite Sil 11 series, but I don't see much a difference from my current Sil 10 spinner. And, I don't think they have one in my favorite color (red) - which is another reason why I love my Sammy hardside spinner.
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When I started traveling on business, I bought a complete set of Zero Halliburton luggage. That's what people did in those days: buy matching luggage. Over about 15 years of extremely hard use, they got all banged up but nothing packed in them either got wet or broken. The locks and seals all held.
They didn't have wheels. Wheels on luggage hadn't been invented as yet.
What finally caused me to retire them was their lack of wheels and their weight when empty. Entirely too easy to go over 50 pounds. I sold the 30" Zero to a friend who was glad to have it and the rest linger in my storage area.
When I consider the number of trips those bags took, they were a very good value for the money.
One of the most useful items in my Zero collection are a pair of train cases. I still use one now and then for carrying bottles of wine. I would never call a Zero bag flimsy or made of thin metal unless the nature of the product has changed a great deal.
Nor would I buy more Zero. They are bags that no longer serve my needs, although family members have borrowed them when they needed to move! Great for keeping fragile stuff from being broken.
I have few Rimowa cases,definitely worth to investment.
I always carry them on cobblestone.Still running smoothly.
Recommend go with 4 wheels style case.which is easier to carry.
The price for tfar bought (Topas 932.77 four wheels version) is 570Euro include 19% Vat.
Normally you can find 10~15% off in Germany.
There are some online store in Germany allow order online and shipping to USA.
Anyone need it please PM me.
Excellent info here, Irwin. So if you can get 10% off and then deduct 19% of what is left you are at roughly 520-100=420 Euros. That is around $530-40 at the current rate so it's half of what they cost here. And that is for the most expensive piece in their line-up. Makes things much more interesting for the bagaholics here, I bet.
Till, interesting but not logical as some airlines have a maximum bag size. We are in that world now.
You mean "interesting but not necessarily under all circumstances and for everyone", I guess. I never said so, by the way.
It stays at 65 linear inches overall, so as long as that's the size limit, you are good to go. Besides that, I meant that the entire line thusly becomes more interesting as the price for the smaller pieces would be less than the price for this big piece.
Economically, I would suppose that price elasticity actually increases in our times i.e. that, unless you drop under a certain threshold where nothing goes anymore, people will be even more interested in deals like this, where a particularly coveted, exclusive item can be had at prices that are practically cut in half. Still, obviously, $500 suitcases are not for everybody especially if you almost have to fly to Germany to secure that price. But given that we are on a frequent flyer forum, it doesn't seem impossible or even illogical.
Out of curiosity I compared on a German site the biggest Rimowa and the biggest Zeroller by Halliburton. Both 32 inch models. The Halliburton has 10% less volume (95l to 106l), weighs 50% more (9.5 kg to 6.3kg), has only two wheels instead of four and costs almost 3x as much (1600 to 580 Euros). Comparing locks and handles the Rimowa also wins. Interior layout is better on the Rimowa, too, in my eyes but prettier on the Zeroller. Warranty is life-time limited on the Zeroller and five years on the Rimowa.
I also read about some repair comments on Rimowa. Wheel replacement is Euro 60 and wheel replacement plus dent repair Euro 95. At least those were the prices paid by some of the reviewers in 2008. I do not know how many wheels and if that includes shipping or whether the suitcase is brought back to the store where you bought it locally and they take care of it. That's usually how it's handled in Germany.
The price differential is interesting. While the Rimowa is about twice as much here as in Germany, the Zeroller is about thrice as much in Germany as it is here.
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Te weight on that Zero bag is unacceptable. As for the lifetime Zero warrenty, the one time I tried to get them to fix a bag, they said it was damage done by the airline and I had to go to the airline for help.
I have just read a review from a former professional luggage designer who owns a Zero in aluminum. He says the quality is rather bad and that there are many sub-par parts used that give you a limited durability. In particular he said their alu is always the same strength even for the bigger cases. He says anything bigger than the 22" will be fragile as paper. He says even the 22" when you sit down on it, the wheels or studs in the bottom will dent the alu. This will not happen with a Rimowa. Plus, the Zeros are heavier. I would get a Zero as an attache case or to transport cash if I were a drug baron but not as useful luggage and certainly not for plane trips. They do LOOK good, though.
I just handled the Rimowa you linked to. My grandma had it. It looked brand new and probably was brand new. It looked more solid than comparable poly luggage. It was also light. Still, if you go Rimowa, go alu. I would be afraid the rather short warranty is going to bite you in the proverbial rear otherwise.
The new Samsonite Silhouette 11 line also looks very good and is certainly sturdier than the Rimowa (and costs half). It should come with a ten year warranty IIRC. It has the different size wheels you were talking about in the other thread.
Till
I would take that with a grain of salt... If anything, the zeros problem is that they are overbuilt. Fragile as paper they are not. More like hard as a rock.
I've owned more than a dozen zero cases, and currently have 2 of the Rimowas - a 29" aluminum, and a 26" plastic (salsa).
The zeros are made out of a much stronger aluminum than the Rimowas, with a heavier hinge. Which these days makes them too heavy to be realistic travel cases. I did hundreds of trips in heavily loaded halliburtons, and the case part always held up well. But the latches were weak and needed constant attention, the handle and rollers on the zerorollers were constantly breaking, and zero was worthless on warranty claims (everything was "wear and tear.")
After 911 when you could no longer use the combo lock on the halliburtons I retired them all - as you could not trust the latches to stay shut without the combo lock as insurance - and the TSA would not allow you to use the lock.
When I saw the rimowas with the integrated TSA locks, I thought I would try them. The long term plan is to use this stuff to carry cameras (fill the cases with foam) but I've been trying out the Rimowas with my clothes first.
The aluminum is shockingly thin on the Rimowas. My first trip produced 5 or 6 sizable dents on the case, and each successive trip adds more. After 6 months, the case now looks really pretty beat up. But the interesting thing is that the hinges, seal, and latches are holding up well. I think the thin aluminum might just be part of the design concept - if the case is absorbing the hit with a dent, the stuff on the inside is protected a bit better.
Each time I've traveled it has arrived with all of the latches closed and locked which is great. But I wish Rimowa would just put the locks on all 3 latches. That would be even safer.
The TSA has managed to get in and out without screwing anything up.
All in all I am pretty satisfied. If it still looks intact after about a year, I am going to get another one and convert it for the cameras.
